Since intercollegiate athletics were first instituted on the San Angelo College campus in the 1930s, the men’s teams have been called the Rams, named for the male Rambouillet sheep that are still common throughout West Texas.
The development of the Rambouillet breed started in 1786 by King Louis XVI of France at the royal farm in his domain of Rambouillet, about 50 kilometers southwest of Paris. At its peak in the 1990s, an estimated 50% of the sheep on the U.S. western ranges were of Rambouillet blood.
Over the years, the ASU Rams have won a multitude of first Pioneer Conference and then Lone Star Conference titles, as well as national championships in three different collegiate divisions. These include the 1957 NJCAA Basketball Championship, 1978 NAIA Football Championship and 2023 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.