 The first collegiate basketball team began play at Dayton, then known as St. Mary's Institute, during the 1903–04 season.The school's early teams were informally nicknamed "The Saints" by local sportswriters and competed against colleges, high schools, and club teams throughout the Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and New York region.Early rivalries with Notre Dame and Miami (Ohio) began in the 1908–09 season, and with Ohio State in the 1913–14 season.