Atlantic Sun Conference: Difference between revisions

Atlantic Sun Conference
Formerly	Trans America Athletic Conference (1978–2001); Atlantic Sun Conference (2001–2016); ASUN Conference (2016–2023)
Association	NCAA
Founded	1978
Commissioner	Jeff Bacon (since 2023)
Sports fielded	22 men's: 10; women's: 12; ;
Division	Division I
No. of teams	12
Headquarters	Jacksonville, Florida
Region	Southern United States
Official website	www.asunsports.org
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The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) is a collegiate athletic conference operating mostly in the Southeastern United States. The league participates at the NCAA Division I level, and began sponsoring football at the Division I FCS level in 2022. Originally established as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1978,^[1] it was renamed as the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001, and briefly rebranded as the ASUN Conference from 2016 to 2023. The conference still uses "ASUN" as an official abbreviation.^[2] The conference headquarters are located in Jacksonville. On May 8, 2024, the conference announced it would move its headquarters from Atlanta, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida in the fall of 2024.^[3]

History

ASUN Conference Member locations

– Full member

– Affiliate member

– Future affiliate member

Formation

The conference was first formed on September 19, 1978, as the Trans America Athletic Conference, at the Dallas–Fort Worth Regional Airport Marina Hotel.^[4] Its charter members were Oklahoma City University, Pan American University (later renamed University of Texas-Pan American), Northeast Louisiana University (now known as the University of Louisiana at Monroe), Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University), Hardin-Simmons University, Centenary College of Louisiana, Samford University, and Mercer University, all of whom were previously D-I independents. None of the eight charter members remain in the conference today.

Almost immediately after its formation, the conference experienced a shake-up in its membership. Oklahoma City departed to become a charter member of the Midwestern City Conference (known today as the Horizon League), while UTPA returned to D-I independent status—both had only played a single season in the infant league. The TAAC was quick to replace the outgoing members with Northwestern State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, along with Georgia Southern University in 1980, but this instability would prove to be a trend through the coming years—over the next 20 years, the conference would accept 16 new members, with many of these leaving after only playing a handful of seasons. 1982 saw the departure of another charter member, Northeast Louisiana, to the Southland Conference. Additionally, it saw the arrival of Nicholls State University, who originally planned to join the TAAC as a full member. However, due to an oversight by the NCAA, adding in a new program who had not competed in Division I for at least five years would result in the offending conference forfeiting their automatic bid to the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. To get around this, the TAAC announced that Nicholls State would compete as a provisional member, ineligible for the men's basketball tournament until it completed its D-I transition in 1985.^[5] However, it, along with Northwestern State, left the conference in 1984 to join the Gulf Star Conference instead.

Expansion, contraction, and rebranding

The remainder of the 1980s saw mostly growth for the conference, adding Georgia State University in 1983, Stetson University in 1985, and the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1986. However, near the end of the decade, the conference was hit with 5 departures over 4 consecutive years, beginning with Houston Baptist transitioning to the NAIA in 1989. This was followed by Hardin-Simmons dropping to NCAA Division III in 1990, UTSA and Arkansas–Little Rock leaving for the Southland and Sun Belt conferences in 1991, respectively, and Georgia Southern leaving for the Southern Conference in 1992. In the midst of this, the conference began to relentlessly pursue expansion throughout the 1990s to offset these losses, adding Florida International University in 1990, Southeastern Louisiana University and the College of Charleston in 1991, the University of Central Florida in 1992, Florida Atlantic University in 1993, Campbell University in 1994, Jacksonville State University in 1995, Troy State University in 1997, and Jacksonville University in 1998. Of these 9 schools, though, only 2 ended up staying with the conference for longer than 15 years.

The turn of the millennium saw another charter member in Centenary depart in 1999 for the Mid-Continent Conference (now the Summit League); the league was able to offset this with the addition of Belmont University in 2001. Around this same time, the conference sought to rebrand itself, changing its name from the Trans America Athletic Conference to the Atlantic Sun Conference. The newly rebranded A-Sun continued to expand into the 2000s, adding Gardner–Webb University in 2002, Lipscomb University in 2003, East Tennessee State University, Kennesaw State University, and the University of North Florida in 2005, and Florida Gulf Coast University & the University of South Carolina Upstate in 2007. It also lost its fair share of members as well—largely some of the aforementioned members that had been added during the '90s, such as FIU, Florida Atlantic, and Troy to the Sun Belt, Georgia State to the Colonial Athletic Association, and UCF to Conference USA, but it also saw the departure of Samford to the Ohio Valley Conference, leaving Mercer as the only remaining charter member.

Present

The start of the 2010s gave the A-Sun a bit of a reprieve from conference realignment, losing only Campbell and Belmont in 2011 and 2012 to the Big South and OVC, respectively, and only adding recent D-I upgrader Northern Kentucky University in 2012. 2014 saw the departure of its final charter member, Mercer, to the Southern Conference in 2014; however, the Bears continued to compete in the ASUN as an affiliate for beach volleyball and added men's lacrosse to its ASUN membership in 2022. The ASUN continued to expand and contract slowly through the mid-2010s, losing only Northern Kentucky and East Tennessee State (along with Mercer), and only adding the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2015.

This slow pace didn't stay for long, however. The second half of the decade saw the conference rebranding a second time, to simply the ASUN Conference^[2] Two years later, the University of North Alabama arrived from the Division II Gulf South Conference,^[6] and Liberty University left the Big South for the ASUN.^[7] More recently, Bellarmine University joined from the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference^[8] and NJIT left for the America East Conference in 2020–21.^[9] On July 1, 2024, the University of West Georgia joined from the Division II Gulf South Conference.^[10]

Failed CCSA merger

On January 22, 2020, it was announced that the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association and the ASUN would merge to create a new Division I multisport conference.^[11] The timeline below was released with the announcement of this merger and expansion plan:

June, 2023 – ASUN Conference expands to 20 members.
Before July 1, 2023 – ASUN transfers rights to the ASUN name and marks to the CCSA.
July 1, 2023 – ASUN 7 joins the CCSA. The CCSA adopts the ASUN name as a multisport conference. The 13 remaining members would adopt the name United Athletic Conference.

The ASUN had planned on expanding to 20 members and then splitting the conference similar to how the Original Big East Conference was split in 2013 into the American Athletic Conference and the New Big East Conference. The new ASUN Conference governed by the CCSA would have made up of the ASUN 7 including all of the members that would have been in the ASUN Conference for at least 8 years to meet the requirements for a new multisport conference. The members would have included Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University of North Florida, and Stetson University. The United Athletic Conference (not to be confused with the United Athletic Conference, the football merger between the Western Athletic Conference and the ASUN in 2023) governed by the original ASUN Conference would have included Bellarmine University, Liberty University, University of North Alabama, and ten other undisclosed schools that would have joined through expansion.

On November 16, 2020, The ASUN Conference announced that, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the quickly changing landscape in conference realignment, the creation of a new multisport conference would not be possible at the time of the release or with the aforementioned timeline.^[12] This comes after the news that NJIT would be leaving the ASUN for the America East Conference in 2021, weakening the ASUN 7 and lowering the chances that a new conference would be created with only six members.

Addition of football

Arguably its biggest move in recent years was the announcement that the conference would be adding the University of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky University, and former member Jacksonville State University, as incoming members on January 29, 2021, with the intent of sponsoring football in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2022.^[13] However, with these three schools joining in 2021, the league partnered with another conference beginning to sponsor football also in 2022, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), to allow the three teams to join the WAC as football affiliates for 2021, branding it interchangeably as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge" and "WAC–ASUN Challenge"; the two leagues will receive a combined bid to the FCS playoffs.^[14]^[15]

As soon as it was announced, however, the football league was thrown into jeopardy, as Jacksonville State announced it would be leaving once again in 2023 for Conference USA (C-USA), an FBS conference. Liberty was also invited to C-USA for 2023, but had already competed as an FBS independent for some time and was not included in the ASUN's new football league.^[16] With the WAC also losing Sam Houston, another football-sponsoring school, to C-USA, the two conferences announced they would be renewing their alliance for the 2022 season.^[17] On September 17, 2021, the ASUN announced Austin Peay State University, a football-sponsoring school, as a new member for the 2022–23 season.^[18] In May 2022, local media in Charlotte, North Carolina, also reported that Queens University of Charlotte would start a transition from the Division II South Atlantic Conference as a new ASUN member, also effective on July 1 of that year.^[19] The ASUN officially announced this move on May 10.^[20]

The ASUN also expanded its associate membership in the 2020s. The conference started the decade with five associate members—Coastal Carolina in both beach volleyball and women's lacrosse, Mercer in beach volleyball only, and Akron, Kent State, and Howard in women's lacrosse. All of the women's lacrosse associates left by the 2021–22 school year. Akron and Kent State left after the 2020 season when their full-time home of the Mid-American Conference began sponsoring the sport. Coastal Carolina also left after the 2020 season for the SoCon. Howard moved several sports not sponsored by its full-time home of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference to the Northeast Conference, with women's lacrosse moving after the 2021 season. Coastal Carolina moved beach volleyball to C-USA after the 2020–21 school year.

However, the 2021–22 school year saw the arrival of eight new associates, as well as the return of former women's lacrosse associates Coastal Carolina and Delaware State for that sport. ASUN beach volleyball added Charleston, Stephen F. Austin, and UNC Wilmington. The largest change in associate membership involved the relaunch of ASUN men's lacrosse. Full member Bellarmine was joined by five new associates—Air Force, Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Robert Morris, and Utah.

The ASUN lost five beach volleyball members for 2022–23. The conference's four associates in that sport left for the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), which added that sport. Charleston, Stephen F. Austin, and UNC Wilmington all left the ASUN after a single season and Mercer also moved beach volleyball to the SBC.^[21] Also, departing full member Jacksonville State moved beach volleyball to its future home of C-USA a year before its all-sports move to that league.^[22]

Also for 2022–23, Mercer moved men's lacrosse into the ASUN after the SoCon shut down its men's lacrosse league, and new D-I member Lindenwood became an associate in both men's and women's lacrosse.

On October 14, 2022, Conference USA and Kennesaw State jointly announced that KSU would start a transition to FBS after the 2022 football season^[23] and join C-USA in 2024.^[24]

ESPN reported on December 9, 2022, that the ASUN and WAC had agreed to form a new football-only conference that plans to start play in 2024. The initial membership would consist of Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and North Alabama from the ASUN, and Abilene Christian, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton, and Utah Tech from the WAC. UTRGV would become the 10th member upon its planned addition of football in 2025. The new football conference also reportedly plans to move "from what is currently known as FCS football to what is currently known as FBS football at the earliest practicable date."^[25] On December 20, the two conferences confirmed the football merger, announcing that the new football league would start play in 2023 under the tentative name of ASUN–WAC Football Conference. This was followed in April 2023 by the new league rebranding itself as the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The UAC is playing a six-game schedule, and initially planned to start full round-robin conference play in 2024, although this is likely to change with two schools joining by 2025.^[a] Neither conference's announcement mentioned any plans to move to FBS.^[26]^[27]^[28]

Return of Atlantic Sun

On September 1, 2023, it was announced that the ASUN would undergo another rebranding to reinstate the use of the name Atlantic Sun. The conference still uses "ASUN" as its official abbreviation.

Addition of swimming and diving

The ASUN added men's and women's swimming & diving for the 2023–24 season, taking most of its initial membership from the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association, which had been founded as a partnership of several all-sports conferences, including the ASUN, as a home for that sport (the CCSA's scope would later expand to include beach volleyball). Two associate members came from the American Athletic Conference, which dropped men's swimming as a sponsored sport after the 2022–23 season. The initial membership for that sport is:^[29]

Two full members, Bellarmine and Queens, compete in both the men's and women's leagues.
Two other full members, Florida Gulf Coast and North Florida, sponsor only the women's sport.
The two full men's members were joined by associate members Florida Atlantic, Gardner–Webb, Old Dominion, and SMU. SMU will only compete in the 2023–24 season, after which it will join the Atlantic Coast Conference, which sponsors the sport for both sexes.
Gardner–Webb is also an associate in women's swimming & diving; it was joined in that status by former full ASUN member Liberty and UNC Asheville.

Member schools

Current full members

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Endowment (millions)	Nickname
Austin Peay State University	Clarksville, Tennessee	1927	2022	Public	10,344	$45.3	Governors
Bellarmine University	Louisville, Kentucky	1950	2020	Private (Catholic)	3,369	$80.1	Knights
University of Central Arkansas	Conway, Arkansas	1907	2021	Public	10,869	$56.0	Bears & Sugar Bears
Eastern Kentucky University	Richmond, Kentucky	1874	2021	Public	16,959	$78.8	Colonels
Florida Gulf Coast University	Fort Myers, Florida^[b]	1997	2007	Public	15,076	$129.3	Eagles
Jacksonville University	Jacksonville, Florida	1934	1998	Private	4,213	$59.2	Dolphins
Lipscomb University	Nashville, Tennessee	1891	2003	Private (Churches of Christ)	4,620	$97.5	Bisons
University of North Alabama	Florence, Alabama	1830	2018	Public	7,650	$53.0	Lions
University of North Florida	Jacksonville, Florida	1965	2005	Public	16,309	$141.0	Ospreys
Queens University of Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1857	2022	Private (PCUSA)	2,463	$185.0	Royals
Stetson University	DeLand, Florida	1883	1985	Private	4,330	$387.0	Hatters
University of West Georgia	Carrollton, Georgia	1906	2024	Public	12,769	$41.1	Wolves

Notes

^ With FCS programs limited to 11 regular-season games in most seasons, as opposed to the 12-game limit in FBS, a round-robin conference schedule is problematic for any FCS conference with more than 9 members.
^ The FGCU campus has a Fort Myers mailing address, but lies in unincorporated Lee County.

Associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Nickname	Primary conference	ASUN sport(s)
United States Air Force Academy (Air Force)	USAF Academy, Colorado^[a]	1954	Military	4,304	2021–22	Falcons	Mountain West	Men's lacrosse
Coastal Carolina University	Conway, South Carolina	1954	Public	10,484	2021–22^[b]	Chanticleers	Sun Belt	Women's lacrosse
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	Public	30,171	2023–24	Owls	American	Men's swimming & diving
Gardner–Webb University	Boiling Springs, North Carolina	1905	Private	3,594	2023–24	Runnin' Bulldogs	Big South	Men's and women's swimming & diving
Kennesaw State University	Kennesaw, Georgia^[c]	1963	Public	45,152	2024–25^[d]	Owls	CUSA	Women's lacrosse
Liberty University	Lynchburg, Virginia	1971	Private	16,000^[e]	2023–24^[f]	Lady Flames	CUSA	Women's lacrosse
Liberty University	Lynchburg, Virginia	1971	Private	16,000^[e]	2023–24^[f]	Lady Flames	CUSA	Women's swimming & diving
Lindenwood University	St. Charles, Missouri	1827	Private	7,374	2022–23^[31]^[32]	Lions	OVC	Women's lacrosse
Mercer University	Macon, Georgia	1833	Private	8,740	2022–23	Bears	SoCon	Men's lacrosse
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Public	24,286	2023–24	Monarchs	Sun Belt	Men's swimming & diving
University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNC Asheville)	Asheville, North Carolina	1927	Public	3,762	2023–24	Bulldogs	Big South	Women's swimming & diving
University of Utah	Salt Lake City, Utah	1850	Public	32,818	2021–22	Utes	Big 12	Men's lacrosse

Future associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joining	Nickname	Primary conference	ASUN sport(s)
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1743	Public^[g]	23,774^[33]	2025–26	Blue Hens	CAA (CUSA in 2025)	Women's lacrosse^[34]
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1743	Public^[g]	23,774^[33]	2025–26	Blue Hens	CAA (CUSA in 2025)	Men's and women's swimming & diving^[35]

Notes

^ Virtually all of the Air Force Academy grounds, including the cadet area and all athletic facilities, lie outside the city limits of Colorado Springs. The US Census Bureau and US Postal Service consider the Academy to be its own entity, respectively, as "Air Force Academy" and "USAF Academy".
^ Coastal Carolina had previously been a member of the ASUN for women's lacrosse from the 2017 to 2020 spring seasons (2016–17 to 2019–20 school years).^[30]
^ The KSU campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is located in unincorporated Cobb County.
^ Measured from Kennesaw State's departure from full ASUN membership.
^ Approximate on-campus enrollment. Liberty claims an enrollment of over 130,000 including online students.
^ Measured from Liberty's departure from full ASUN membership.
^ Delaware is officially chartered as a "privately-governed, state-assisted" institution. This status is broadly similar to that of New York State's statutory colleges, most of which are housed at Cornell University, or institutions in Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education.

Former full members

School names and nicknames listed here reflect those used during the schools' time in the TAAC/ASUN. One school has changed both its name and nickname and three others have changed only their nicknames.

Five former full members are now associates:

Florida Atlantic, which left the ASUN in 2006, rejoined for women's swimming & diving in 2023.
Gardner–Webb, which left in 2008, rejoined for men's and women's swimming & diving in 2023.
Mercer, which left in 2014, has been a men's lacrosse associate since 2022. It was also an associate in women's lacrosse from 2014 to 2017 and beach volleyball from 2014 to 2022.
Liberty, which left in 2023, remains an associate in women's lacrosse, and became an associate in women's swimming & diving when the ASUN added that sport in 2023–24.
Kennesaw State, which left in 2024, remains an associate in women's lacrosse.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	Current conference
University of Arkansas at Little Rock^[a]	Little Rock, Arkansas	1927	Public	13,000	1979	1991	Trojans	OVC
Belmont University	Nashville, Tennessee	1890	Private	6,647	2001	2012	Bruins	MVC
Campbell University	Buies Creek, North Carolina	1887	Private	4,120	1994	2011	Fighting Camels	CAA
Centenary College of Louisiana	Shreveport, Louisiana	1825	Private	787	1978	1999	Gentlemen (men's) Ladies (women's)	SCAC^[b]
University of Central Florida	Orlando, Florida^[c]	1963	Public	60,181	1992	2005	Golden Knights^[d]	Big 12
College of Charleston	Charleston, South Carolina	1770	Public	11,320	1991	1998	Cougars	CAA
East Tennessee State University	Johnson City, Tennessee	1911	Public	15,530	2005	2014	Buccaneers	SoCon
Florida Atlantic University	Boca Raton, Florida	1961	Public	29,290	1993	2006	Owls	American
Florida International University	Miami, Florida^[e]	1965	Public	50,394	1990	1998	Golden Panthers^[f]	CUSA
Gardner–Webb University	Boiling Springs, North Carolina	1905	Private	4,300	2002	2008	Runnin' Bulldogs	Big South
Georgia Southern University	Statesboro, Georgia	1906	Public	20,584	1979	1992	Eagles	Sun Belt
Georgia State University	Atlanta, Georgia	1913	Public	32,087	1983	2005	Panthers	Sun Belt
Hardin–Simmons University	Abilene, Texas	1891	Private	2,435	1978	1990	Cowboys	American Southwest^[b]
Houston Baptist University^[g]	Houston, Texas	1960	Private	2,567	1978	1989	Huskies	Southland
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	1883	Public	9,283	1995	2003	Gamecocks	CUSA
Jacksonville State University	Jacksonville, Alabama	1883	Public	9,283	2021	2023	Gamecocks	CUSA
Kennesaw State University	Kennesaw, Georgia^[h]	1963	Public	45,152	2005	2024	Owls	CUSA
Liberty University	Lynchburg, Virginia	1971	Private	16,000	2018	2023	Flames & Lady Flames	CUSA
Northeast Louisiana University^[i]	Monroe, Louisiana	1931	Public	8,405	1978	1982	Indians^[i]	Sun Belt
Mercer University	Macon, Georgia	1833	Private	8,300	1978	2014	Bears	SoCon
New Jersey Institute of Technology	Newark, New Jersey	1881	Public	11,518	2015	2020	Highlanders	America East
Nicholls State University^[j]	Thibodaux, Louisiana	1948	Public	7,093	1982	1984	Colonels	Southland
Northern Kentucky University	Highland Heights, Kentucky	1968	Public	15,263	2012	2015	Norse	Horizon
Northwestern State University	Natchitoches, Louisiana	1884	Public	9,244	1979	1984	Demons	Southland
Oklahoma City University	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma	1904	Private	3,770	1978	1979	Chiefs^[k]	Sooner (SAC)^[l]
Samford University	Homewood, Alabama	1841	Private	4,440	1978	2003	Bulldogs	SoCon
University of South Carolina Upstate	Spartanburg, South Carolina	1967	Public	5,821	2007	2018	Spartans	Big South
Southeastern Louisiana University	Hammond, Louisiana	1925	Public	17,800	1991	1997	Lions	Southland
Pan American University^[m]	Edinburg, Texas	1927	Public	19,302	1978	1980	Broncs^[n]	Southland
University of Texas at San Antonio	San Antonio, Texas	1969	Public	30,474	1986	1991	Roadrunners	American
Troy University	Troy, Alabama	1887	Public	29,689	1997	2005	Trojans	Sun Belt^[o]

Notes

^ The school changed its athletic brand to "Little Rock" in 2015.
^ ^a ^b Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference
^ UCF's main campus has an Orlando mailing address but is physically located in unincorporated Orange County.
^ UCF dropped the word "Golden" from its nickname in 2007, becoming simply the Knights.
^ FIU's main campus has a Miami mailing address but is physically located in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.
^ FIU dropped the word "Golden" from its nickname in 2010, becoming simply the Panthers.
^ The school changed its name to Houston Christian University in September 2022.
^ The KSU campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is located in unincorporated Cobb County.
^ ^a ^b Northeast Louisiana adopted its current name of the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1999. The school adopted its current nickname of Warhawks in 2006, when it joined the Sun Belt Conference.
^ Nicholls State was a provisional member, and as such was never a full member of the TAAC. The school changed its athletic brand to "Nicholls" in 2017.
^ Oklahoma City adopted its current nickname of Stars in 1999.
^ Currently an NAIA athletic conference
^ Pan American adopted its final name of the University of Texas–Pan American in 1989. In 2015, it merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville to form the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).
^ UTRGV inherited UTPA's athletic program, with the nickname being changed from Broncs to Vaqueros. UTRGV also inherited UTPA's membership in the Western Athletic Conference.
^ Troy became a member of the Sun Belt for football member during the 2004 fall season (2004–05 school year), a year before it became an all-sports member.

Former associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	ASUN sport(s)	Primary conference	Current conference in former ASUN sport(s)
University of Akron	Akron, Ohio	1870	Public	18,730	2019–20	2019–20^[36]^[a]	Zips	Women's lacrosse	MAC
Central Michigan University	Mount Pleasant, Michigan	1892	Public	27,693	2015–16	2016–17	Chippewas	Women's lacrosse	MAC
College of Charleston (Charleston)	Charleston, South Carolina	1770	Public	10,468	2021–22^[38]	2022–23	Cougars	Beach volleyball	CAA	Sun Belt
Cleveland State University	Cleveland, Ohio	1964	Public	15,648	2021–22	2024–25	Vikings	Men's lacrosse	Horizon	NEC
Coastal Carolina University	Conway, South Carolina	1954	Public	10,484	2015–16	2020–21	Chanticleers	Beach volleyball	Sun Belt
Delaware State University	Dover, Delaware	1891	Public^[b] (HBCU)	5,054	2016–17^[c] 2021–22	2017–18 2022–23	Hornets	Women's lacrosse	MEAC	NEC
University of Detroit Mercy	Detroit, Michigan	1877	Private	5,700	2012–13	2016–17	Titans	Women's lacrosse	Horizon	MAC
University of Detroit Mercy	Detroit, Michigan	1877	Private	5,700	2021–22	2024–25	Titans	Men's lacrosse	Horizon	NEC
Elon University	Elon, North Carolina	1889	Private	6,305	2013–14	2013–14	Phoenix	Women's lacrosse	CAA
Furman University	Greenville, South Carolina	1826	Private	2,668	2014–15	2016–17	Paladins	Women's lacrosse	SoCon
Howard University	Washington, D.C.	1867	Private	9,139	2012–13	2020–21^[39]	Lady Bison	Women's lacrosse	MEAC	NEC
Kent State University	Kent, Ohio	1910	Public	28,122	2018–19	2019–20^[a]	Golden Flashes	Women's lacrosse	MAC
Lindenwood University	St. Charles, Missouri	1827	Private	7,374	2022–23	2024–25	Lions	Men's lacrosse	OVC	—^[d]
Mercer University^[e]	Macon, Georgia	1833	Private	8,603	2014–15	2016–17	Bears	Women's lacrosse	SoCon
Mercer University^[e]	Macon, Georgia	1833	Private	8,603	2014–15	2022–23	Bears	Beach volleyball	SoCon	Sun Belt
Old Dominion University	Norfolk, Virginia	1930	Public	24,932	2014–15	2017–18	Monarchs	Women's lacrosse	Sun Belt	American
Robert Morris University	Moon Township, Pennsylvania	1921	Private	4,895	2021–22	2024–25	Colonials	Men's lacrosse	Horizon	NEC
Southern Methodist University (SMU)	Dallas, Texas^[f]	1911	Private	11,649	2023–24	2024–25	Mustangs	Men's swimming & diving	ACC
Stephen F. Austin State University	Nacogdoches, Texas	1923	Public	11,946	2021–22^[40]	2022–23	Beach volleyball	Ladyjacks	Southland
University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)	Wilmington, North Carolina	1947	Public	14,765	2021–22^[38]	2022–23	Beach volleyball	Seahawks	CAA	Sun Belt

Notes

^ ^a ^b Akron and Kent State left ASUN women's lacrosse after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 school year) to join the newly formed women's lacrosse league of their full-time home of the Mid-American Conference.^[37]
^ Delaware State is officially chartered as a "privately governed, state-assisted" institution. This status is broadly similar to that of New York State's statutory colleges, most of which are housed at Cornell University, or institutions in Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education.
^ Delaware State had previously been a member of the ASUN for women's lacrosse during the 2017 spring season (2016–17 school year).^[30]
^ Lindenwood stopped sponsoring men's lacrosse after the spring 2024 season.
^ Mercer became an ASUN associate in men's lacrosse in 2022.
^ Virtually all of the SMU campus lies in University Park, a separate city contained within the Dallas city limits. The US Postal Service considers all locations in University Park to have a Dallas address.

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Assoc. members (football only) Assoc. members (other sports) Other conference Other conference

Northeast Louisiana became the University of Louisiana at Monroe (Louisiana–Monroe) in 1999.
Pan American, later known as Texas–Pan American or UTPA, merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville in 2015 to create the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV). The new school inherited UTPA's athletic program.

Sports sponsored

As of the 2023–24 school year, the ASUN sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 12 women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[41]

In 2008, the ASUN, in an agreement with the Southern Conference (SoCon), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), and Big South Conference, formed the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) for schools sponsoring men's and women's swimming and diving within the associated conferences. For the past several years, the ASUN's Commissioner has served as the president of what was initially a swimming & diving-only conference. In 2014 the CCSA expanded to include several other schools from other conferences, and the following year the conference added beach volleyball (women-only at the NCAA level) as a sponsored sport, changing its name to the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. Currently the conference has 17 member schools, with five men's swimming and diving teams, nine women's swimming & diving teams, and six beach volleyball teams.^[42]

A more recent change to the roster of ASUN sports took place after the 2013–14 school year. Under a cooperative agreement between the ASUN and SoCon, the two leagues agreed to split lacrosse sponsorship. The SoCon took over the ASUN men's lacrosse league, while women's lacrosse sponsorship remained with the ASUN.^[43] The full alliance in women's lacrosse amicably ended after the 2017 season, with the SoCon sponsoring that sport from the 2018 season forward, but the two leagues continued in a cross-scheduling agreement until the SoCon dropped women's lacrosse after the 2021 season.

Still more recently, on September 13, 2016, the ASUN and Big South announced a football partnership that allows any ASUN members with scholarship football programs to become Big South football members, provided they are located within the general geographic footprint of the two conferences. At the time of announcement, the only ASUN member with a scholarship football program, Kennesaw State, was already a Big South football member. Should any ASUN member add scholarship football, or any non-scholarship football program of an ASUN school (at the time of announcement, Jacksonville and Stetson) upgrade to scholarship football, that team will automatically join Big South football.^[44] North Alabama joined Big South football under the terms of this agreement; although the school's home state of Alabama had no schools in either conference at the time it was announced as a future ASUN member, three of its neighboring states were home to six of the ASUN's eight members at that time.

When the ASUN announced the July 2021 entry of Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and Jacksonville State, it also stated that it would launch a scholarship FCS football league, but did not specify when football competition will begin.^[13] No current member is required to add football or change its current football standing.^[45] At a press conference on February 23, 2021, the ASUN announced that it had entered into a separate football partnership with the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), which had previously announced the relaunch of its football league at the FCS level in fall 2021 with the arrival of four new FCS member schools. The three incoming ASUN members joined the four incoming WAC members in a round-robin schedule branded as the "ASUN–WAC Challenge". Both conferences proposed an amendment to NCAA bylaws that would allow the alliance to receive an automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. The alliance had seven members, one more than the six normally required for an automatic bid, but were not in the same league for an adequate period to meet the current NCAA "continuity" requirement.^[46]^[15] The two leagues' proposal was successful, resulting in an automatic qualifier from the seven-team Challenge, colloquially dubbed "AQ7".^[47] With the 2022 arrival of Austin Peay providing the ASUN its sixth scholarship FCS program, the ASUN will start its football league in the 2022 season. However, because the ASUN and WAC were each left with only five playoff-eligible football members for 2022 after Jacksonville State (ASUN) and Sam Houston (WAC) started FBS transitions in that season, both leagues renewed their football partnership for 2022.^[17] As noted earlier, the two conferences fully merged their football leagues in 2023 as the United Athletic Conference.

Shortly after the addition of football was announced, the ASUN announced that it would reinstate men's lacrosse in the 2022 season, with the lacrosse partnership with the SoCon retained for the time being. The two full ASUN members with men's lacrosse programs, Bellarmine and Jacksonville, separated for that sport, with Bellarmine joining the new ASUN lacrosse league and Jacksonville remaining in SoCon men's lacrosse. Air Force moved from SoCon men's lacrosse; men's lacrosse independent Utah joined; and all three Horizon League members with men's lacrosse programs also joined, with Detroit Mercy moving from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Cleveland State and Robert Morris moving from independent status. The SoCon maintained its automatic NCAA tournament berth by adding another lacrosse independent, Hampton. The ASUN men's lacrosse league was initially to be administered through the CCSA while operating under the ASUN name as part of the ASUN's intended plan to split into two conferences.^[48]^[49] This arrangement was scrapped along with the planned conference split once NJIT left for the America East; the men's lacrosse league is now directly administered by the ASUN.

The ASUN added two new beach volleyball members, Charleston and UNCW, in July 2021.^[38] At the same time, Coastal Carolina left ASUN beach volleyball for the newly formed Conference USA beach volleyball league.^[50] With the demise of SoCon women's lacrosse after the 2021 season, Coastal Carolina and Delaware State returned to the ASUN in that sport after respectively spending one and four seasons in the SoCon.^[30]

The SoCon dropped men's lacrosse after the 2022 season due to further conference realignment. Jacksonville returned men's lacrosse to the ASUN, and full SoCon member Mercer became an ASUN men's lacrosse affiliate. Lindenwood, which started a transition from D-II to D-I in 2022 as a new member of the Ohio Valley Conference, became an affiliate in both men's and women's lacrosse (neither of which is sponsored by the OVC). Also in 2022–23, the ASUN lost all four of its beach volleyball affiliates (Charleston, Mercer, Stephen F. Austin, UNCW) to the new beach volleyball league of the Sun Belt Conference.

As noted previously, the ASUN added men's and women's swimming & diving in 2023–24.

**ASUN Conference teams**
Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	12	–
Basketball	12	12
Beach volleyball	–	8
Cross country	12	12
Golf	12	12
Lacrosse	6	7
Soccer	8	12
Softball	–	12
Swimming & diving	5	7
Tennis	9	10
Track and field (indoor)	7	9
Track and field (outdoor)	7	9
Volleyball	–	12

Men's sports

Men's sponsored sports by school
School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field (indoor)	Track & field (outdoor)	Total sports
Austin Peay	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	5
Bellarmine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Central Arkansas	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	7
Eastern Kentucky	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	6
Florida Gulf Coast	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	6
Jacksonville	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	6
Lipscomb	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
North Alabama	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	5
North Florida	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Queens	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Stetson	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	6
West Georgia	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	8
Associate members
Air Force					Yes						1
Florida Atlantic							Yes				1
Gardner–Webb							Yes				1
Mercer					Yes						1
Old Dominion							Yes				1
Utah					Yes						1
Totals	12	12	12	12	3+3	8	2+3	8	7	7	83+6

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by ASUN schools:

School	Football	Rowing	Volleyball	Wrestling
Austin Peay	UAC	No	No	No
Bellarmine	No^[a]	No	No	SoCon
Central Arkansas	UAC	No	No	No
Eastern Kentucky	UAC	No	No	No
Jacksonville	No	MAAC	No	No
North Alabama	UAC	No	No	No
Queens	No	No	MIVA^[51]	No
Stetson	Pioneer	MAAC	No	No
West Georgia	UAC	No	No	No

^ While non-football by NCAA criteria, Bellarmine fields a varsity team in the weight-restricted and non-NCAA variant of sprint football.

In addition to the aforementioned sports:

Queens sponsors men's rugby and triathlon, neither of which has NCAA recognition of any type. It also considers its male cheerleaders to be varsity athletes.

Women's sports

Women's sponsored sports by school
School	Basketball	Beach volleyball	Cross country	Golf	Lacrosse	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & diving	Tennis	Track & field (indoor)	Track & field (outdoor)	Volleyball	Total Sports
Austin Peay	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No^[a]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Bellarmine	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Central Arkansas	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Eastern Kentucky	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
Florida Gulf Coast	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	9
Jacksonville	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	10
Lipscomb	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	9
North Alabama	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	8
North Florida	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	11
Queens	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	11
Stetson	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	9
West Georgia	Yes	No^[b]	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No^[c]	Yes	Yes	Yes	8
Associate members
Coastal Carolina					Yes								1
Gardner–Webb								Yes					1
Kennesaw State					Yes								1
Liberty					Yes			Yes					2
Lindenwood					Yes								1
UNC Asheville								Yes					1
Totals	12	8	12	12	3+4	12	12	4+3	9	9	9	12	115+7

^ Austin Peay will add women's lacrosse in 2025–26.^[52]
^ West Georgia will add beach volleyball in 2025–26.
^ West Georgia dropped women's tennis after the 2023–24 season, immediately before joining the ASUN.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by ASUN schools:

School	Field Hockey	Rowing	Rugby^[a]	Stunt^[a]	Triathlon^[a]
Bellarmine	MAC^[53]	No	No	No	No
Central Arkansas	No	No	No	Independent	No
Jacksonville	No	MAAC	No	No	No
Queens	IND	No	IND	No	IND
Stetson	No	MAAC	No	No	No
West Georgia	No	No	No	No^[b]	No

^ ^a ^b ^c Part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.
^ West Georgia, which currently fields a club-level stunt team, has announced it will elevate the sport to varsity status in the near future, though has not set a timeline.

In addition to the aforementioned sports:

Bellarmine considers the members of its all-female dance team to be varsity athletes.
Queens considers its cheerleaders and dance team (the latter all-female, though listed on its athletic website as coeducational) to be varsity athletes.

Facilities

School	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity	Soccer stadium	Capacity
Austin Peay	F&M Bank Arena	5,500	Raymond C. Hand Park	777	Morgan Brothers Soccer Field	800
Bellarmine	Knights Hall	2,196	Knights Field	—	Owsley B. Frazier Stadium	2,000
Central Arkansas	Farris Center	6,000	Bear Stadium	1,000	Bill Stephens Track/Soccer Complex	1,000
Eastern Kentucky	Baptist Health Arena	6,300	Turkey Hughes Field	500	EKU Soccer Field	400
Florida Gulf Coast	Alico Arena	4,633	Swanson Stadium	1,500	FGCU Soccer Complex	1,500
Jacksonville	Swisher Gymnasium	1,500	John Sessions Stadium	1,500	Ashley Sports Complex	500
Lipscomb	Allen Arena	5,028	Ken Dugan Field	1,500	Lipscomb Soccer Complex	600
North Alabama	Flowers Hall	3,900	Mike D. Lane Field	—	Bill Jones Athletic Complex	—
North Florida	UNF Arena	5,800	Harmon Stadium	1,000	Hodges Stadium	9,300
Queens	Curry Arena	2,500	Tuckaseegee Dream Fields	—	Dickson Field	—
Stetson	Edmunds Center	5,000	Melching Field at Conrad Park	2,500	Stetson Soccer Complex	500
West Georgia	The Coliseum	7,000	Cole Field	500	University Soccer Field	250

All Sports Championships

The Jesse C. Fletcher and Sherman Day Trophies are awarded each year to the top men's and women's program in the conference. The Bill Bibb Trophy, combining the men's and women's results for the best overall program, was first awarded in 2006–07. East Tennessee State won this overall trophy seven of the nine years it has been awarded; Florida Gulf Coast won in 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015–16.^[54]

Men's All Sports: Jesse C. Fletcher Trophy

Year	Champion
1978–79	Oklahoma City
1979–80	Northeast Louisiana
1980–81	Northeast Louisiana
1981–82	Northeast Louisiana
1982–83	Georgia Southern
1983–84	Centenary
1984–85	Georgia Southern
1985–86	Houston Baptist
1986–87	Georgia Southern
1987–88	Georgia Southern
1988–89	Georgia Southern
1989–90	Georgia Southern
1990–91	Georgia Southern
1991–92	Florida International
1992–93	Florida International
1993–94	Florida International
1994–95	Central Florida
1995–96	Central Florida
1996–97	Florida International
1997–98	Georgia State
1998–99	Central Florida
1999–00	Georgia State
2000–01	Georgia State
2001–02	Georgia State
2002–03	Central Florida
2003–04	Central Florida
2004–05	Central Florida
2005–06	East Tennessee State
2006–07	East Tennessee State
2007–08	East Tennessee State
2008–09	East Tennessee State
2009–10	East Tennessee State
2010–11	East Tennessee State
2011–12	East Tennessee State
2012–13	Florida Gulf Coast
2013–14	East Tennessee State
2014–15	North Florida
2015–16	North Florida
2017–18	North Florida
2018–19	Liberty
2021–22	Liberty
2022–23	Liberty
2023–24	Lipscomb

Women's All Sports: Sherman Day Trophy

Year	Champion
1978–79	None
1979–80	None
1980–81	None
1981–82	None
1982–83	None
1983–84	None
1984–85	None
1985–86	Stetson, Georgia State
1986–87	Stetson
1987–88	Georgia State
1988–89	Georgia State
1989–90	Georgia State
1990–91	Florida International
1991–92	Florida International
1992–93	Georgia State
1993–94	Florida International
1994–95	Campbell
1995–96	Central Florida
1996–97	Central Florida
1997–98	Georgia State
1998–99	Central Florida
1999–00	Georgia State
2000–01	Georgia State
2001–02	Central Florida
2002–03	Central Florida
2003–04	Central Florida
2004–05	Central Florida
2005–06	Florida Atlantic
2006–07	East Tennessee State
2007–08	Jacksonville
2008–09	Jacksonville
2009–10	Kennesaw State
2010–11	Jacksonville
2011–12	Kennesaw State
2012–13	Florida Gulf Coast
2013–14	Jacksonville
2014–15	Florida Gulf Coast
2015–16	Florida Gulf Coast
2016–17	Florida Gulf Coast
2017–18	Florida Gulf Coast
2018–19	Liberty
2021–22	Liberty
2022–23	Liberty
2023–24	Lipscomb

Combined All Sports: Bill Bibb Trophy

Year	Champion
2006–07	ETSU
2007–08	ETSU
2008–09	ETSU
2009–10	ETSU
2010–11	ETSU
2011–12	ETSU
2012–13	FGCU
2013–14	ETSU
2014–15	FGCU
2015–16	FGCU
2016–17	FGCU
2017–18	Kennesaw State
2018–19	Liberty
2021–22	Liberty
2022–23	Liberty
2023–24	Lipscomb

Championships

Men's basketball

This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see ASUN men's basketball tournament.^[55]

Season	Regular-season champion(s)	Tournament champion
2013–14	Florida Gulf Coast Mercer	Mercer
2014–15	North Florida	North Florida
2015–16	North Florida	Florida Gulf Coast
2016–17	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2017–18	Florida Gulf Coast	Lipscomb
2018–19	Lipscomb Liberty	Liberty
2019–20	Liberty North Florida	Liberty
2020–21	Liberty	Liberty
2021–22	Liberty (East) Jacksonville State (West)	Bellarmine^[a]
2022–23	Kennesaw State Liberty	Kennesaw State
2023–24	Eastern Kentucky	Stetson

^ Because Bellarmine was in the second season of its four-year transition from Division II, it was ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Under ASUN rules, Jacksonville State received the ASUN's automatic bid by virtue of the best regular-season conference record.

Women's basketball

This is a partial list of the last 13 champions. For the full history, see ASUN women's basketball tournament.^[56]

Season	Regular Season Champion(s)	Tournament Champion
2011–12	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2012–13	Stetson	Stetson
2013–14	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2014–15	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2015–16	Florida Gulf Coast	Jacksonville
2016–17	Stetson	Florida Gulf Coast
2017–18	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2018–19	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2019–20	Florida Gulf Coast	None (COVID-19)
2020–21	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2021–22	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2022–23	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast
2023–24	Florida Gulf Coast	Florida Gulf Coast

Baseball

ASUN Conference baseball tournament

Notes and references

^ "Atlantic Coast Conference". Archived from the original on February 6, 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2006.
^ ^a ^b "Conference Student-Athletes Unveil New ASUN Brand Identity" (Press release). ASUN Conference. April 28, 2016.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Barney, Justin (May 8, 2024). "Atlantic Sun Conference relocating conference headquarters to Jacksonville this fall". news4jax.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
^ "New conference Gets NCAA OK For Division I". Abilene Reporter-News. November 1, 1978. p. 19. Retrieved July 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Nicholls finally in conference". The Anniston Star. August 19, 1982. p. 14. Retrieved July 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "UNA Accepts ASUN Division I Invitation" (Press release). North Alabama Lions. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
^ "ASUN Conference Announces Liberty University as League Member for 2018–19" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 17, 2018. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
^ "ASUN Conference Announces Addition of Bellarmine University" (Press release). ASUN Conference. June 18, 2019. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
^ "NJIT to Join America East Conference as 10th Member Institution – NJIT Highlanders". NJIT Highlanders. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
^ "Inside West Georgia’s move to Division I" Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
^ "ASUN Announces Exploration of Expansion & Building New NCAA Division I Multisport Conference". ASUN Conference. January 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
^ "ASUN Statement on Conference Expansion". ASUN Conference. November 16, 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport" (Press release). ASUN Conference. January 29, 2021. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
^ "ASUN, WAC Conferences Announce Football Partnership for 2021" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
^ ^a ^b "From the Commissioner's Desk: @ASUN_Football Update" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
^ "Conference USA to add Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State beginning in 2023". ESPN. November 5, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "ASUN and WAC Renew Football Alliance" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
^ "ASUN Conference Welcomes Austin Peay State University as its Newest Member" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 17, 2021. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
^ Limehouse, Jonathan (May 7, 2022). "Queens University of Charlotte accepts invitation to NCAA Division I conference". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 8, 2022.
^ "ASUN Conference Welcomes Queens University of Charlotte as Its Newest Member" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 10, 2022. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
^ "Sun Belt Conference Adds Beach Volleyball For 2023" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
^ "2023 Preseason Awards Announced" (Press release). Conference USA. February 23, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023. The league serves up its second season with opening matches this weekend featuring (16) FIU, (12) Florida Atlantic and UAB, along with new members Jacksonville State and (ARV) Tulane.
^ "Kennesaw State to Join Conference USA in 2024–25" (Press release). Kennesaw State Owls. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
^ "C-USA Adds Kennesaw State, Owls to Join in 2024" (Press release). Conference USA. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
^ Thamel, Pete (December 9, 2022). "Atlantic Sun, WAC teams pairing up to attempt move to FBS, sources say". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.
^ "@ASUN_Football and WAC Release 2023 Schedule" (Press release). ASUN Conference. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
^ "ASUN And WAC Unveil 2023 Football Schedule" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
^ "ASUN-WAC Football Partnership Formally Rebrands As The United Athletic Conference" (Press release). ASUN Conference. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
^ "ASUN Conference Adds Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). Atlantic Sun Conference. August 28, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Coastal Carolina and Delaware State Set to Rejoin ASUN Conference Women's Lacrosse" (Press release). ASUN Conference. July 7, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
^ "Jacksonville, Lindenwood & Mercer Joining #ASUNMLAX for 2023 Season" (Press release). ASUN Conference. March 30, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
^ "#ASUNWLAX Announces Addition of Lindenwood for 2023 Season" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
^ "Facts & Figures | University of Delaware". udel.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
^ "Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Lacrosse Adds Delaware for 2026 Season" (Press release). July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
^ "Delaware Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Joins Atlantic Sun Conference" (Press release). July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.
^ "Akron Women's Lacrosse to Join ASUN" (Press release). Akron Zips. April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
^ "Women's Lacrosse Coming in 2020–21; Detroit Mercy & Youngstown State As Affiliates" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. November 6, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c "ASUN Conference Announces Additions of Col. of Charleston and UNCW in Beach Volleyball" (Press release). ASUN Conference. July 6, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
^ "Six Howard Athletics Programs Join the Northeast Conference as Associate Members" (Press release). Howard Bison. July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
^ "11th Season of #ASUNBVB Begins This Weekend" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 24, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022. Stephen F. Austin begins its first season in the league and is set to open its 2022 campaign at the Kingsville Tournament where they face Ottawa, Texas A&M Kingsville, Missouri Baptist and Colorado Mesa.
^ "ASUN Conference". asunsports.org.
^ "About the CCSA". Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
^ "SoCon, ASUN Partner to Enhance Lacrosse" (Press release). Southern Conference. January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
^ "Big South and ASUN Conference Establish FCS Membership Partnership" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 13, 2016. Archived from the original on October 30, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
^ Franklin, Drew (January 25, 2021). "EKU to leave the OVC for the Atlantic Sun Conference". Kentucky Sports Radio. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
^ "ASUN, WAC Conferences Announce Football Partnership for 2021" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
^ "FCS college football 2021: AQ7 preview". KRQE. Stats Perform. August 20, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.
^ "ASUN Conference Announces Formation of Men's Lacrosse League" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
^ "Hampton joining SoCon as associate member for men's lacrosse" (Press release). Southern Conference. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
^ "CCSA Announces Beach Volleyball Membership Split With Conference USA; 2022 Championship Dates Set" (Press release). Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
^ "Queens University of Charlotte to Join MIVA in 2023" (Press release). Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
^ "Women's Lacrosse Set to Become Austin Peay's 17th NCAA Division I Intercollegiate Team" (Press release). Austin Peay Governors. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
^ "Bellarmine to Join MAC as Affiliate Member in Field Hockey" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. June 9, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
^ "All Sports Standings – ASUN Conference". asunsports.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
^ "ASUN Conference Men's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). ASUN Conference. August 17, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
^ "ASUN Conference Women's Basketball Record Book" (PDF). ASUN Conference. August 13, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2021.

External links

Official website

[26] With FCS programs limited to 11 regular-season games in most seasons, as opposed to the 12-game limit in FBS, a round-robin conference schedule is problematic for any FCS conference with more than 9 members.

[31] The FGCU campus has a Fort Myers mailing address, but lies in unincorporated Lee County.

[32] Virtually all of the Air Force Academy grounds, including the cadet area and all athletic facilities, lie outside the city limits of Colorado Springs. The US Census Bureau and US Postal Service consider the Academy to be its own entity, respectively, as "Air Force Academy" and "USAF Academy".

[34] Coastal Carolina had previously been a member of the ASUN for women's lacrosse from the 2017 to 2020 spring seasons (2016–17 to 2019–20 school years).^[30]

[35] The KSU campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is located in unincorporated Cobb County.

[36] Measured from Kennesaw State's departure from full ASUN membership.

[37] Approximate on-campus enrollment. Liberty claims an enrollment of over 130,000 including online students.

[38] Measured from Liberty's departure from full ASUN membership.

[41] Delaware is officially chartered as a "privately-governed, state-assisted" institution. This status is broadly similar to that of New York State's statutory colleges, most of which are housed at Cornell University, or institutions in Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education.

[45] The school changed its athletic brand to "Little Rock" in 2015.

[D3-46] Currently an NCAA Division III athletic conference

[47] UCF's main campus has an Orlando mailing address but is physically located in unincorporated Orange County.

[48] UCF dropped the word "Golden" from its nickname in 2007, becoming simply the Knights.

[49] FIU's main campus has a Miami mailing address but is physically located in unincorporated Miami-Dade County.

[50] FIU dropped the word "Golden" from its nickname in 2010, becoming simply the Panthers.

[51] The school changed its name to Houston Christian University in September 2022.

[52] The KSU campus has a Kennesaw mailing address, but is located in unincorporated Cobb County.

[ULM-53] Northeast Louisiana adopted its current name of the University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1999. The school adopted its current nickname of Warhawks in 2006, when it joined the Sun Belt Conference.

[54] Nicholls State was a provisional member, and as such was never a full member of the TAAC. The school changed its athletic brand to "Nicholls" in 2017.

[55] Oklahoma City adopted its current nickname of Stars in 1999.

[NAIA-56] Currently an NAIA athletic conference

[57] Pan American adopted its final name of the University of Texas–Pan American in 1989. In 2015, it merged with the University of Texas at Brownsville to form the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV).

[58] UTRGV inherited UTPA's athletic program, with the nickname being changed from Broncs to Vaqueros. UTRGV also inherited UTPA's membership in the Western Athletic Conference.

[59] Troy became a member of the Sun Belt for football member during the 2004 fall season (2004–05 school year), a year before it became an all-sports member.

[MAC-62] Akron and Kent State left ASUN women's lacrosse after the 2020 spring season (2019–20 school year) to join the newly formed women's lacrosse league of their full-time home of the Mid-American Conference.^[37]

[64] Delaware State is officially chartered as a "privately governed, state-assisted" institution. This status is broadly similar to that of New York State's statutory colleges, most of which are housed at Cornell University, or institutions in Pennsylvania's Commonwealth System of Higher Education.

[65] Delaware State had previously been a member of the ASUN for women's lacrosse during the 2017 spring season (2016–17 school year).^[30]

[67] Lindenwood stopped sponsoring men's lacrosse after the spring 2024 season.

[68] Mercer became an ASUN associate in men's lacrosse in 2022.

[69] Virtually all of the SMU campus lies in University Park, a separate city contained within the Dallas city limits. The US Postal Service considers all locations in University Park to have a Dallas address.

[81] While non-football by NCAA criteria, Bellarmine fields a varsity team in the weight-restricted and non-NCAA variant of sprint football.

[84] Austin Peay will add women's lacrosse in 2025–26.^[52]

[85] West Georgia will add beach volleyball in 2025–26.

[86] West Georgia dropped women's tennis after the 2023–24 season, immediately before joining the ASUN.

[ESW-87] Part of the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program.

[89] West Georgia, which currently fields a club-level stunt team, has announced it will elevate the sport to varsity status in the near future, though has not set a timeline.

[92] Because Bellarmine was in the second season of its four-year transition from Division II, it was ineligible for the NCAA tournament. Under ASUN rules, Jacksonville State received the ASUN's automatic bid by virtue of the best regular-season conference record.

[1] "Atlantic Coast Conference". Archived from the original on February 6, 2006. Retrieved March 1, 2006.

[ASUN_Conference-2] "Conference Student-Athletes Unveil New ASUN Brand Identity" (Press release). ASUN Conference. April 28, 2016.^{[permanent dead link]}

[3] Barney, Justin (May 8, 2024). "Atlantic Sun Conference relocating conference headquarters to Jacksonville this fall". news4jax.com. Retrieved May 11, 2024.

[4] "New conference Gets NCAA OK For Division I". Abilene Reporter-News. November 1, 1978. p. 19. Retrieved July 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[5] "Nicholls finally in conference". The Anniston Star. August 19, 1982. p. 14. Retrieved July 3, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

[6] "UNA Accepts ASUN Division I Invitation" (Press release). North Alabama Lions. December 6, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2016.

[7] "ASUN Conference Announces Liberty University as League Member for 2018–19" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 17, 2018. Archived from the original on May 20, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.

[BU_2020-8] "ASUN Conference Announces Addition of Bellarmine University" (Press release). ASUN Conference. June 18, 2019. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2019.

[9] "NJIT to Join America East Conference as 10th Member Institution – NJIT Highlanders". NJIT Highlanders. June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 13, 2020.

[10] "Inside West Georgia’s move to Division I" Sports Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-08-02.

[11] "ASUN Announces Exploration of Expansion & Building New NCAA Division I Multisport Conference". ASUN Conference. January 22, 2020. Archived from the original on October 4, 2022. Retrieved April 23, 2023.

[12] "ASUN Statement on Conference Expansion". ASUN Conference. November 16, 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2023.

[2021exp-13] "ASUN Conference Announces Three New Institutions; Adds Football as 20th Sport" (Press release). ASUN Conference. January 29, 2021. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.

[ASUNWACFB-14] "ASUN, WAC Conferences Announce Football Partnership for 2021" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.

[ASUNWACupdate-15] "From the Commissioner's Desk: @ASUN_Football Update" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.

[16] "Conference USA to add Liberty, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State, Sam Houston State beginning in 2023". ESPN. November 5, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2024.

[WACASUNFB-17] "ASUN and WAC Renew Football Alliance" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 18, 2022. Retrieved May 19, 2022.

[:0-18] "ASUN Conference Welcomes Austin Peay State University as its Newest Member" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 17, 2021. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved September 17, 2021.

[19] Limehouse, Jonathan (May 7, 2022). "Queens University of Charlotte accepts invitation to NCAA Division I conference". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 8, 2022.

[20] "ASUN Conference Welcomes Queens University of Charlotte as Its Newest Member" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 10, 2022. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 10, 2022.

[21] "Sun Belt Conference Adds Beach Volleyball For 2023" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.

[22] "2023 Preseason Awards Announced" (Press release). Conference USA. February 23, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023. The league serves up its second season with opening matches this weekend featuring (16) FIU, (12) Florida Atlantic and UAB, along with new members Jacksonville State and (ARV) Tulane.

[23] "Kennesaw State to Join Conference USA in 2024–25" (Press release). Kennesaw State Owls. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.

[24] "C-USA Adds Kennesaw State, Owls to Join in 2024" (Press release). Conference USA. October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.

[25] Thamel, Pete (December 9, 2022). "Atlantic Sun, WAC teams pairing up to attempt move to FBS, sources say". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 9, 2022.

[27] "@ASUN_Football and WAC Release 2023 Schedule" (Press release). ASUN Conference. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.

[28] "ASUN And WAC Unveil 2023 Football Schedule" (Press release). Western Athletic Conference. December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 22, 2022.

[29] "ASUN-WAC Football Partnership Formally Rebrands As The United Athletic Conference" (Press release). ASUN Conference. April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.

[30] "ASUN Conference Adds Men's and Women's Swimming and Diving" (Press release). Atlantic Sun Conference. August 28, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.

[CCUDSU-33] "Coastal Carolina and Delaware State Set to Rejoin ASUN Conference Women's Lacrosse" (Press release). ASUN Conference. July 7, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.

[ASUNMLAX22-39] "Jacksonville, Lindenwood & Mercer Joining #ASUNMLAX for 2023 Season" (Press release). ASUN Conference. March 30, 2022. Retrieved May 11, 2022.

[40] "#ASUNWLAX Announces Addition of Lindenwood for 2023 Season" (Press release). ASUN Conference. May 2, 2022. Retrieved May 7, 2022.

[42] "Facts & Figures | University of Delaware". udel.edu. Retrieved 2023-11-27.

[43] "Atlantic Sun Conference Women's Lacrosse Adds Delaware for 2026 Season" (Press release). July 17, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.

[44] "Delaware Men's and Women's Swimming & Diving Joins Atlantic Sun Conference" (Press release). July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 12, 2024.

[60] "Akron Women's Lacrosse to Join ASUN" (Press release). Akron Zips. April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2018.

[MAC_WLAX-61] "Women's Lacrosse Coming in 2020–21; Detroit Mercy & Youngstown State As Affiliates" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. November 6, 2019. Retrieved February 8, 2020.

[BV21-63] "ASUN Conference Announces Additions of Col. of Charleston and UNCW in Beach Volleyball" (Press release). ASUN Conference. July 6, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.

[66] "Six Howard Athletics Programs Join the Northeast Conference as Associate Members" (Press release). Howard Bison. July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 11, 2020.

[70] "11th Season of #ASUNBVB Begins This Weekend" (Press release). ASUN Conference. February 24, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022. Stephen F. Austin begins its first season in the league and is set to open its 2022 campaign at the Kingsville Tournament where they face Ottawa, Texas A&M Kingsville, Missouri Baptist and Colorado Mesa.

[71] "ASUN Conference". asunsports.org.

[72] "About the CCSA". Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. Retrieved September 29, 2020.

[A-Sun,_SoCon_LAX-73] "SoCon, ASUN Partner to Enhance Lacrosse" (Press release). Southern Conference. January 9, 2014. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved March 31, 2014.

[74] "Big South and ASUN Conference Establish FCS Membership Partnership" (Press release). ASUN Conference. September 13, 2016. Archived from the original on October 30, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.

[KSR-75] Franklin, Drew (January 25, 2021). "EKU to leave the OVC for the Atlantic Sun Conference". Kentucky Sports Radio. Retrieved January 26, 2021.

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[77] "FCS college football 2021: AQ7 preview". KRQE. Stats Perform. August 20, 2021. Retrieved September 5, 2021.

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[79] "Hampton joining SoCon as associate member for men's lacrosse" (Press release). Southern Conference. February 5, 2021. Archived from the original on February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.

[80] "CCSA Announces Beach Volleyball Membership Split With Conference USA; 2022 Championship Dates Set" (Press release). Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. September 28, 2021. Retrieved October 9, 2021.

[82] "Queens University of Charlotte to Join MIVA in 2023" (Press release). Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association. August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022.

[83] "Women's Lacrosse Set to Become Austin Peay's 17th NCAA Division I Intercollegiate Team" (Press release). Austin Peay Governors. March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.

[88] "Bellarmine to Join MAC as Affiliate Member in Field Hockey" (Press release). Mid-American Conference. June 9, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.

[90] "All Sports Standings – ASUN Conference". asunsports.org. Archived from the original on 2019-01-02. Retrieved 2019-01-01.

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v t e Atlantic Sun Conference
Full members	Austin Peay Governors Bellarmine Knights Central Arkansas Bears/Sugar Bears Eastern Kentucky Colonels Florida Gulf Coast Eagles Jacksonville Dolphins Lipscomb Bisons North Alabama Lions North Florida Ospreys Queens Royals Stetson Hatters West Georgia Wolves
Men's lacrosse associates	Air Force Falcons Mercer Bears Utah Utes
Women's lacrosse associates	Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (joining in 2025) Kennesaw State Owls Liberty Lady Flames Lindenwood Lions
Men's swimming & diving associates	Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (joining in 2025) Florida Atlantic Owls Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs Old Dominion Monarchs
Women's swimming & diving associates	Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (joining in 2025) Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs Liberty Lady Flames UNC Asheville Bulldogs
Related	United Athletic Conference (most football-playing members)

v t e NCAA Division I all-sports conferences
FBS	The American Atlantic Coast Big 12 Big Ten CUSA Mid-American Mountain West Pac-12 Southeastern Sun Belt
FCS - Full	Big Sky Ivy MEAC Northeast Patriot SoCon Southland SWAC
FCS - Alliance	BSOVC (Big South / Ohio Valley) CAA FB (CAA / Atlantic 10 / America East) Missouri Valley FB (Missouri Valley / Summit) United (ASUN / WAC)
Non-Football	Big East Big West Horizon MAAC West Coast

v t e NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision conferences
Current conferences	Big Sky Big South–OVC CAA Ivy MEAC MVFC NEC Patriot Pioneer SoCon Southland SWAC UAC
Previous conferences	American West (defunct 1996) ASUN (alliance with WAC as UAC 2023) Atlantic 10 (alliance with CAA 2007) Big South (alliance with OVC 2023) Great West (non-football 2012; defunct 2013) Gulf Star (defunct 1987) MAAC (non-football 2008) Mid-Continent (now Summit, alliance with MVC 1985 currently as MVFC) OVC (alliance with Big South 2023) WAC (alliance with ASUN as UAC 2023) Yankee (became A10 1997, alliance with CAA 2007)
Independents