The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conf ...

operating mostly in the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...

. The league participates at the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

level, and began sponsoring football at the

Division I FCS The NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), formerly known as Division I-AA, is the second-highest level of college football in the United States, after the Football Bowl Subdivision. Sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic ...

level in 2022. Originally established as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1978, it was renamed as the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001, and then rebranded as the ASUN Conference in 2016. The conference headquarters are located in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

History

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. Its charter members were

Oklahoma City University Oklahoma City University (OCU) is a private university historically affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The university offers undergraduate bachelor's degrees, graduate master's degrees and docto ...

, Pan American University (later renamed

University of Texas-Pan American A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

), Northeast Louisiana University (now known as the

University of Louisiana at Monroe The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...

Houston Baptist University Houston Christian University (HCU), formerly Houston Baptist University, is a private Baptist university in Houston, Texas. It is affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (Southern Baptist Convention). Its Cultural Arts Center hou ...

, Hardin-Simmons University, Centenary College of Louisiana, Samford University, and

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...

, all of whom were previously D-I independents. Of the eight charter members listed, none 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 The Horizon League is an 11-school collegiate athletic conference in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, whose members are located in and near the Great Lakes region. The Horizon League founded in 1979 as the Midw ...

), 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 Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, along with

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hi ...

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 The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

. Additionally, it saw the arrival of Nicholls State University, who was 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 5 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. However, it, aloing 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 Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the largest institution of hig ...

in 1983,

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university with four colleges and schools located across the I–4 corridor in Central Florida with the primary undergraduate campus in DeLand. The university was founded in 1883 and was later established in 1887 ...

in 1985, and the

University of Texas at San Antonio The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is a Public university, public research university in San Antonio, Texas. With over 34,000 students across its four campuses spanning 758 acres, UTSA is the Education in San Antonio, largest universi ...

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 NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

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 The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly k ...

in 1992. In the midst of this, the conference began to relentlessly pursue expansion throughout the 90s to offset these losses, adding

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest university in Florid ...

in 1990,

Southeastern Louisiana University Southeastern Louisiana University (Southeastern) is a public university in Hammond, Louisiana. It was founded in 1925 by Linus A. Sims as Hammond Junior College. Sims succeeded in getting the campus moved to north Hammond in 1928, when it becam ...

and the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

in 1991, the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

in 1992,

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-ca ...

in 1993,

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.n ...

in 1994,

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's, master's, education specialist, and doctorate degr ...

in 1995, Troy State University in 1997, and

Jacksonville University Jacksonville University (JU) is a private university in Jacksonville, Florida. Located in the city's Arlington district, the school was founded in 1934 as a two-year college and was known as Jacksonville Junior College until September 5, 1956, ...

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 Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

); the league was able to offset this with the addition of

Belmont University Belmont University is a private Christian university in Nashville, Tennessee. Descended from Belmont Women's College, founded in 1890 by schoolteachers Ida Hood and Susan Heron, the institution was incorporated in 1951 as Belmont College. It be ...

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 Lipscomb University is a private university in Nashville, Tennessee. It is affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The campus is located in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, between Belmont Boulevard to the west and Granny White Pike o ...

in 2003,

East Tennessee State University East Tennessee State University (ETSU) is a public research university in Johnson City, Tennessee. Although it is part of the State University and Community College System of Tennessee, the university is governed by an institutional Board of Tr ...

Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University (KSU) is a public research university located in the state of Georgia with two different campuses in the Atlanta metropolitan area, one in Kennesaw and the other in Marietta on a combined of land. The school was fou ...

, and the

University of North Florida The University of North Florida (UNF) is a public research university in Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Sc ...

in 2005, and

Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a public university in Lee County, Florida. It is part of the State University System of Florida and is its second youngest member. The university was established on May 3, 1991, and is accredited by the ...

& the

University of South Carolina Upstate The University of South Carolina Upstate (USC Upstate) is a public university in Valley Falls, South Carolina, near Spartanburg and with a Spartanburg postal address.Compare to: (shows the university is not in the Spartanburg city limits)< ...

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 The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cham ...

, leaving Mercer as the only remaining charter member.

Present Day, Sponsoring Football

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 Northern Kentucky University is a public university in Highland Heights, Kentucky. It is primarily an undergraduate institution with over 14,000 students; over 12,000 are undergraduate students and nearly 2,000 are graduate students. Northern ...

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 A-Sun 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 {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

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 Two years later, the

University of North Alabama The University of North Alabama (UNA) is a public university in Florence, Alabama. It is the state's oldest public university. Occupying a campus in a residential section of Florence, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes ...

arrived from the Division II

Gulf South Conference The Gulf South Conference (GSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the Southeastern United States. History Originally known as the Mi ...

, and

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia ( Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Lib ...

left the Big South for the ASUN. More recently, Bellarmine University joined from the Division II

Great Lakes Valley Conference The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. Its thirteen member institutions are located in the U.S. states of Illinois ...

and NJIT left for the

America East Conference The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research ...

in 2020–21. However, arguably its biggest move in recent years was the announcement that the conference would be adding the

University of Central Arkansas The University of Central Arkansas (Central Arkansas or UCA) is a public university in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1907 as the Arkansas State Normal School, the university is one of the oldest in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As the state's only ...

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online u ...

, and former member

, as incoming members on January 29, 2021, with the intent of sponsoring football in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in 2022. 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 The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Texas. Due to mos ...

(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. 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, 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. 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. On September 17, 2021, the ASUN announced Austin Peay State University, a football-sponsoring school, as a new member for the 2022–23 season. In May 2022, local media in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, also reported that

Queens University of Charlotte The Queens University of Charlotte is a private university in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has approximately 2,300 undergraduate and graduate students through the College of Arts and Sciences, the McColl School of Business, the Wayland H. Cato, ...

would start a transition from the Division II

South Atlantic Conference The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, which operates in the southeastern United States. The SAC was founded in 1975 as a ...

as a new ASUN member, also effective on July 1 of that year. The ASUN officially announced this move on May 10. 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 The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

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 The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

to the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

, 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. For 2022–23, Mercer added men's lacrosse to its ASUN membership 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 and join C-USA in 2024. 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 Southern Utah University (SUU) is a public university in Cedar City, Utah. Founded in 1897 as a normal school, Southern Utah University now graduates over 1,800 students each year with baccalaureate and graduate degrees from its six colleges. ...

Stephen F. Austin Stephen Fuller Austin (November 3, 1793 – December 27, 1836) was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas,Hatch (1999), p. 43. he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization ...

Tarleton Tarleton is a village and civil parish in the borough of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. It situated in the Lancashire mosslands approximately 10 miles north east of Southport, approximately 10 miles south west of Preston, approximately ...

, 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."

Member schools

Current members

;Notes

Associate members

;Notes:

Former 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: ;Notes:

Former associate members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1978 till:2028 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1979 text:

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...

(1978–79) bar:1 shift:(120) color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1985 text: Horizon bar:1 shift:(50) color:OtherC2 from:1985 till:end text: SAC bar:2 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1980 text:

Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Amer ...

(1978–80) bar:2 shift:(110) color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1987 text:Ind. bar:2 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:1991 text: ASC bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1998 text: Sun Belt bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1998 till:2008 text:D-I Ind. bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2013 text: GWC bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2015 text: WAC, then merged bar:3 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1982 text: Northeast Louisiana (1978–82) bar:3 shift:(80) color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:2006 text:

Southland Southland may refer to: Places Canada * Dunbar–Southlands, Vancouver, British Columbia New Zealand * Southland Region, a region of New Zealand * Southland County, a former New Zealand county * Southland District, part of the wider Southland Re ...

bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:2006 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:4 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1989 text: Houston Baptist (1978–89) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1989 till:1995 text:NAIA Ind. bar:4 shift:(-10) color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:1996 text:BSC bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1996 till:1998 text:NAIA Ind. bar:4 shift:(30) color:OtherC2 from:1998 till:2007 text: RRAC bar:4 shift:(-50) color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text:NCAA Ind. bar:4 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2013 text: GWC bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:

bar:5 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1990 text: Hardin–Simmons (1978–90) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1990 till:1996 text:

TIAA The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA, formerly TIAA-CREF), is a Fortune 100 financial services organization that is the leading provider of financial services in the academic, research ...

bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:1996 till:end text: ASC bar:6 color:FullxF from:1978 till:1999 text: Centenary (1978–99) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1999 till:2012 text: Summit bar:6 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text: SCAC bar:7 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2003 text: Samford (1978–2003) bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2008 text: OVC bar:7 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:end text:

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1978 till:2014 text:

Mercer Mercer may refer to: Business * Mercer (car), a defunct American automobile manufacturer (1909–1925) * Mercer (consulting firm), a large human resources consulting firm headquartered in New York City * Mercer (occupation), a merchant or trader, ...

(1978–2014) bar:8 shift:(-50) color:AssocOS from:2014 till:end text:

(2014–17, w. lax.; 2014–present, b. volleyball; 2022–present, m. lax.) bar:9 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1984 text:

Northwestern State Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSU) is a public university primarily situated in Natchitoches, Louisiana, with a nursing campus in Shreveport and general campuses in Leesville/Fort Polk and Alexandria. It is a part of the Univer ...

(1979–84) bar:9 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1984 till:1987 text: GSC bar:9 shift:(20) color:OtherC2 from:1987 till:end text:

bar:10 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1991 text: Arkansas–Little Rock (1979–91) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:2022 text: Sun Belt bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:end text: OVC bar:11 color:FullxF from:1980 till:1992 text: Georgia Southern (1980–92) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:1992 till:2014 text:

bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:12 color:AssocOS from:1982 till:1984 text: Nicholls State (1982–84; provisional) bar:13 color:FullxF from:1983 till:2005 text: Georgia State (1983–2005) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2013 text: CAA bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:14 color:FullxF from:1985 till:end text: Stetson (1985–present) bar:15 color:FullxF from:1986 till:1991 text: UTSA (1986–91) bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:2012 text:

bar:15 shift:(-10) color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:2013 text: WAC bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2023 text:

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

bar:15 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text: American bar:16 color:FullxF from:1990 till:1998 text: FIU (1990–98) bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:2013 text: Sun Belt bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:

bar:17 color:FullxF from:1991 till:1997 text: Southeastern Louisiana (1991–97) bar:17 shift:(50) color:OtherC1 from:1997 till:end text:

bar:18 color:FullxF from:1991 till:1998 text:

(1991–98) bar:18 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:1998 till:2013 text:

bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text: CAA bar:19 color:FullxF from:1992 till:2005 text: UCF (1992–2005) bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:2013 text:

bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2023 text: AAC bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...

bar:20 color:FullxF from:1993 till:2006 text: Florida Atlantic (1993–2006) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2013 text: Sun Belt bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2023 text:

bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text: American bar:21 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2011 text:

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

(1994–2011) bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:end text:

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

bar:22 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2003 text: Jacksonville State (1995–2003) bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2021 text: OVC bar:22 color:FullxF from:2021 till:2022 text:(2021–23) bar:22 color:Full from:2022 till:2023 bar:22 shift:(30) color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:end text:

bar:23 color:FullxF from:1997 till:2005 text:

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Ç ...

(1997–2005) bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2005 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:24 color:FullxF from:1998 till:end text:

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

(1998–present) bar:25 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2012 text: Belmont (2001–12) bar:25 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2022 text: OVC bar:25 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:end text: MVC bar:26 color:FullxF from:2002 till:2008 text: Gardner–Webb (2002–08) bar:26 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:end text:

bar:27 color:FullxF from:2003 till:end text: Lipscomb (2003–present) bar:28 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2014 text: East Tennessee State (2005–14) bar:28 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:

bar:29 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2022 text: Kennesaw State (2005–24) bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end bar:30 color:FullxF from:2005 till:end text:

North Florida North Florida is a region of the U.S. state of Florida comprising the northernmost part of the state. Along with South Florida and Central Florida, it is one of Florida's three most common "directional" regions. It includes Jacksonville and near ...

(2005–present) bar:31 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end text: FGCU (2007–present) bar:32 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2018 text:

USC Upstate USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

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Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky is the third-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky after Louisville and Lexington, and its cities and towns serve as the de facto "south side" communities of Cincinnati, Ohio. The three main counties ...

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NJIT {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

(2015–20) bar:38 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text: AmEast bar:42 color:FullxF from:2018 till:2023 text:

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

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North Alabama North Alabama is a region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Several geographic definitions for the area exist, with all descriptions including the nine counties of Alabama's Tennessee Valley region. The North Alabama Industrial Development Associ ...

(2018–present) bar:43 color:Full from:2022 till:end bar:46 color:FullxF from:2020 till:end text: Bellarmine (2020–present) bar:47 color:FullxF from:2021 till:2022 text:

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state o ...

(2021–present) bar:47 color:Full from:2022 till:end bar:48 color:FullxF from:2021 till:2022 text:

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

(2021–present) bar:48 color:Full from:2022 till:end bar:55 color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Austin Peay (2022–present) bar:56 color:FullxF from:2022 till:end text:

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

(2022–present) bar:N color:yellow from:1978 till:2001 text:Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) bar:N color:yelloworange from:2001 till:2016 text:Atlantic Sun Conference bar:N color:yellow from:2016 till:end text:ASUN ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1980 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"ASUN Conference membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <# * 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 2022–23 school year, the ASUN sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 11 women's NCAA sanctioned sports. 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 The Coastal Collegiate Sports Association is an NCAA Division I college athletic conference. Established in 2008, the Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association (CCSA) was originally developed by four regional Division I conferences — the A ...

. 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. 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. 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. 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. No current member is required to add football or change its current football standing. At a press conference on February 23, 2021, the ASUN announced that it had entered into a separate football partnership with the

(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. The two leagues' proposal was successful, resulting in an automatic qualifier from the seven-team Challenge, colloquially dubbed "AQ7". 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. 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

members with men's lacrosse programs also joined, with Detroit Mercy moving from the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and ...

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. 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. At the same time, Coastal Carolina left ASUN beach volleyball for the newly formed Conference USA beach volleyball league. 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. 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 added men's lacrosse to its existing ASUN affiliate membership in beach volleyball. Lindenwood, which started a transition from D-II to D-I in 2022 as a new member of the

, became an affiliate in both men's and women's lacrosse (neither of which is sponsored by the OVC).

Men's sports

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by ASUN schools: In addition to the aforementioned sports: * Bellarmine plays sprint football, a non-NCAA variant played under standard college football rules but with severe limits on player weight, as a member of the Midwest Sprint Football League. * 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 varsity sports not sponsored by the league which are played by ASUN schools: 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

Departing members in red.

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.

Men's All Sports: Jesse C. Fletcher Trophy

Women's All Sports: Sherman Day Trophy

Combined All Sports: Bill Bibb Trophy

Championships

Men's basketball

''This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see

ASUN men's basketball tournament The ASUN Conference men's basketball tournament (formerly known as the Trans America Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament between 1979 and 2001) is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the ASUN Conference, formerly ...

.''

Women's basketball

''This is a partial list of the last 10 champions. For the full history, see ASUN women's basketball tournament.''

Baseball

* ASUN Conference baseball tournament

Notes and references

External links

* {{NCAA Division I FCS conference navbox Sports in the Southern United States Sports organizations established in 1978 Articles which contain graphical timelines