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The ASUN Conference, formerly the Atlantic Sun Conference, 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, 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.7
The Kennesaw State Owls fields 16 varsity athletics teams, competing for Kennesaw State University. After spending ten years in Division II's Peach Belt Conference, the university fully transitioned to Division I status in the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the beginning of the 2009–10 season. All of Kennesaw State's sports teams compete in the ASUN Conference through the 2023–24 school year. In July 2023, KSU will start a transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in advance of its move to Conference USA (C-USA) in July 2024. Of its 18 varsity sports, only women's lacrosse is not sponsored by C-USA. The school mascot is Scrappy the Owl.
The Jacksonville Dolphins are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Jacksonville University, located in Jacksonville, Florida. The Dolphins participate in NCAA Division I athletics, and are primarily members of the ASUN Conference. Some teams in sports that are not sponsored by the ASUN play in other conferences; specifically, the men's and women's rowing teams are in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The men's lacrosse team had played in the Southern Conference (SoCon) from 2015 to 2022, but that sport will return to the ASUN for the 2023 season.
The ASUN women's basketball tournament is a postseason tournament that determines which team receives the ASUN Conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament.
The Mercer Bears are the athletic teams of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine women's sports. The university competes in the Southern Conference for most sports. In 2013, the football team competed in the Pioneer Football League.
The North Florida Ospreys are the athletic teams of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida. The Ospreys compete in the ASUN Conference in NCAA Division I. UNF became a full-fledged member of Division I in 2009; previously, the Ospreys were members of the Sunshine State Conference and Peach Belt Conference in NCAA Division II. UNF fields teams in seven men's sports and ten women's sports.
The Kennesaw State Owls baseball team represents Kennesaw State University, which is located in Kennesaw, Georgia. The Owls are an NCAA Division I college baseball program that competes in the ASUN Conference. They began competing in Division I in 2006 and joined the ASUN Conference the same season.
The North Florida Ospreys baseball team represents the University of North Florida in the sport of baseball. The Ospreys compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), in the ASUN Conference (A-Sun). They play their home games in Harmon Stadium on the university's Jacksonville, Florida campus, and are currently led by head coach Tim Parenton. The Ospreys were founded in 1988 as members of the NAIA. They moved to the NCAA Division II level in 1994, and began their Division I transition in 2006. They became fully eligible at the Division I level in 2010. Most recently, the Ospreys won their first Atlantic Sun regular season championship in 2015.
The 2010 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament was held at Ken Dugan Field at Stephen Lee Marsh Stadium on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN from May 25 through 28. Mercer won its fourth tournament championship, and first since 1983, to earn the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2010 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The 2013 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament was held at Melching Field at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, from May 22 through 25. East Tennessee State won their first tournament championship and claimed the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The Buccaneers joined the conference in 2005.
The 2009 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament was held at Melching Field at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, from May 21 through 24. Jacksonville won its fourth tournament championship to earn the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The event was heavily marred by rain, resulting in two format changes. Originally planned as a six team double-elimination tournament, the format was changed to a single elimination format.
The 2008 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament was held at Melching Field at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, from May 21 through 25. Lipscomb won its first tournament championship to earn the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. Lipscomb joined the conference prior to the 2004 season.
The 2006 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament was held at Melching Field at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, from May 25 through 27. Stetson won its sixth tournament championship, and second in a row, to earn the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
Mike Sansing is a former American college baseball coach, who a majority of his career served as head coach of the Kennesaw State Owls baseball team. He was named to that position prior to the 1992 season, when Kennesaw State was an NAIA team. He led the Owls as they joined the NCAA's Division II in 1994, and in 2005 began the process to elevate the program to Division I, completed for the 2010 season.
At the end of each regular season, the Atlantic Sun Conference, branded since the 2016–17 school year as the ASUN Conference, names major award winners in baseball. Currently, it names a Coach, Pitcher, Player, Freshman, and Defensive Player of the Year. The Coach of the Year award, which dates to 1979, is the oldest. The others—Player (1982), Freshman (2001), Pitcher (2004), and Defensive Player (2014)—were added later. Through the 2001 season, the then-existing awards were known as the major awards of the Trans America Athletic Conference, the ASUN's former name.
The 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference baseball tournament was at Swanson Stadium on the campus of Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, from May 20 through 23. Lipscomb won their second tournament title and claimed the Atlantic Sun Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The 2016–17 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team represented Kennesaw State University during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls were led by second-year head coach Al Skinner and played their home games at the KSU Convocation Center on the university's campus in Kennesaw, Georgia as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN). They finished the season 14–18, 7–7 in ASUN play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the No. 5 seed in the ASUN tournament, they defeated USC Upstate before losing to Florida Gulf Coast in the semifinals.
The 2017 ASUN Conference baseball tournament was held at Melching Field at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, from May 24 through 27. Third seeded Florida Gulf Coast won their first championship and claimed the ASUN Conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
The 2017–18 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball team represented Florida Gulf Coast University in the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles were led by fifth-year head coach Joe Dooley and played their home games at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Florida as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished the season 23–12, 12–2 in ASUN play to win the ASUN regular season championship. In the ASUN tournament, they defeated USC Upstate and North Florida to advance to the championship game where they lost to Lipscomb. As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Oklahoma State.
The 2022 ASUN Conference baseball tournament will be held at Swanson Stadium, home field of the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles baseball team in Fort Myers, Florida, from May 24 through 28. The winner of the tournament will claim the ASUN Conference's automatic bid to the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
References
- ↑ "Standings & Leaders". Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved June 8, 2014.
- ↑ "A-Sun Announces 2013–14 Championship Schedule". Atlantic Sun Conference. July 1, 2013. Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved January 17, 2014.
- 1 2 3 "Red-Hot Owls Continue Tear; Win #ASunBSB Championship". Atlantic Sun Conference. May 25, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-27. Retrieved May 27, 2014.
- ↑ "Final Day of #ASunBSB Sets the Championship Field". Atlantic Sun Conference. May 17, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-18. Retrieved May 18, 2014.