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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. Member institutions are located in the states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.
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.
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 Jacksonville Dolphins men's basketball team represents Jacksonville University in the sport of basketball. The Dolphins compete in NCAA Division I's ASUN Conference (ASUN). Home games are played in the historic Swisher Gymnasium on the campus of Jacksonville University.
The ASUN Conference men's basketball tournament is the conference championship tournament in basketball for the ASUN Conference, formerly known as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) and Atlantic Sun Conference. The tournament has been held every year since 1979, except for 1992–93.
The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles refer to the fifteen intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Florida Gulf Coast University, located in unincorporated Lee County, Florida near Fort Myers, in intercollegiate athletics, including men and women's basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, and tennis; women's-only: softball, swimming and diving, indoor volleyball, and beach volleyball; and men's-only: baseball. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I and are members of the ASUN Conference (ASUN). FGCU is also notable as the youngest institution competing in NCAA Division I, having been officially founded in 1991 and started classes in 1997. Their mascot is Azul the Eagle.
The Bellarmine Knights are the athletic teams that represent Bellarmine University, located in Louisville, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference for most sports in the 2020–21 academic year. The Knights previously competed in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) of the NCAA Division II ranks from 1978–79 to 2019–20.
Karl Wade Smesko is the current head coach of the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) women's basketball team.
The 2016 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament marked the 37th year the league now known as the ASUN Conference conducted a postseason tournament. The tournament was held March 1–6, 2016 at campus sites as top seeds hosted each round. Florida Gulf Coast won their second Atlantic Sun Tournament title and a berth in the 2016 NCAA tournament.
The 2017 ASUN women's basketball tournament was the 31st edition of the ASUN Conference championship. It took place March 3, 8 and 12, 2017 in several arenas. Florida Gulf Coast won the tournament and received an automatic trip to the NCAA women's tournament.
The Lipscomb Bisons women's basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. The school's team currently competes in the ASUN Conference.
The 2018 ASUN women's basketball tournament was the 32nd edition of the ASUN Conference championship. It took place March 2, 7 and 11, 2018 in several arenas at campus sites.
The 2019 ASUN men's basketball tournament was the conference postseason tournament for the ASUN Conference. The tournament was the 40th year the league has conducted a postseason tournament. The tournament was held March 4, 7, and 10, 2019 at campus sites of the higher seeds. Liberty upset top-seeded Lipscomb 74–68 in the championship game to win the tournament, and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
The 2019 ASUN women's basketball tournament was the 33re edition of the ASUN Conference championship. It took place March 8, 13, and 17 in several arenas at campus sites. Florida Gulf Coast won the conference tournament championship game over Liberty, 72–49.
The 2020 ASUN women's basketball tournament was the 34th edition of the ASUN Conference championship. It took place March 7, 11, and 15 in several arenas at campus sites. The winner would have received the league's automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA tournament.
The 2021 ASUN women's basketball tournament was the 35th edition of the ASUN Conference championship. It took place March 10–14, 2021, in the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Georgia. Florida Gulf Coast won the tournament, its seventh title, receiving the league's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA tournament.
References
- ↑ "Championship Format". Atlantic Sun. Presto Sports. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2016.