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, 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. The conference headquarters are located in Atlanta. On May 8th, 2024, ASUN announced that it is relocating the headquarters from Atlanta, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida in Fall of 2024.
NCAA Division I independent schools are four-year institutions that compete in college athletics at the NCAA Division I level, but do not belong to an established athletic conference for a particular sport. These schools may however still compete as members of an athletic conference in other sports. A school may also be fully independent, and not belong to any athletic conference for any sport at all. The reason for independent status varies among institutions, but it is frequently because the school's primary athletic conference does not sponsor a particular sport.
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 NJIT Highlanders, formerly the New Jersey Tech Highlanders, are the varsity sport members of the Division I NCAA-affiliated sports teams of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). There are ten men's teams, seven women's teams, and three club teams along with a variety of intramural teams. The school's primary conference is the America East Conference. In November 2017 NJIT opened the Wellness and Events Center (WEC) which incorporates upgraded facilities for most Division 1 sports including a 3,500-seat arena for basketball and volleyball.
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 Liberty Flames and Lady Flames are the athletics teams of Liberty University, in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States. They are a member of the NCAA Division I level in 20 sports. As of July 1, 2023, LU is a member of Conference USA (C-USA) for most sports, joining that league after five years as a member of the ASUN Conference.
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 2019 NCAA Division I Baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began February 15, 2019. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2019 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2019 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, ended on June 26, 2019. The Vanderbilt Commodores won the tournament, and were consequently named national champions.
The 2019–20 Liberty Flames men's basketball team represented Liberty University in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team played its home games in Lynchburg, Virginia for the 30th consecutive and final season at Vines Center, with a capacity of 8,085. The team was led by Ritchie McKay, who is in his seventh season, but fifth season since his return to the program. They are second-year members of the ASUN Conference.
The 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 62nd season of NCAA championship men's college soccer. The season was originally slated to begin on August 28, 2020, and conclude on November 15, 2020. The season was to culminate with the 2020 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, which was to be held from November 18 to December 13, 2020, with the four-team College Cup at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, California.
The 2020–21 Kennesaw State Owls men's basketball team represented Kennesaw State University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Owls, led by 2nd-year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim, played their home games at the KSU Convocation Center in Kennesaw, Georgia as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished the season 5-19, 2-13 in ASUN Play to finish in last place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to Liberty.
The 2020–21 North Alabama Lions men's basketball team represented the University of North Alabama in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Lions, led by third-year head coach Tony Pujol, played their home games at Flowers Hall in Florence, Alabama, as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN).
The 2020–21 Stetson Hatters men's basketball team represented Stetson University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Hatters, led by 2nd-year head coach Donnie Jones, played their home games at the Edmunds Center in DeLand, Florida as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished the season 12-15, 7-9 to finish in 7th place. They defeated Bellarmine in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic Sun tournament before losing in the semifinals to Liberty. They received an invitation to the CBI where they defeated Bowling Green in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to Coastal Carolina.
The 2020–21 North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team represented the University of North Florida in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ospreys, led by 12th-year head coach Matthew Driscoll, played their home games at the UNF Arena in Jacksonville, Florida as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished the season 8-15, 6-6 in ASUN Play to finish in 4th place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament to North Alabama.
The 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 19, 2021. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2021 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, ended on June 30, 2021. The Mississippi State Bulldogs won the tournament, and were named national champions.
The 2021 Liberty Flames baseball team represented Liberty University during the 2021 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Flames played their home games at Liberty Baseball Stadium as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference They were led by fifth-year head coach Scott Jackson.
The 2022 Liberty Flames baseball team represented Liberty University during the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Flames played their home games at Liberty Baseball Stadium as members of the Atlantic Sun Conference They were led by sixth-year head coach Scott Jackson.
