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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.
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.7
College lacrosse is played by student-athletes at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. In both countries, men's field lacrosse and women's lacrosse are played at both the varsity and club levels. College lacrosse in Canada is sponsored by the Canadian University Field Lacrosse Association (CUFLA) and Maritime University Field Lacrosse League (MUFLL), while in the United States, varsity men's and women's lacrosse is governed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). There are also university lacrosse programs in the United Kingdom sponsored by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) and programs in Japan.
The Air Force Falcons are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the United States Air Force Academy, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The athletics department has 17 men's and 10 women's NCAA-sanctioned teams. The current athletic director is Nathan Pine. The majority of Falcon teams compete as members of the Mountain West Conference.
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. LU is a member of the ASUN Conference for most sports. Two sports that are not sponsored by the ASUN are housed elsewhere. Women's swimming competes in the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association. The field hockey team was a member of the Northern Pacific Field Hockey Conference before that league's demise after the 2014 season. After playing the 2015 season as an independent, the team joined the Big East Conference in 2016. In football, Liberty participates in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as an independent. The mascot, Sparky, is frequently seen at events. Liberty University is the second youngest school in NCAA Division I, founded in 1971. As a member of the Big South Conference, Liberty regularly competed for the Sasser Cup, which is the trophy for the university which has the best sports program among the member institutions. Liberty won the Sasser Cup 10 times, the most in Big South Conference history.
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 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 Jacksonville State Gamecocks men's basketball team is the men's basketball team that represents Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. JSU is a member of the ASUN Conference, having returned to that conference on July 1, 2021, after an 18-year absence spent in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Gamecocks are coached by Ray Harper. During their time as a member of Division II, they were national champions in 1985.
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.
David Tollett is an American college baseball coach who has been the head coach of Florida Gulf Coast since 2002, the program's first season. Under Tollett, the Eagles have appeared in two NCAA Division I Tournaments and won Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun) regular season championships in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2019, and 2021.Tollett's 2017 season was the most successful in program history as the Green and Blue won a program record 43 games, claimed the program's first ASUN Tournament Championship, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. After starting the season 24-3 and defeating then #2 and eventual National Champion Florida, then #1 FSU and Miami in the same season for the first time ever, FGCU rose to as high as #9 in the Collegiate Baseball News poll - marking the highest ranking ever achieved by any athletics program in school history. Following the hot start to the season, Tollett was named the Perfect Game Midseason Coach of the Year. The Green and Blue suffered a number of tough losses in April, but ended the regular season by sweeping its way through its final three conference series and earned the No. 3 seed in the ASUN Tournament. After falling into the loser's bracket following a loss on day two, FGCU won an improbable four elimination games in less than 30 hours and defeated top-seeded Jacksonville twice, including an extra-inning thriller in the winner-take-all championship. With the ASUN's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in hand, the Eagles earned the No. 2 seed in the Chapel Hill Regional and defeated No. 3 Michigan, 10-6, in its first-ever NCAA Tournament game. Tollett was named the A-Sun Coach of the Year in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, and 2019. Worst loss of career came during the 2013 season when Tollett and the Eagles lost to an NAIA school, Ave Maria. Tollett has had 47 players at FGCU drafted or signed as free agents in Major League Baseball including Chris Sale, Casey Coleman, Richard Bleier, Jacob Barnes, Jacob Noll, and Kutter Crawford.
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The ASUN Men's Soccer Tournament is the conference championship tournament in soccer for the ASUN Conference. The tournament has been held every year since 1978 except in 2020, when the ASUN moved its soccer season from fall 2020 to spring 2021 due to COVID-19 issues. It is a single-elimination tournament and seeding is based on regular season records. The winner, declared conference champion, receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship.
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 2018 ASUN Conference baseball tournament was held at Harmon Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, from May 23 through 26. As the winner of the tournament for the league-best eighth time, Stetson claimed the ASUN Conference's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.
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 consequently named national champions.
The 2021 NCAA Division I Softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2021. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2021 NCAA Division I softball tournament and 2021 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisted of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament was held in Oklahoma City at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, and ended on June 10, 2021.
The 2022 NCAA Division I baseball season was a college baseball season in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level. It began on February 18, 2022, with play progressing through the regular season, various conference tournaments and championship series, and concluding with the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2022 Men's College World Series. The Men's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at Charles Schwab Field Omaha, ended on June 26, 2022.
References
- ↑ "Baseball Championship". AtlanticSun.org. Archived from the original on 9 January 2011. Retrieved February 18, 2012.
- 1 2 "2019–20 ASUN Baseball Record Book" (PDF). ASUN Conference. August 18, 2020. Retrieved July 8, 2021.