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.
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 powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
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 Central Michigan Chippewas are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Central Michigan University (CMU), located in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. The school fields sixteen men's and women's intercollegiate teams that compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level.
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 Furman Paladins are the varsity athletic teams representing Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, in intercollegiate athletics.
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 Robert Morris Colonials are the athletic teams for Robert Morris University, in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The Colonials compete in NCAA Division I. In 2020, the school joined the Horizon League as a full member after leaving the Northeast Conference. Several RMU sports that are not sponsored by the Horizon League play in other conferences. Football plays in the Big South Conference, and men's and women's lacrosse respectively compete in the ASUN Conference and Mid-American Conference. The school colors are RMU Blue, RMU Red, and RMU Gray/Silver.
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 Duke Blue Devils men's lacrosse team represents Duke University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's lacrosse. Duke currently competes as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and plays its home games at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The principal rivalry of Duke is their all-sports nemesis North Carolina.
The NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship tournament determines the annual top men's college lacrosse team in the NCAA Division I. This tournament has determined the national champion since the inaugural 1971 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship. From 1936 through 1970, the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) awarded the Wingate Memorial Trophy annually to the collegiate champion based on regular season records.
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.
The Richmond Spiders men's lacrosse team represents the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. Through the 2022 season, it competed in the NCAA Division I Southern Conference. After that season, the Spiders' full-time home of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) established a men's lacrosse league, with Richmond as one of the six inaugural members. The Spiders play their home games at Robins Stadium and are currently coached by Dan Chemotti.
The Hobart Statesmen men's lacrosse team represents the Hobart and William Smith Colleges in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college lacrosse. The program was created in 1898 and plays its home games at Boswell Field. The Statesmen competed in the Northeast Conference from 2014 to 2022, with previous conference membership in the Patriot League and the ECAC Lacrosse League as a Division I program. Starting with the 2023 season, Hobart will play in the newly established men's lacrosse league of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). Through 2022, the team has an all–time record of 801-521-20.
The Robert Morris Colonials men's lacrosse team represents Robert Morris University in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's lacrosse. The Colonials became a varsity program in 2005.
The 2014 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship was the 44th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national championship for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college lacrosse. Eighteen teams competed in the tournament, selected by winning an automatic qualifying conference tournament or as an at-large bid based upon their performance during the regular season. The Divisions I men’s lacrosse committees announced the teams in the field on May 4, 2014.
The Utah Utes men's lacrosse team represents the University of Utah in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college lacrosse. The program was upgraded to varsity in 2019, previously competing as a club team in the Men's Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA). The Utes are one of four current NCAA Division I men's lacrosse teams west of the Mississippi River, along with Air Force, Denver, and Lindenwood. Utah plays its home games at the Ute Soccer Field, which has a capacity of 2,500. The Utes competed as an independent from their inaugural season of play in 2019 until joining the ASUN Conference as a single-sport member after the 2021 season. Through 2022, the team has an all–time record of 22-24.
Beginning in the 2021–22 academic year, extensive changes occurred in NCAA conference membership, primarily at the Division I level.
