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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 Division II and Division III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
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 Jacksonville. On May 8, 2024, the conference announced it would move its headquarters from Atlanta, Georgia to Jacksonville, Florida in the fall of 2024.
The Eastern Kentucky Colonels are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), located in Richmond, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the ASUN Conference since the 2021–22 academic year. Its football team competes in the United Athletic Conference (UAC), which starts play in 2023 as a football-only merger of the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Colonels previously competed in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) from 1948–49 to 2020–21.
The Stetson Hatters are composed of 18 teams representing Stetson University in intercollegiate athletics. The Hatters compete in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are primary members of the Atlantic Sun Conference for most sports, excluding the university's football program, which competes in the Pioneer Football League. Their mascot is John B.
The Stetson Hatters baseball team represents Stetson University, which is located in DeLand, Florida. The Hatters are an NCAA Division I college baseball program that competes in the ASUN Conference. They began competing in Division I in 1972 and joined the ASUN Conference in 1986.
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 (CUSA) for most sports, joining that league after five years as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN).
The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks and Ladyjacks are composed of 16 teams representing Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in intercollegiate athletics. Stephen F. Austin teams participate in Division I as a member of the Southland Conference (SLC), having rejoined that conference on July 1, 2024 after three years in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The football team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision for football in the SLC. The only SFA sport not sponsored by the SLC is women's bowling, which competes in Conference USA (CUSA).
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 Stetson Hatters men's basketball team represents Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, United States. The team currently competes in the ASUN Conference. They play their home games at the Edmunds Center. The Hatters appeared in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament for the first time in program history in 2024 after winning that year's ASUN tournament.
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 Queens Royals are the athletic teams that represent Queens University of Charlotte, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, in NCAA intercollegiate sporting competitions. On July 1, 2022, the Royals began a four-year transition from NCAA Division II to Division I as new members of the ASUN Conference. Before then, Queens had competed in the South Atlantic Conference for 20 of their varsity sports; the men's and women's swimming and diving teams competed in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference and the men's volleyball team competed in the Independent Volleyball Association, a scheduling alliance among schools that are independents in that sport's National Collegiate division. Queens had been a member of the SAC since 2013, when it moved from Conference Carolinas.
The Bellarmine Knights are the teams representing Bellarmine University, located in Louisville, Kentucky, in intercollegiate sports as a member of the NCAA Division I ranks, primarily competing in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) for most sports, as of 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 Austin Peay Governors are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Austin Peay State University, located in Clarksville, Tennessee, United States. The Governors athletic program is a member of the NCAA Division I Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) for all sports except football, in which it competes in the United Athletic Conference (UAC). The latter conference started play in the 2023 season as a football-only merger between two conferences in the second tier of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)—the ASUN and the Western Athletic Conference. Before the 2022–23 school year, the Governors were members of another FCS league, the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference.
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 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 Stetson Hatters women's basketball team represents Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, United States. The school's team currently competes in the ASUN Conference.
The 2017 ASUN Conference men's soccer tournament, the 39th edition of the tournament, determined the ASUN Conference's automatic berth into the 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship.
The 2021–22 ASUN Conference men's basketball season started non-conference play on November 9, 2021, and began conference play on January 4, 2022. The regular season ended on February 26, 2022, followed by the 2022 ASUN men's basketball tournament held March 1–8, 2022.
The 2021 ASUN men's soccer tournament was the 43rd edition of the postseason men's soccer tournament for the ASUN Conference, held from November 5 through November 13, 2021. All rounds of the tournament were hosted at the first and second seeds home stadiums. The six-team single-elimination tournament consisted of three rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Jacksonville Dolphins were the defending tournament champions, and were unable to defend their title, after not qualifying for the tournament. The Lipscomb Bisons won the tournament after defeating Central Arkansas 4–1 in the final. It was their third title in five years, and third title in program history for Lipscomb and coach Charles Morrow. As tournament champions, Lipscomb earned the ASUN's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament.
References
- ↑ "ASUN Conference" (PDF). ASUN Conference.
- ↑ "Volleyball Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). Stetson University Athletics.