Atlantic Sun Conference facts for kids
The Atlantic Sun Conference, branded since the 2016–17 school year as the ASUN Conference, is a NCAA conference whose members play in the NCAA Division I. The conference is headquartered in Macon, Georgia and mostly features universities and colleges from the southeastern United States. The ASUN does not play football.
The ASUN began in 1978 as the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC). It became the Atlantic Sun Conference in 2001.
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Members
As of the 2019–20 school year, the ASUN has nine full members, or schools that play almost all of their sports in the conference.
| School | Location | Founded | Type | Nickname | Joined ASUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida Gulf Coast University | Fort Myers, Florida | 1991 | Public | Eagles | 2007 |
| Jacksonville University | Jacksonville, Florida | 1934 | Private | Dolphins | 1998 |
| Kennesaw State University | Kennesaw, Georgia | 1963 | Public | Owls | 2005 |
| Liberty University | Lynchburg, Virginia | 1971 | Private | Flames | 2018 |
| Lipscomb University | Nashville, Tennessee | 1891 | Private | Bisons | 2003 |
| New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) | Newark, New Jersey | 1881 | Public | Highlanders | 2015 |
| University of North Alabama | Florence, Alabama | 1830 | Public | Lions | 2018 |
| University of North Florida | Jacksonville, Florida | 1969 | Public | Ospreys | 2005 |
| Stetson University | DeLand, Florida | 1883 | Private | Hatters | 1985 |
Future member
| School | Location | Founded | Type | Nickname | Joining ASUN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellarmine University | Louisville, Kentucky | 1950 | Private | Knights | 2020 |
The most recent membership changes took effect in July 2018. The University of South Carolina Upstate, known for sports purposes as USC Upstate, left for the Big South Conference. At the same time, Liberty University and the University of North Alabama joined. Liberty left the Big South for the ASUN, and North Alabama arrived from the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference.
The next change in membership comes in July 2020 with the arrival of Bellarmine University from the Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Associate members
The ASUN also has five "associate members" that play one or two sports in the conference while being full members of another conference. Two of these schools will leave in July 2020—Akron and Kent State will move women's lacrosse to their full-time home of the Mid-American Conference, which is adding that sport.
The "Joined" column indicates the year in which a school joined the ASUN. Since both ASUN sports that have associate members (beach volleyball and women's lacrosse) are spring sports, this means the year of joining is the calendar year before the first season of ASUN play.
| School | Location | Founded | Type | Nickname | Joined | ASUN sport(s) | Main conference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Akron | Akron, Ohio | 1870 | Public | Zips | 2019 | Women's lacrosse | Mid-American Conference |
| Coastal Carolina University | Conway, South Carolina | 1954 | Public | Chanticleers | 2015 (BV) 2016 (WLAX) |
Beach volleyball, women's lacrosse |
Sun Belt Conference |
| Kent State University | Kent, Ohio | 1910 | Public | Golden Flashes | 2018 | Women's lacrosse | Mid-American Conference |
| Howard University | Washington, D.C. | 1867 | Private | Lady Bison | 2012 | Women's lacrosse | Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference |
| Mercer University | Macon, Georgia | 1833 | Private | Bears | 2014 | Beach volleyball | Southern Conference |
See also
In Spanish: ASUN Conference para niños
