27 Schools•Division I•Est. 1978
The ASUN was founded on September 19, 1978, when eight schools met at a hotel near the Dallas Fort Worth airport and formed the Trans America Athletic Conference. The league took the Atlantic Sun name in 2001, and it still answers to ASUN. Headquarters sit in Jacksonville, Florida, and the footprint has always run through the Southeast.
Basketball made the reputation. The conference specializes in the kind of March upset that rearranges a bracket. College of Charleston knocked off Maryland as a No. 12 seed under John Kresse, one of the winningest coaches in the sport, who never posted a losing season in 23 years on the sideline. Florida Gulf Coast built the modern standard, stacking regular season and tournament titles on both the men's and women's sides.
The reach goes well past the hardwood. Brooke Youngquist Sweat went from the Florida Gulf Coast volleyball team to become one of the best beach volleyball players in the world and represented the United States at the Rio Olympics. Eastern Kentucky's Ahmed Jaziri won an NCAA title in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and later ran for Tunisia in Paris. Dallas Moore of North Florida is the only player in league history with 2,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds.
Rivalries are built on short drives and high stakes. The River City Rumble pits North Florida against Jacksonville, two Division I programs sharing one city and one fan base. Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson have met repeatedly with an NCAA bid on the line, including four ASUN women's finals in a six year stretch, and Stetson once snapped a 41 game FGCU conference winning streak in a title game. Kennesaw State and Mercer called theirs the Battle of I-75, north against south, public against private. In Nashville, Lipscomb and Belmont turned a crosstown series into one of the league's loudest tickets.
Official Website
The ASUN was founded on September 19, 1978, when eight schools met at a hotel near the Dallas Fort Worth airport and formed the Trans America Athletic Conference. The league took the Atlantic Sun name in 2001, and it still answers to ASUN. Headquarters sit in Jacksonville, Florida, and the footprint has always run through the Southeast.
Basketball made the reputation. The conference specializes in the kind of March upset that rearranges a bracket. College of Charleston knocked off Maryland as a No. 12 seed under John Kresse, one of the winningest coaches in the sport, who never posted a losing season in 23 years on the sideline. Florida Gulf Coast built the modern standard, stacking regular season and tournament titles on both the men's and women's sides.
The reach goes well past the hardwood. Brooke Youngquist Sweat went from the Florida Gulf Coast volleyball team to become one of the best beach volleyball players in the world and represented the United States at the Rio Olympics. Eastern Kentucky's Ahmed Jaziri won an NCAA title in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and later ran for Tunisia in Paris. Dallas Moore of North Florida is the only player in league history with 2,000 points, 500 assists and 400 rebounds.
Rivalries are built on short drives and high stakes. The River City Rumble pits North Florida against Jacksonville, two Division I programs sharing one city and one fan base. Florida Gulf Coast and Stetson have met repeatedly with an NCAA bid on the line, including four ASUN women's finals in a six year stretch, and Stetson once snapped a 41 game FGCU conference winning streak in a title game. Kennesaw State and Mercer called theirs the Battle of I-75, north against south, public against private. In Nashville, Lipscomb and Belmont turned a crosstown series into one of the league's loudest tickets.
Official Website