ATLANTA – The Atlantic Sun Conference and the Southern Conference announced a two-year scheduling alliance for Men’s Basketball on Wednesday. Each ASUN team will play at least one game against a SoCon opponent through this alliance with contests taking place in early November and December.
“This alliance represents a commitment to Men’s Basketball and to our Atlantic Sun programs, coaches and student-athletes," ASUN Commissioner Jeff Bacon said. "Thank you to Commissioner Cross, the SoCon Directors of Athletics and the Atlantic Sun Directors of Athletics for bringing this opportunity together! Let’s win some games!”
The Men’s Basketball scheduling alliance features attractive matchups across both rounds, providing a memorable experience and new level of excitement to the fans of all 22 schools. Two such matchups include ASUN Regular Season Champion EKU versus SoCon Tournament runner-up, ETSU on November 8 in Johnson City, Tenn., and SoCon Tournament Champion Samford against ASUN Championship Runner-Up Austin Peay on December 8 in Birmingham, Ala.
“We are very excited to partner with the ASUN to form a two-year scheduling alliance," SoCon Commissioner Michael Cross said. "It is apparent to anyone involved in men’s basketball that the current scheduling process is flawed and that getting two teams to agree to play one another is incredibly difficult. As NCAA Tournament access has continued to erode for mid-major programs and conference schedules expand due to conference realignment, identifying meaningful non-conference games against attractive regional opponents has become very important."
This two-year deal begins during the 2024-25 season and includes the games listed below.
Round 1:
Nov. 4 -
FGCU @ UNCG
Nov. 8 -
EKU @ ETSU
Nov. 8 - Western Carolina @
Queens
Nov. 9 - VMI @
Bellarmine
Nov. 9 - Wofford @
Lipscomb
Nov. 11 -
Stetson @ The Citadel
Nov. 11 -
Jacksonville @ Furman
Nov. 11 - Chattanooga @
Austin Peay
Nov. 15 - Samford @
North Alabama
Dec. 4 -
West Georgia @ Mercer
Round 2:
Dec. 1 -
North Alabama @ Wofford
Dec. 3 -
Lipscomb @ UTC
Dec. 4 -
Bellarmine @ Western Carolina
Dec. 4 - Furman @
FGCU
Dec. 7 -
Queens @ VMI
Dec. 8 -
Austin Peay @ Samford
Dec. 8 - Mercer @
Stetson
Dec. 14 - East Tennessee @
Jacksonville
Dec. 14 - UNCG @
North Florida
Dec. 16 - The Citadel @
Central Arkansas
About the Atlantic Sun Conference
The Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN), founded in 1978, is an NCAA Division I conference sponsoring twenty-two (22) sports and championships. Composed of twelve (12) destination-based institutions spread throughout the southeastern United States, ASUN members include Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tenn.), Bellarmine University (Louisville, Ky.), the University of Central Arkansas (Conway, Ark.), Eastern Kentucky University (Richmond, Ky.), Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers, Fla.), Jacksonville University (Fla.), Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tenn.), the University of North Alabama (Florence, Ala.), the University of North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), Queens University of Charlotte (Charlotte, N.C.), Stetson University (DeLand, Fla.), and the University of West Georgia (Carrollton, Ga.).