| Sun Conference | |
| Founded: | 1990 |
| Association: | NAIA |
| Teams: | 10 |
| Sports: | 17 |
| Mens: | 9 |
| Womens: | 8 |
| Region: | Southern United States |
| Formerly: | Florida Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1990–1992) Florida Sun Conference (1992–2008) |
| Headquarters: | Daytona Beach, Florida |
| Commissioner: | Dustin Wilke |
| Map: | FSC-USA-states.PNG |
| Map Size: | 250 |
The Sun Conference (TSC) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Eight of the ten full member institutions are located in Florida, with two in Georgia. The Sun Conference competes in the NAIA in all sponsored sports.
The conference was created in March 1990 as the Florida Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (FIAC), and renamed to the Florida Sun Conference in 1992. Charter members consisted of Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University, Flagler College, Florida Memorial University, Nova University of Advanced Technology (now Nova Southeastern University), Palm Beach Atlantic University, Saint Thomas University, Warner Southern College (now Warner University) and Webber International University.
The league later grew to nine members with the addition of Northwood University in 1994 (now Keiser University). Between 2002 and 2006, Nova Southeastern (2002), Palm Beach Atlantic (2003) and Flagler (2006) moved to NCAA Division II. But the league was able to recruit new members as Savannah College of Art and Design joined in 2004, followed by Edward Waters College (now a university) in 2006. It adopted its current name in August 2008 to reflect its expansion to institutions outside of Florida.[1] With the addition of the University of South Carolina at Beaufort in 2008, Johnson & Wales University, Southeastern University and Ave Maria University in 2009, and Thomas University of Georgia in 2012, along with Edward Waters' move to the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference after the 2009–10 season, the league membership stood at 12 schools as of the 2012–13 season.
In 2014, Point University and former member Edward Waters College joined the conference for football only. Starting with the 2016 season, all six football members moved to the Mid-South Conference for that sport.[2] Charter member Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University departed the conference on June 30, 2015 and joined the Sunshine State Conference (D-II). In 2017, the College of Coastal Georgia joined the Sun Conference,[3] with the conference again standing at a total of 12 members. In 2018, Sun Conference member Keiser added football[4] but Edward Waters left the Mid-South football league. In 2019, Saint Thomas also added football and Florida Memorial re-added the sport after more than 60 years,[5] [6] bringing the number of members participating in football to 8.
On June 25, 2020, Johnson & Wales announced it would close down its North Miami campus at the end of the 2020-21 school year,[7] and on July 28, Johnson & Wales North Miami discontinued all sports.[8]
On April 14, 2021, South Carolina–Beaufort reported its invitation to join the Division II Peach Belt Conference in 2022 after applying for membership in, and pending acceptance into, the NCAA.[9] The conference published on December 22 its reinstatement of football for the 2022 season, having grown to seven schools,[10] with Thomas initiating football to become the eighth football member.[11] By July 15, 2022, USCB was already accepted into the Continental Athletic Conference, formerly the Association of Independent Institutions, only for the first of its three-year NCAA provisional membership but with a Peach Belt schedule as part of the Sand Sharks' dual NAIA-NCAA membership.[12]
On July 1, 2022, Thomas announced that they would leave the conference and join the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC), starting in the 2023–24 academic year.[13] They remain in the Sun Conference as an affiliate member for football from that day forward.
The Sun currently has ten full members, all but three are private schools.[16] [3] Departing members are highlighted in pink.
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Basketball? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ave Maria University | Ave Maria, Florida | 2003 | Catholic | 1,200 | Gyrenes | 2009 | both | |
| Brunswick, Georgia | 1961 | Public | 3,438 | Mariners | 2017 | both | ||
| Florida Memorial University | Miami Gardens, Florida | 1879 | American Baptist | 1,784 | Lions | 1990 | both | |
| Keiser University | West Palm Beach, Florida | 1977 | Nonsectarian | 19,510 | Seahawks | 2015 | both | |
| New College of Florida | Sarasota, Florida | 1960 | Public | 675 | Mighty Banyans | 2024 | both | |
| Miami Gardens, Florida | 1961 | Catholic | 1,750 | Bobcats | 1990 | both | ||
| Savannah College of Art and Design | Savannah, Georgia | 1978 | Non-profit art school | 11,897 | Bees | 2004 | none | |
| Southeastern University | Lakeland, Florida | 1935 | Assemblies of God | 3,850 | Fire | 2009 | both | |
| Warner University | Lake Wales, Florida | 1968 | Church of God | 1,037 | Royals | 1990 | both | |
| Webber International University | Babson Park, Florida | 1927 | Nonsectarian | 616 | Warriors | 1990 | both |
In 2021, the conference added the University of Mobile, St. Andrews University, Truett McConnell University, and William Carey University as affiliate members for beach volleyball.[17] Loyola of New Orleans also participates in beach volleyball.[18]
In 2022, Life University began participating in men's swimming, women's swimming, and women's lacrosse.[19]
The Sun had nine former full members, most are private schools, one is public, and two are defunct:
The Sun had two former affiliate members, both were private schools:
For the 2014 and 2015 football seasons, Edward Waters and Point joined the conference. All six members moved to the Mid-South Conference for the 2016 season. With the exception of Point, which participates in the Appalachian Division, these teams plus Faulkner University now form the Sun Division of the Mid-South Conference.[20]
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Nickname | Joined | Left | Sun sport | Primary conference | Conference in former Sun sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edward Waters College | Jacksonville, Florida | 1866 | A.M.E. Church | 966 | Tigers | 2014 | 2016 | football | Southern (SIAC) | |
| Point University | West Point, Georgia | 1937 | Christian | 1,000 | Skyhawks | Appalachian (AAC) | ||||
DateFormat = yyyy
ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:20
Period = from:1990 till:2026
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
PlotArea = right:5 left:5 bottom:40 top:5
Colors = id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.7,0.9,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:FullxF value:rgb(0.9,0.8,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.8) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.8,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for another sport only id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved in another conference when the other color has already been used id:MSCF value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.7) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved its football to another conference
PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s
bar:1 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2015 text:Embry–Riddle – Daytona Beach (1990–2015) bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2015 till:end text:Sunshine State
bar:2 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2006 text:Flagler (1990–2006) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2006 till:2009 text:D-II Ind. bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2009 till:end text:Peach Belt
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2020 text:Florida Memorial (1990–present) bar:3 color:MSCF from:2020 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:3 color:Full from:2022 till:end
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2002 text:Nova Southeastern (1990–2002) bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2002 till:end text:Sunshine State
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2003 text:Palm Beach Atlantic (1990–2003) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2003 till:2015 text:D-II Ind. bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2015 till:end text:Sunshine State
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2019 text:St. Thomas (Fla.) (1990–present) bar:6 color:MSCF from:2019 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:6 color:Full from:2022 till:end
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2014 text:Warner (1990–present) bar:7 color:Full from:2014 till:2017 bar:7 color:MSCF from:2017 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:7 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1990 till:2014 text:Webber International (1990–present) bar:8 color:Full from:2014 till:2017 bar:8 color:MSCF from:2017 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:8 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1994 till:2015 text:Northwood (Fla.) (1994–2015)
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2004 till:end text:Savannah A&D (2004–present)
bar:11 color:FullxF from:2006 till:2010 text:Edward Waters (2006–2010) bar:11 shift:(45) color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:2014 text:Gulf Coast bar:11 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2016 text:(2014–2015) bar:11 shift:(20) color:OtherC1 from:2016 till:2021 text:Gulf Coast bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:end text:SIAC
bar:12 color:FullxF from:2008 till:2022 text:South Carolina–Beaufort (2008–2022) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:Peach Belt
bar:13 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2014 text:Ave Maria (2009–present) bar:13 color:Full from:2014 till:2017 bar:13 color:MSCF from:2017 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:13 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:
bar:14 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2020 text:Johnson & Wales (2009–2020)
bar:15 color:FullxF from:2009 till:2014 text:Southeastern (Fla.) (2009–present) bar:15 color:Full from:2014 till:2017 bar:15 color:MSCF from:2017 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:15 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:
bar:16 color:FullxF from:2012 till:2022 text:Thomas (2012–2023) bar:16 color:Full from:2022 till:2023 bar:16 color:AssocF from:2023 till:end
bar:17 color:AssocF from:2014 till:2016 text:Point (2014–2015)
bar:18 color:FullxF from:2015 till:2018 text:Keiser (2015–present) bar:18 shift:(40) color:MSCF from:2018 till:2022 text: Mid-South (fb.) bar:18 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:
bar:19 color:FullxF from:2017 till:end text:Coastal Georgia (2017–present)
bar:20 color:FullxF from:2024 till:end text:New College (Fla.) (2024–future)
bar:N color:orange from:1990 till:1992 text:FIAC bar:N color:red from:1992 till:2008 text:Florida Sun bar:N color:orange from:2008 till:end text:Sun Conference
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1990
TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,25) tabs:(400-center) text:^"The Sun Conference membership history"
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