The 2015-16 Atlantic Sun men’s basketball season is officially underway.
Kennesaw State kicks off the A-Sun men’s basketball season Friday, Nov. 13 with a non-conference game at Alabama.
This weekend marks the A-Sun’s 38th anniversary.
The Atlantic Sun Conference, headquartered in Macon, Georgia, is an NCAA Division I league with eight member institutions.
The A-Sun includes both private and public east coast regional institutions, including Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate, Stetson University and recent newcomer New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The conference has been active leading up to tipoff, taking preseason polls and granting preseason honors and awards.
In both media and coach’s preseason polls, UNF has been selected to take first in the conference. Last year, the Ospreys took away a 12-2 conference record. Although this is the first time in two years FGCU has not been ranked first, it was, by a small margin, ranked second in both polls.
Consistent with the polls, UNF received a number of preseason honors.
UNF’s Beau Beech collected Preseason Player of the Year honors, while teammate Demarcus Daniels was tabbed Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. In total, four Ospreys earned Preseason All-Conference spots.
The conference will be breaking a record this 2015-16 season, broadcasting an unprecedented 155 games throughout the year. A total of 131 games will be on ESPN3, including every conference regular season and first two rounds of the 2016 A-Sun Championship. The A-Sun Championship Final will air on ESPN2 on March 6th.
The kick off weekend is scheduled as follows: ­
Friday, Nov. 13th Schedule
Kennesaw State at Alabama – 7:30 p.m. – SEC Network+
North Florida at Illinois – 8 p.m. – BTN+
USC Upstate at Texas A&M – 9:30 p.m. – SEC Network+
Lipscomb at Santa Clara – 9 p.m. CT – The W.TV
Saturday, Nov. 14th Schedule
Jacksonville at Appalachian State – 2 p.m.
FGCU at Ohio – 2 p.m.
NJIT at No. 1 Kentucky – 8 p.m. – SEC Network+
Lipscomb vs. UW-Milwaukee – 7:30 p.m. CT
Sunday, Nov. 15th Schedule
Lipscomb vs. Denver – 2 p.m. CT
Stetson at Richmond – 5 p.m.