About Georgia State Athletics

Georgia State Athletics History

After spending eight years in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), Georgia State became a full member of the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2013. It began its transition with 10 individual sports teams in the Sun Belt Conference in 2012. 

In just its fifth year in 2014, football became a full member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). GSU earned its first Bowl bid in 2015 (AutoNation Cure Bowl, Orlando, Fla.) and earned its first win in 2017, also in the AutoNation Cure Bowl.

Conference History
Georgia State’s men’s teams were part of the Trans America Athletic Conference (TAAC) from 1983 to 2005, spending 21 years in the league before joining the CAA. The TAAC changed its named to Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) in July 2001.

Prior to that, Georgia State competed five years as an inaugural member of the then-six-team Sun Belt Conference after being an independent for more than a decade after starting the athletics program.

Georgia State’s women’s teams were part of the TAAC/A-Sun since 1991. Before that, they were members of the New South Women’s Athletic Conference (NSWAC), beginning in 1984-85.

In 1963-64, Georgia State became a fully accredited NCAA Division I athletics program, giving scholarships for the first time to students to compete at the highest collegiate level.

Women's sports joined the program during the 1974-75 school year as basketball, soccer, volleyball, and tennis competed at the Division I level. Women's cross country began the next year.

Women's sports competed against programs throughout the southeast, but were not affiliated with a conference. In 1976-77, the athletics program became a member of the Sun Belt Conference. After five seasons, Georgia State chose to break its affiliation.