to the 1993–94 academic year, Jacksonville State competed in NCAA Division II athletics, winning national championships in men's basketball (1985), baseball (1990 and 1991), football (1992) and gymnastics (1984 and 1985).
On July 1, 2021, Jax State moved to the Division I ASUN Conference, of which it had been a member from 1995 to 2003. The ASUN did not sponsor football, although it announced plans to launch a football league in the near future. Until that time, Jax State was a de facto associate member of the Western Athletic Conference, competing in a football partnership between the two conferences officially branded as the ASUN–WAC Challenge.
The school's football team garnered attention in 2001 when junior (3rd-year) placekicker Ashley Martin became the first female football player to score a point in a Division I game, kicking for 3 points against Cumberland University.
Since 2023, Jax State has been a football member of Conference USA in Division I FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision).
=== Teams ===
Jacksonville …
