UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE

ABOUT EVANSVILLE

Evansville's athletic program represents a 170-year commitment to intercollegiate competition, with the university founded in 1854 and now fielding 13 varsity sports across the Missouri Valley Conference. The Purple Aces draw from a student body of 2,109 undergraduates competing at the NCAA Division I level, balancing competitive excellence with institutional scale. Men's basketball remains the program's highest-profile sport, while women's volleyball, soccer, and basketball anchor a substantial women's athletics portfolio that reflects the university's commitment to gender equity across its athletic offerings.

Competing in the Missouri Valley Conference places Evansville among established mid-major programs in the Midwest and South, with conference rivals including Illinois State, Drake, and Northern Iowa. The athletic department manages an unusually balanced roster of 13 sports—including both men's and women's cross country, golf, and tennis—a comprehensive offering that demands significant institutional investment. Women's swimming and diving represents a specialty program within the Valley, while baseball and softball round out a traditional college sports menu that has evolved substantially since the program's earliest years in the 19th century.