The University of North Alabama athletic program will make a move to NCAA's Division I in all of its sports, with the football team moving to the Big South Conference.

All other sports teams will move to the Atlantic Sun conference, and will begin play in 2018 after providing its current Gulf South Conference with a year's notice.

The announcement of the major move was made Tuesday afternoon at a press conference on the Florence campus alongside Atlantic Sun Conference officials.

North Alabama president Ken Kitts began the conference by announcing that the school's trustees "voted unanimously to accept an invitation to the Atlantic Sun Conference, completing our process to move to Division I status."

"This has been the most thoughtful, careful and deliberative process I've been a part of," he said.

North Alabama (10-1) is in the midst of a stellar football season, advancing to Division II's semifinal round with a chance to make it to the national title game. The Lions play Shepherd on Saturday, Dec.10, at 11 a.m.

Historically, the football program boasts 21 Division II playoff appearances, with three straight national championships in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

Atlantic Sun Commissioner Ted Gumbart recognized that historic excellence, stating that the ability for UNA to play football for the Big South was integral to the agreement.

"We welcome UNA as the ninth member of the ASUN Conference," he said.

DIVISION I BOUND



Starting in the Fall of 2018, UNA will be a member of the ASUN Conference#RoarLions#RiseAndRoar pic.twitter.com/yGs4FFlWVF — North Alabama Athletics (@UNAAthletics) December 6, 2016

Trustees voted in 2011 to transition UNA's athletic programs to Division I from Division II, but those plans were shelved after the Ohio Valley Conference decided not to expand.

The Atlantic Sun Conference does not sponsor football, but in September the conference announced a partnership with the Big South Conference to create a "home" for football playing schools that were members of the A-Sun.

Gumbart said that UNA reached out to his conference after the Big South affiliation announcement was made.

The Atlantic Sun is made up of members Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville (Fla.), Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, New Jersey Institute of Technology, North Florida, South Carolina Upstate and Stetson.

The Big South includes Campbell, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Highpoint, Liberty, Longwood, Presbyterian, Radford, UNC Asheville, Winthrop and Mounmouth.

A statement from Gulf South Conference said this about the move: "We appreciate the transparency that the University of North Alabama has shown during this process. As one of the founding institutions of the GSC, North Alabama leaves an indelible footprint on the conference, and we greatly value all that UNA has done for the league."