The Aces athletic program is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference[2] and competes at the NCAA's Division I level.

A member of the Missouri Valley Conference, the University of Evansville sponsors teams in seven men's and nine women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

The Purple Aces play all home games on German American Bank Field at Charles H. Braun Stadium.

The University of Evansville athletics department was built upon a foundation of success in men's basketball.

In the early years of the men's basketball program the Purple Aces appeared in the NAIA national tournament.

The Evansville Purple Aces won five national championships in the NCAA College Division: 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965 (29–0 record) and 1971.

That same year on December 13, a chartered DC-3 carrying the entire UE basketball team crashed in a field near the Evansville Regional Airport en route to a game against Middle Tennessee State.

McCutchan was the first NCAA College Division coach selected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Citing financial difficulties and a belief that the PFL was not sustainable, the Purple Aces closed the doors on their football program after almost a century on the gridiron.

Talk has existed since about 2007 about upgrading football again to a fully funded NCAA Division I team, but, after a year of investigation, the board of trustees voted against this in October 2012 as being too expensive.