Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine women's sports.

[2] A member of the Southern Conference, Mercer University sponsors teams in eight men's and ten women's NCAA sanctioned sports:[3] Mercer was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) from 1906 to 1911 and from 1919 to 1937; the university won the conference championship in basketball in 1922 and 1924.

In 1985, Mercer advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four; the team was defeated (82–79) by Central Missouri State University.

Mercer won the conference championship and advanced to the NCAA Division I tournament again in 1985; the team was defeated (65–58) by Georgia Tech.

[11] Pope was affiliated with Mercer for 40 years starting in 1970 as a radio announcer, and in 1980 became sports information director.

[12] He became athletics director in 1989 and oversaw construction of the University Center and renovation of the baseball, softball, and tennis facilities.

[17] Mercer finished the 2013 season undefeated at home with a 10–2 win–loss record (the two road losses were to the University of San Diego and Marist College), setting an NCAA Division I record for wins (10) by a start-up football program; Mercer had eight home wins..However, four of Mercer wins were from competing against teams in lower division levels of competition (3-NAIA schools and 1-Division III school)[18] [19] also an NCAA Division I record tied the same year (2013) by Auburn University, the FBS national runner-up, and Sam Houston State University who achieved its eighth victory in the FCS post-season.

[22] Mercer football alumni include Wally Butts, one of the greatest personalities in Georgia sports history.

Smith was an All-American halfback and is Mercer's all-time leading scorer; he scored 176 points and later played for the semi-professional Ironton Tanks.

[29] Prior to Mercer, Hoffman was head coach at Oklahoma Baptist and Texas-Pan American, as well as the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, an NBA D-League team.

His Mercer wins include victories over Alabama (twice), Auburn, Duke, Georgia Tech, Florida State (then the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champion), and Tennessee.

Slonaker received that award after leading Mercer to the best one season turnaround in NCAA history, improving from 6–23 to 23–6.

Slonaker was the first National Coach of the Year to receive the award after it was named in honor of Jim Phelan.

The four other finalists were Lute Olson (Arizona), Skip Prosser (Wake Forest), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), and Tubby Smith (Kentucky).

Mercer's basketball alumni include Sam Mitchell, a retired NBA player who became head coach of the Toronto Raptors.

More recent alumni include Will Emerson, a forward on the men's basketball team, who was the 2004–05 and 2005–06 Atlantic Sun Conference Male Student Athlete of the Year, only the third person to be selected twice for the award.

[31] During the regular season, notable wins included victories over Seton Hall and Ole Miss.

At the conclusion of the conference tournament, Mercer had a record of 26–8, the first time in university history the team had three straight 20-win seasons.

[40] In recent years, Mercer has won five Atlantic Sun Conference championships including the university's first regular season title in 2013.

Speakers have included Jeff Francoeur (2009), Gordon Beckham (2010), John Smoltz (2011), Chipper Jones (2012), and Dale Murphy (2013).

[42] Recent Achievements In 2010 under head coach Craig Gibson, Mercer won the conference tournament championship for the first time since 1983.

[48] In addition, junior outfielder Derrick Workman was named a first team Capital One Academic All-American, one of only eleven players in nation selected for this honor.

The $40 million 230,000-square-foot (21,000 m2) center houses Mercer's athletics department, a 3,500-seat basketball arena, an indoor pool, work-out facilities, intramural basketball courts, an air-rifle range, offices, a food court, and numerous meeting facilities.

Betts Stadium, the home of men's and women's soccer, is located on the eastern edge of campus between the School of Medicine and the university's newest intramural fields.

[57][58] In November 2011, the university began construction of the 10,200-seat Tony and Nancy Moye Football and Lacrosse Complex on the Macon campus.