The Cougars' athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)[2] and competes at the NCAA Division I[3] level.

A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, SIU Edwardsville sponsors teams in eight men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports.

[14] On July 11, 2012, it was announced that Gary Collins would be making the transition from coach to the University's first Director of Development for Intercollegiate Athletics.

[24] Following a national search, it was announced on April 3, 2015, that Edwardsville native and California assistant Jon Harris was named the new head coach.

For 29 of its first 34 seasons, it was guided by Wendy Hedberg who amassed a record of 470–361 and led her teams into the NCAA Division II tournament 5 times.

[29] On April 20, 2012, it was announced that Levens had resigned to accept the position of associate head coach at Arizona State University, her alma mater.

[42] In the 2014 indoor season, both and triple jumper Jatavia Wright qualified for the NCAA championships, giving the Cougars representation in both the men's and women's competitions.

[44][45] For the 2014 outdoor season, Ward, Wright, and sprinter Braxton Klavins qualified for the NCAA championships, again giving the Cougars representation in both the men's and women's competitions.

[47] On the 13th, Wright moved up from the 24th qualifier to 18th in the women's triple jump, just missing a repeat as 2nd team All-American but earning honorable mention on the All-America lists.

[54] He was replaced by SIUE's first athletic director and basketball coach, Harry Gallatin, who remained at the program's helm for 24 years,[20] leading his teams to the NCAA DII championships 19 times – including 6 top 10 finishes.

[72] It was announced on June 2, 2017, that the Cougars' men's soccer and wrestling teams would become an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference beginning in the 2018 season.

[77] At Lexington, the Cougars played Kentucky to a scoreless draw despite being heavily overmatched, but fell in a shootout 4–2 and ended the season with a record of 13–6–2.

[80] The 2014 Cougars became the first SIUE team to win an OVC championship, beating the Murray State Racers 12–1 in six innings at Jacksonville, Alabama on May 10, also qualifying for the 2014 NCAA Division I softball tournament.

With these, he was able to put Cougar tennis on the map in short order, finishing 2nd in NCAA Division II in the team's first year of eligibility.

Bob Meyers inaugurated the women's program in 1979–80 and found almost as much rapid success as DeMars, winning the first of four (4) consecutive NCAA DII Championships in 1986.

[84] In August 2015, Praetzel became the latest SIUE coach to be hired away by her sport's governing body, when she accepted the position as the United States Tennis Association's Missouri Valley Youth Pathway Manager the USTA's Kansas City office.

[63] Sandy Montgomery began the volleyball program in 1995 and coached for its first four years, guiding it to a record of 83–54 and its first appearance in the NCAA Division II tournament in 1998.

Todd Gober led the program for a decade, with a record of 205–112 and 3 NCAA appearances in 2005–07 before beginning the transition to Division I. Leah Johnson became SIUE's 4th volleyball coach in 2011 as it began competition in the Ohio Valley Conference.

A number of staunch supporters and alumni formed the Friends of Wrestling that has since raised monies from sources outside the university to maintain the program.

[88] David Ray, the 4th coach since Kristoff's retirement was in charge as the program made the move to Division I and competition in the Southern Conference (the OVC does not sponsor wrestling) until it was announced on April 12, 2013, that he had tendered his resignation to accept a position in the university's administration.

[91] In 2017, Freddie Rodriguez (125), Jake Residori (174), and Jake Tindle (197) won SoCon championships and qualified for the NCAA National Championships in St. Louis, Rodriquez advanced to the quarterfinals before falling, and Residori placed 8th, becoming the first Cougar to earn Division I All-American status since 1987 and the first since SIUE moved to Division I in the 2012–13 season.

[94] It was announced on June 2, 2017, that the Cougars' men's soccer and wrestling teams would become an affiliate member of the Mid-American Conference beginning in the 2018 season.

Although the programs competed in Division II from their beginnings, it was not until 1973, the year after the school had won its first NCAA championship, that the SIU Board of Trustees authorized the granting of 114 athletic scholarships and an additional 28 tuition waivers.

Up until that time, the athletic department had only been able to offer about 50 student activity grants, while the Salukis at SIU Carbondale had 220 full NCAA scholarships.

Additionally, the athletic director was assigned to other duties within the university, with other actions against him held in abeyance, as he was a tenured faculty member.

[113] In August 2002, Assistant Vice Chancellor for University Relations Dr. Bradley Hewitt, an SIUE administrator since 1989, was appointed Director of Intercollegiate Athletics, the 7th in the school's history.

Additionally, five SIUE programs, golf, softball, tennis, women's cross country and volleyball achieved perfect APR scores of 1,000.

In February 1968, through the efforts of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, the university acquired a young cougar that had been born at the San Diego Zoo the previous August and adopted by Thomas Blackshear.

She resided in a large cage just to the south of the University Center that was topped with a geodesic dome designed by visiting professor R. Buckminster Fuller.

She was cared for by a student organization aptly named the Cougar Guard, who accompanied her on her twice-daily walks around the core campus and to a myriad of university activities, especially including athletic events.