The Tigers athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC)[2] and competes in the NCAA Division I, including the Football Championship Subdivision.

TSU's main rival historically has been Kentucky State University, an HBCU located in the capital of Tennessee's northern neighbor.

A member of the Ohio Valley Conference, Tennessee State University sponsors teams in eight men's and eight women's NCAA sanctioned sports and have plans for bringing back baseball.

[8] Source:[9] In 1957, coach John McClendon and three-time All-American Dick Barnett led the then-Tennessee Agricultural & Industrial State University to become the first historically black college (HBCU) to win a national basketball title, winning the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) championship.

[12] In 2014, From the Rough was released which is a movie based on a true story about the successes and challenges of the first African-American woman (Dr. Catana Starks) to coach a Division I college men's golf team.