By Associated Press - Thursday, January 23, 2014

LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) - Cumberland University has applied to the NCAA for membership in Division II with officials hoping to start the three-year transition from NAIA beginning Sept. 1.

University officials announced Thursday that the more than 700-page application was sent in this week before the Feb. 1 deadline for reclassification. President Harvill Eaton said in a statement applying to the NCAA is a game-changer for the athletic department.

A team from the NCAA Division II membership committee will visit Cumberland this spring with the committee voting on the application in July.

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Cumberland has been accepted as a provisional member of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.

In baseball, the Bulldogs won the 2004 and 2010 NAIA national championships, was national runner-up in 1995 and 2006 and have 11 trips to the NAIA World Series.

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