The Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, formerly the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference, branded as CAA Football, is a collegiate

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams, playing competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conf ...

affiliated with the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

. Most of its members are

public universities A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...

, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The conference is run by the same administration as the multisport conference

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Massachusetts to South Ca ...

(CAA; formerly the Colonial Athletic Association) but is legally a different entity.

History

CAA Football was formed in 2005, although it did not begin play until 2007, as a separate conference independent of the CAA, but administered by the CAA front office. In the 2004–05 academic year, the CAA had five member schools that sponsored football, all of them as football-only members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. In 2005, Northeastern accepted the CAA's offer of membership, giving the CAA the six football-playing members it needed under NCAA rules to organize a football conference. At that time, the CAA announced it would launch its new football conference in 2007. Next, the CAA invited the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

to become a football-only member effective in 2007. Once UR accepted the offer, this left the A10 football conference with only five members, less than the six required under NCAA rules. As a result, the remaining A10 football programs all decided to join the CAA for football only, ending A10 football. Since the CAA football conference had the same members as the A10 the previous year, it can be said that the CAA football conference is the A10 football conference under new management. The CAA football conference's earliest roots are in the

New England Conference The New England Conference (full name: New England College Conference of Intercollegiate Athletics) was a collegiate sports conference in the Eastern United States, more specifically in New England, that operated from 1923 to 1947. As four of its ...

, founded in 1938 by four state-supported universities in that region plus Northeastern; three of the public schools are currently in CAA Football. However, neither the multi-sports CAA nor CAA Football includes the New England Conference in CAA Football history. After the departure of Northeastern in 1945, the remaining members joined New England's other land-grant colleges, Massachusetts State College (now the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

) and the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

, to form the

Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a American football, football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is ...

under a new charter in 1946, with competition starting in 1947. That conference eventually dropped all sports other than football in 1975. Starting in the 1980s, it expanded to include many schools outside its original New England base. After the NCAA voted to limit the influence of single-sport conferences, the Yankee merged with the A-10 in 1997. CAA Football went through many changes during the early 2010s with the loss of Georgia State,

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, and

Old Dominion Old Dominion most commonly refers to: *The Old Dominion, a nickname for the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia ** Colony of Virginia *Old Dominion University, a public university in Norfolk, Virginia **Old Dominion Monarchs, the athletic teams represe ...

and the addition of Albany, Elon, and Stony Brook. Stability was maintained for a decade before the departure of

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for h ...

in 2021 leading to the addition of

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

Hampton Hampton may refer to: Places Australia *Hampton bioregion, an IBRA biogeographic region in Western Australia *Hampton, New South Wales *Hampton, Queensland, a town in the Toowoomba Region * Hampton, Victoria Canada * Hampton, New Brunswick *Ha ...

, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, and Bryant from 2022 to 2024.

Timeline

*May 4, 2005 – CAA Football was formed with inaugural members

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...

Hofstra Hofstra University is a private university in Hempstead, New York. It is Long Island's largest private university. Hofstra originated in 1935 as an extension of New York University (NYU) under the name Nassau College – Hofstra Memorial of New ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

Northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, Richmond,

Towson Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unincorp ...

(UMass), Villanova, and William & Mary. *May 31, 2006 –

, at the time a member of the all-sports CAA, announced plans to add football for the 2009 season and join CAA Football in 2011. *June 11, 2009 – Georgia State, at the time a member of the all-sports CAA, announced the addition of Football in 2011, and joining the CAA football conference in 2012. *November 9, 2009 –

announced plans to drop football after the 2009 season. *December 3, 2009 –

also announced that the university would no longer be sponsoring football. *June 1, 2010 – Due to the reduction of the conference, CAA Football did not use the division format for the 2010 season. *April 20, 2011 – UMass announced that it would transition to FBS beginning fall 2021, and would become a football-only member of the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great L ...

(MAC). *April 7, 2012 – Georgia State began an FBS transition in advance of its 2013 move to the Sun Belt Conference. *May 17, 2012 –

announced its plans to join Conference USA and transition to FBS status for the 2013 season. *August 7, 2012 – Albany and Stony Brook both accepted offers of membership in CAA Football for the 2013 season. *May 23, 2013 – Elon announced that the school would become a member of CAA Football and the all-sports CAA for the 2014 season. * November 6, 2021 –

announced its departure for the Sun Belt Conference and upgrade to FBS. Originally, JMU was slated to play the 2022 season as an FCS Independent before joining the Sun Belt in 2023, but JMU ended up joining a year earlier. *January 25, 2022 –

and Monmouth accept invitations to join CAA Football and the all-sports CAA for the 2022 season. Stony Brook, which joined CAA Football in 2013, also becomes a member of the all-sports conference. *February 22, 2022 – North Carolina A&T accepts an invitation to join CAA Football for the 2023 season, a year after joining the all-sports CAA. *August 3, 2022 –

also accepts an invitation to join both sides of the CAA for the 2023 season. *July 20, 2023 – CAA Football changed its full name to the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference. * August 10, 2023 – Bryant accepts an invitation to join CAA Football for the 2024 season.

Member institutions

Current members

;Notes:

Future members

Former members

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2007 till:2027 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white id:Full value:rgb(0.742,0.727,0.852) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports id:OtherC1 value:rgb(0.996,0.996,0.699) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference id:OtherC2 value:rgb(0.988,0.703,0.383) # Use this color to denote a team that has moved to another conference where OtherC1 has already been used, to distinguish the two PlotData= width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:2 color:Full from:2007 till:2009 text:

(2007–2009, then dropped football) bar:3 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–2022) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:4 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:5 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:6 color:Full from:2007 till:2009 text:

(2007–2009, then dropped football) bar:7 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:8 color:Full from:2007 till:end text: Richmond (2007–present) bar:9 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2007 till:2011 text: UMass (2007–2011) bar:10 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:2016 text: MAC bar:10 color:OtherC2 from:2016 till:end text: FBS Ind. bar:11 color:Full from:2007 till:end text: Villanova (2007–present) bar:12 color:Full from:2007 till:end text: William & Mary (2007–present) bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2011 text: FCS Independent bar:13 color:Full from:2011 till:2013 text:

(2011–2013) bar:13 shift:30 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2014 text: Ind. bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:2022 text:

C-USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are ...

bar:13 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2010 till:2012 text: FCS Independent bar:14 color:Full from:2012 till:2013 text: Georgia State (2012-2013) bar:14 shift:90 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013 text:

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

bar:15 color:Full from:2013 till:end text: Albany (2013–present) bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text: FCS Ind. bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2013 text:

Big South The Big South Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I. Originally a non-football conference, the Big South began sponsoring football in 2002 as part of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Th ...

bar:16 color:Full from:2013 till:end text: Stony Brook (2013–present) bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2014 text:

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

bar:17 color:Full from:2014 till:end text: Elon (2014–present) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2018 text: MEAC bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2019 text: FCS Ind. bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:2022 text:

bar:18 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:

(2022–present) bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013 text:

bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2014 text: FCS Ind. bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:2022 text:

bar:19 color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Monmouth (2022–present) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2018 text:

Pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2023 text:

bar:20 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:

(2023–present) bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2021 text: MEAC bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text:

bar:21 color:Full from:2023 till:end text: North Carolina A&T (2023–present) bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text: NE-10 bar:22 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2009 text: FCS Ind. bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:2022 text:

bar:22 shift:(-20) color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:2023 text:

bar:22 shift:(-15) color:OtherC1 from:2023 till:2024 text: Big South–OVC bar:22 shift:(15) color:Full from:2024 till:end text: Bryant (2024–future) bar:N color:blue from:2007 till:end text:CAA Football ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:2007 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"CAA Football membership history" #> If the chart uses more than one bar color, add a legend by selecting the appropriate fields from the following six options (use only the colors that are used in the graphic.) Leave a blank line after the end of the timeline, then add a line with the selected values from the list, separated by a space. <#

Conference champions

All-time conference championships

Co-championships are designated by ''italics''. BOLD denotes the team won the National Championship ^‡Former member of CAA Football *The CAA's

2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The regular ...

was played in Spring 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Several teams opted out, and some games were canceled. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens completed the season with a 5-0 overall record, 4–0 in conference, and won the North Division title; the James Madison Dukes completed the season with a 5-0 overall record, 3–0 in conference, and won the South Division title. A vote of the CAA athletic directors, not including Delaware or James Madison, was held to determine a champion. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens were declared the 2020 CAA football champions as a result of this vote and were awarded the automatic qualifier for the FCS playoffs.

NCAA FCS National Championships

†Delaware was an NCAA I-AA independent in the 1982 season. *Won as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference. ^UMass became a football-only member in the MAC in 2013, and an independent football member of FBS beginning with the 2016 season.

All-time NFL Draft selections

Conference facilities

Future members in gray.

References

External links

* {{NCAA Division I FCS conference navbox Organizations based in Richmond, Virginia Sports in the Eastern United States Sports organizations established in 2005 Articles which contain graphical timelines