The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) 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. Confe ...

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

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. 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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeast (of five that joined from rival conference America East) after the turn of the 21st century, which added geographic balance to the conference. The CAA was founded in 1979 as the

ECAC South The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) 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 Carolina. Most of its members are public univers ...

basketball league. It was renamed the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 when it added championships in other sports (although a number of members maintain ECAC affiliation in some sports). As of 2006, it organizes championships in 21 men's and women's sports. The addition of Northeastern University in 2005 gave the conference the NCAA minimum of six football programs needed to sponsor

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. For the 2007 football season, all of the Atlantic 10 Conference's football programs joined the CAA football conference, as agreed in May 2005. The football league operates under CAA administration as the technically separate entity of CAA Football. The conference most recently added Hampton University,

Monmouth University Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter. There are about 4,400 full ...

North Carolina A&T State University North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

, and Stony Brook University in 2022. Stony Brook, already a member of CAA Football, joined in other sports at that time; Hampton and Monmouth joined both the all-sports CAA and CAA Football; and NC A&T joined the all-sports CAA in 2022 and will join CAA Football in 2023. The CAA has since announced that

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.n ...

will join both sides of the league in 2023.

History

The CAA has expanded in recent years, following the exits of longtime members such as the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, 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 ...

, East Carolina University, and American University. In 2001, the six-member conference added four additional universities:

Towson University Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...

, Drexel University, Hofstra University, and the

University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...

. Four years later the league expanded again when

Georgia State University Georgia State University (Georgia State, State, or GSU) is a Public university, public research university in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1913, it is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities. It is also the ...

and Northeastern University joined, further enlarging the conference footprint.

Virginia Commonwealth University Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virginia ...

(VCU) left for the Atlantic 10 Conference in July 2012. More changes came in 2013:

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...

left for Conference USA, Georgia State joined the Sun Belt Conference, and the

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th oldest institution of higher learning in the Unit ...

joined the CAA from the

Southern Conference 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 ...

. On the playing field, the CAA has produced 16 national team champions in six different sports (the most recent being the James Madison University Dukes who won the 2018 Division I Women's Lacrosse championship), 33 individual national champions, 11 national coaches of the year, 11 national players of the year and 12

Honda Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

winners. In 2006,

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of the three delegates present who refused to sign the Constitution. His writings, including ...

became the first CAA team to reach the Final Four. In 2011, the

VCU Rams The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most succe ...

became the second CAA team to reach the Final Four, as well as the first team to win five games en route, due to their participation in the First Four round. On March 25, 2013, George Mason University left the CAA to join the Atlantic 10 Conference. Shortly after, the CAA ceased sponsorship of wrestling due to the lack of teams. The 2015–16 basketball season saw the conference RPI reach its highest rating when it finished the season ranked 9th in the nation. During another phase of realignment that started in 2021, the CAA was affected when longtime member

James Madison University James Madison University (JMU, Madison, or James Madison) is a public research university in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Founded in 1908 as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women at Harrisonburg, the institution was renamed Madison Coll ...

announced it would leave the CAA, transition its football program to the

Football Bowl Subdivision The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As ...

, and join the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). Initially, JMU was to join the SBC in July 2023. However, the timeline changed when the CAA chose to ban JMU from subsequent championship events, citing a conference bylaw that allows it to impose such a ban on a departing member. Thus, JMU officially joined the Sun Belt in July 2022 instead (at which time it was counted as an FBS member for scheduling purposes after meeting an NCAA minimum requirement of five FBS opponents at home), housing all of its sports in that league, including men's soccer, which would be sponsored by the SBC again, but one season earlier. Shortly before JMU announced its departure, it was reported that the CAA sought to expand by several schools, allowing it to split into a divisional format for most of its sports in order to reduce travel costs for its members. Among the schools named as possible candidates were

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, and the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system. UNCG, like all members of the UNC system, is a stand- ...

. In January 2022, reports emerged that Hampton University, a historically black institution that had been working toward a CAA move since at least 1995, would likely join the CAA that July. Monmouth was again named as a potential CAA expansion candidate. Also, Stony Brook University, already a member of CAA Football, was named as a candidate for membership in the all-sports CAA. On January 18, local media in Monmouth's home of New Jersey reported that a CAA invitation to that school was imminent. The CAA later announced on January 25 that Hampton, Monmouth, and Stony Brook would become members of the all-sports CAA that July, with Hampton and Monmouth joining Stony Brook in CAA Football. On February 22, the CAA announced that

would join the all-sports CAA that July and CAA Football in 2023. Still later,

was announced as a new member of both sides of the league effective in 2023.

Commissioners

Member schools

Full members

Current full members

;Notes:

Future full member

Former full members

;Notes

Associate members

In all tables below, dates of joining and departure reflect the calendar years these moves took effect. For spring sports, the year of arrival is the calendar year before the first season of competition. For fall sports, the year of departure is the calendar year after the final season of competition.

Current associate members

;Notes:

Former associate members

;Notes:

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1979 till:2030 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:FullxF value:rgb(0.551,0.824,0.777) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports except for football id:AssocF value:rgb(0.98,0.5,0.445) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member for football only id:AssocOS value:rgb(0.5,0.691,0.824) # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in some sports, but not all (consider identifying in legend or a footnote) 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:FullxF from:1979 till:1981 text:

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

(1979–1981) bar:1 shift:(75) color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1983 text:ECAC-Metro (1981–1983), then dropped athletics bar:2 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1981 text: Catholic (D.C.) (1979–1981) bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1982 bar:2 shift:(80) color:OtherC2 from:1982 till:1984 text: ODAC bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1984 till:1989 bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:1989 till:2007 text:

CAC CAC may refer to: Arts * California Arts Council, an agency for advancing California through the arts and creativity * Campbelltown Arts Centre, multidisciplinary contemporary arts centre south-west of Sydney, Australia * Comics Arts Conference, ...

bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:end text: Landmark bar:3 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1981 text: St. Francis (Pa.) (1979–1981) bar:3 shift:(110) color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1988 text:ECAC-Metro bar:3 shift:(40) color:OtherC2 from:1988 till:end 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:4 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1981 text:

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 ...

(1979–1981) bar:4 shift:(65) color:OtherC1 from:1981 till:1982 text: ECAC-Metro (1981–1982) bar:4 shift:(165) color:OtherC2 from:1982 till:1992 text: ECC bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1992 till:1995 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:4 color:OtherC2 from:1995 till:2001 text: America East bar:4 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2007 text:(2001–present) bar:4 color:Full from:2007 till:end bar:5 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1982 text:

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 ...

(1979–1982) bar:5 shift:(75) color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:1991 text: Sun Belt bar:5 color:FullxF from:1991 till:2011 text:(1991–2013) bar:5 color:Full from:2011 till:2013 bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2013 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:5 color:OtherC2 from:2022 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:6 color:FullxF from:1979 till:1991 text:

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

(1979–1991) bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:end text: Patriot League bar:7 color:FullxF from:1979 till:2013 text:

(1979–2013) bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:

A-10 The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

bar:8 color:FullxF from:1979 till:2007 text:

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 hi ...

(1979–2022) bar:8 color:Full from:2007 till:2022 bar:8 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:9 color:FullxF from:1979 till:2001 text:

(1979–2001) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2002 text:

bar:9 shift:(20) color:AssocOS from:2002 till:2007 text:A-10, (women's golf, 2002–2014) bar:9 color:AssocF from:2007 till:end bar:10 color:FullxF from:1979 till:2007 text: William & Mary (1979–present) bar:10 color:Full from:2007 till:end bar:11 color:FullxF from:1981 till:2001 text:

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

(1981–2001) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:2014 text:

bar:11 color:OtherC2 from:2014 till:end text: AAC bar:12 color:FullxF from:1984 till:2001 text:

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(1984–2001) bar:12 color:OtherC1 from:2001 till:end text: Patriot League bar:13 color:FullxF from:1984 till:end text:

UNC Wilmington The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW or UNC Wilmington) is a public research university in Wilmington, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina System and enrolls 17,499 undergraduate and graduate students eac ...

(1984–present) bar:14 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2012 text: VCU (1995–2012) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:end text: A10 bar:15 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2013 text:

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

(wrestling, 2001–2013; women's rowing, 2011–2013) bar:16 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2007 text:

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 ...

(2001–present) bar:16 color:Full from:2007 till:end bar:17 color:FullxF from:2001 till:end text: Drexel (2001–present) bar:18 color:FullxF from:2001 till:2009 text:

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 ...

(2001–present) bar:18 color:Full from:2007 till:2010 bar:18 color:FullxF from:2010 till:end bar:19 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2002 text:

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

(wrestling, 2001–2002) bar:20 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2002 text: Loyola (MD) (men's lacrosse, 2001–2002) bar:21 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2010 text: Sacred Heart (wrestling, 2001–2010; men's lacrosse, 2005–2009) bar:22 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2013 text:

Binghamton Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

(wrestling, 2001–13) bar:23 color:AssocOS from:2001 till:2007 text: Villanova (men's lacrosse, 2001–2009; football, 2007–present; women's rowing, 2015–present) bar:23 shift:(50, -3) color:AssocF from:2007 till:end bar:24 color:AssocOS from:2002 till:2013 text: Rider (wrestling, 2002–13) bar:25 color:AssocOS from:2002 till:2013 text: Xavier (women's golf, 2002–13) bar:26 color:AssocOS from:2002 till:2014 text:

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

(women's golf, 2002–2014) bar:27 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2012 text:

Georgia State Georgia state or ''variation'', may refer to: Primarily * Georgia State University ("State", "Georgia State"), a state university * Georgia (U.S. state) ("Georgia state"), a state of the United States of America Sports * sports teams of Georgia St ...

(2005–2013) bar:27 color:Full from:2012 till:2013 bar:27 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text: Sun Belt bar:28 color:FullxF from:2005 till:2007 text:

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 ...

(2005–present) bar:28 color:Full from:2007 till:2010 bar:28 color:FullxF from:2010 till:end bar:29 color:AssocOS from:2006 till:2009 text: Robert Morris (men's lacrosse, 2006–2009) bar:30 color:AssocF from:2007 till:end text:

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 ...

(2007–present) bar:31 color:AssocF from:2007 till:2012 text:

(2007–2012; men's lacrosse, 2009–present) bar:31 color:AssocOS from:2012 till:end bar:32 color:AssocF from:2007 till:end text:

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, 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 t ...

(2007–present) bar:33 color:AssocF from:2007 till:end text:

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

(2007–present) bar:34 color:AssocOS from:2009 till:2017 text: Buffalo (rowing, 2009–2017) bar:35 color:AssocOS from:2010 till:2014 text: Penn State (men's lacrosse, 2010–14) bar:36 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:2013 text: Saint Joseph's (men's lacrosse, 2011–13) bar:37 color:AssocOS from:2011 till:end text:

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

(rowing, 2011–present) bar:38 color:AssocF from:2013 till:end text: Albany (2013–present) bar:39 color:AssocF from:2013 till:2022 text: Stony Brook (2013–present) bar:39 color:Full from:2022 till:end bar:40 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text: Charleston (2013–present) bar:41 color:Full from:2014 till:end text: Elon (2014–present) bar:42 color:AssocOS from:2014 till:end text: Fairfield (men's lacrosse, 2014–present) bar:43 color:AssocOS from:2019 till:end text:

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

(rowing, 2019–present) bar:44 color:AssocOS from:2020 till:end text:

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is t ...

(rowing, 2020–present) bar:45 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:

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 ...

(2022–present) bar:46 color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Monmouth (2022–present) bar:47 color:FullXF from:2022 till:2023 text:

North Carolina A&T North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (also known as North Carolina A&T State University, North Carolina A&T, N.C. A&T, or simply A&T) is a public, historically black land-grant research university in Greensboro, North Caro ...

(2022–present) bar:47 color:Full from:2023 till:end bar:48 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:

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 ...

(2023–future) bar:N color:powderblue from:1979 till:1985 text:ECAC South bar:N color:blue from:1985 till:2007 text:CAA bar:N color:powderblue from:2007 till:end text:CAA (with football league) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:2 start:1980 TextData = fontsize:M textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:^"Colonial Athletic Association 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. <#

Sports

The CAA sponsors championship competitions in ten men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Eleven schools are associate members in three sports.

Men's sponsored sports by school

;Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the CAA which are played by CAA schools Future member in gray. ;Notes

Women's sponsored sports by school

;Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the CAA which are played by CAA schools ;Notes In addition to the above, Charleston counts its female cheerleaders (though not its male cheerleaders) and all-female dance team as varsity teams. Neither cheerleading nor dance team competitions are sponsored by the NCAA.

Current champions

RS = regular-season champion; T = tournament champion

Men's basketball

Regular season champions

Note: The conference was known as the ECAC South from 1979 to 1985.

History of the tournament final

Men's CAA tournament championships and finalists

^‡Former member of the CAA

Broadcasters

Women's basketball

Regular season champions

History of the Tournament finals

Women's CAA tournament championships and finalists

^‡Former member of the CAA

Football

The CAA Football Conference 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. For this reason, there are no true "football associate members" as every member of CAA Football is a full-member of the football-only conference. 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 (A10). In 2005, as previously noted, 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

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 on a football-only basis, spelling the end of A10 football, at least under that conference's banner. 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 the CAA football conference. 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 The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medical ...

) and the

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

, 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 A10 in 1997. As mentioned above, the A10 football conference effectively became the CAA Football Conference in 2007. The CAA Football Conference does not claim the legacy of the A10 Football Conference or the Yankee Conference. However, every school that was in the Yankee Conference at the time of the A10 merger and still fields an FCS-level football team (nine out of the final 12 members of the Yankee Conference) is in the CAA football conference. As further proof of the continuity between conferences, the CAA inherited the A10's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, which in turn was inherited from the Yankee. On May 31, 2006, Old Dominion University announced that it would start a football team to begin play in 2009. ODU joined the CAA football conference in 2011. On April 17, 2008, Georgia State University announced that it would start a football team to begin play in 2010 and join the CAA football conference in 2012. The team is playing in the 70,000 seat Georgia Dome, but is restricting ticket sales to just over 28,000 for virtually all its games. However, GSU played only the 2012 season in the CAA, and was not eligible for the conference title, as it began an FBS transition in advance of its 2013 move to the Sun Belt Conference. Since the CAA began play as a football conference in 2007, a member team has played in the FCS Championship game seven times, with Delaware making it in 2007 and 2010, Richmond in winning in 2008, Villanova winning in 2009, Towson appearing in 2013, and James Madison winning in 2016 and appearing in 2017. In 2007, the CAA set records with 15 national player of the week honorees and by sending five teams to the national championship playoffs. The very next season, in 2008, they broke that record with 19 national player of the week honorees and tied their own record by again sending five teams to the national championship playoffs for the second straight year. At the end of the 2008 season, the CAA had six Top 25 teams with four placing in the Top Ten. Players from the CAA received 78 All-America honors. In the opening weekend of the 2009 season, CAA teams defeated three

Division I FBS The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). A ...

teams. William & Mary and Richmond took down teams from the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

(one of the six conferences whose champions receive automatic Bowl Championship Series berths), respectively

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

and

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

, while Villanova defeated

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

from the MAC. The following weekend saw New Hampshire defeat another MAC team, Ball State (which had gone through the previous regular season unbeaten, but ended 2009 2–10). All four of the CAA teams to defeat FBS teams qualified for the 2009 FCS playoffs and won their first-round games; Villanova and William & Mary reached the semifinals, and Villanova won the FCS championship. Northeastern—the school whose 2005 move to the CAA enabled the creation of the CAA football conference—dropped football after the 2009 season. President Joseph E. Aoun and the board of trustees endorsed the move after an extensive, two-year review of the athletic program by its director, Peter Roby. The decision to eliminate football followed six straight losing seasons and sparse game attendance at a school whose ice rink often sells out for hockey. On December 3, 2009, Hofstra announced that the university would no longer be sponsoring football. The decision follows a two-year review of sports spending at Hofstra. School officials stated there are no plans to cut any other sports at the Long Island school. Hofstra cited costs and low student interest—only 500 students would attend home games despite free tickets—as reasons to drop the program. Due to the reduction of the conference, the CAA did not use the division format for the 2010 season. Even though Old Dominion began conference play in 2011 and Georgia State did the same in 2012, the divisional format is not likely to return in the immediate future, as the CAA lost football members in both 2012 and 2013. UMass departed for FBS and the Mid-American Conference in 2012 followed by Georgia State's departure for the Sun Belt and Old Dominion for Conference USA. The 2010 season started with the biggest non-conference win of the CAA's short history, when James Madison defeated nationally ranked

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

(FBS #13 at the time) of the ACC. JMU won 21–16 on September 11, at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium.

Current members

As of the 2022 season, CAA Football has the following members: * Albany *

* Elon *

* Monmouth *

* Stony Brook *

* Villanova * William & Mary

and

will join CAA Football in 2023.

Former members

Former members of CAA Football are: *

: 2007–2009, dropped football. *

: 2012, moved to the FBS-level Sun Belt Conference (SBC). *

: 2007–2009, dropped football. * UMass: 2007–2011, moved to the FBS-level

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 ...

for football only, now an FBS Independent. *

: 2011–2012, competed as an FCS independent in 2013 before joining Conference USA, an FBS conference, for the sport in 2014. ODU has since moved to the SBC. *

: 2007–2021, moved to FBS and the SBC in 2022. Hofstra, James Madison, Northeastern, and UMass each also played in the CAA's predecessor football conferences. UMass joined the Yankee Conference in 1947, James Madison and Northeastern joined the Yankee Conference in 1993, and Hofstra joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2001. Additionally, former members of its ancestor conferences (

, Atlantic 10 Conference) include: * Boston U.: 1971–1997, dropped football. *Northeastern: 1938–1945 (New England Conference) * Holy Cross: 1971, became independent, now in the Patriot League. *

: 1938–1999, moved up to Division I-A (now FBS) and joined the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

for football in 2004. When the original Big East split in 2013, UConn remained with most of the FBS Big East schools in the reorganized

American Athletic Conference The American Athletic Conference (The American or AAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference, featuring 11 member universities and five affiliate member universities that compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) ...

. In July 2020, UConn joined the current non-football

, with football becoming an FBS independent. *

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

: 1938–1973, dropped football.

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:end text:

(2007–present) bar:3 color:Full from:2007 till:2009 text:

(2007–2009) bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:end text:Dropped football bar:4 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:5 color:Full from:2007 till:2011 text: UMass (2007–2011) bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:2011 till:end text: Mid-American bar:6 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:7 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

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

(2007–2022) bar:9 color:OtherC1 from:2022 till:end text:Sun Belt bar:10 color:Full from:2007 till:end text: William & Mary (2007–present) bar:11 color:Full from:2007 till:2009 text:

(2001–2009) bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2009 till:end text:Dropped football bar:12 color:Full from:2007 till:end text:

(2007–present) bar:13 shift:(-35,-5) color:Full from:2011 till:2012 text:

(2011–2012) bar:13 shift:(5,-5) color:OtherC1 from:2012 till:2013 text:FCS Independent bar:13 shift:(25,-5) color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:C-USA bar:14 shift:(-5,-5) color:Full from:2012 till:2013 text:

(2012) bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:Sun Belt bar:15 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013 text:

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

(2007–2013) bar:15 color:Full from:2013 till:end text: Albany (2013–present) bar:16 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2008 text: FCS Ind. (2007) bar:16 color:OtherC2 from:2008 till:2013 text: Big South Conference (2008–2013) bar:16 color:Full from:2013 till:end text: Stony Brook (2013–present) bar:17 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2014 text:

(2007–2014) bar:17 color:Full from:2014 till:end text: Elon (2014–present) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2018 text: MEAC (1995–2018) bar:18 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2019 text: FCS Ind. (2018) bar:18 color:OtherC1 from:2019 till:2022 text:

(2019–2022) bar:18 color:Full from:2022 till:end text:

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

(1996–2013) bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2014 text: FCS Ind. (2013) bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:2022 text:

(2014–2022) bar:19 color:Full from:2022 till:end text: Monmouth (2022–future) bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2021 text: MEAC (1970–2021) bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2021 till:2023 text:

(2021–2023) bar:20 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:

(2023–future) bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2008 till:2018 text:

Pioneer Football League The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member ...

(2008–2018) bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2018 till:2023 text:

(2018–2023) bar:21 color:Full from:2023 till:end text:

(2023–future) bar:N color:blue from:2007 till:end text:CAA football ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:10 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 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 identif ...

. 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 by School

†Delaware was an NCAA FCS 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

Men's soccer

Regular season champions

Note: The conference was known as the ECAC South from 1983 to 1985. List of CAA regular season champions.

All-time conference championships

Facilities

Future teams 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 1983 Articles which contain graphical timelines

History

Commissioners

Member schools

Full members

Current full members

Future full member

Former full members

Associate members

Current associate members

Former associate members

Membership timeline

Sports

Men's sponsored sports by school

Women's sponsored sports by school

Current champions

Men's basketball

Regular season champions

History of the tournament final

Men's CAA tournament championships and finalists

Broadcasters

Women's basketball

Regular season champions

History of the Tournament finals

Women's CAA tournament championships and finalists

Football

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline

Conference champions

All-time conference championships

NCAA FCS National Championships by School

All-time NFL Draft selections

Men's soccer

Regular season champions

All-time conference championships

Facilities

See also

References

External links