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Colonial Athletic Association

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Colonial Athletic Association
Colonial Athletic Association
Data
Established 1985
Members 12
Sports fielded 21 (10 men's, 11 women's)
Region East Coast
States 8 - Virginia, Delaware, Georgia,
Maryland, Massachusetts, New York,
North Carolina, Pennsylvania
Past names ECAC South
Headquarters Richmond, Virginia
The Colonial Athletic Association, also known as the CAA, is a NCAA Division I college athletic conference whose members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to Georgia. Most of its members are public universities, with five in Virginia alone, and the conference is headquartered near Richmond, Virginia. The CAA is generally considered one of the better mid-major conferences in the country.

The CAA, which was founded in 1985 from the short-lived ECAC South basketball league, currently organizes championships in 21 men's and women's sports. Though it does not currently sponsor football, the recent addition of Northeastern University gave the conference the NCAA minimum of six football programs needed to sponsor the sport. For the 2007 football season, all of the Atlantic Ten Conference's football programs will join the CAA football conference, as agreed to in May 2005.

The CAA has expanded in recent years, following the exits of schools such as the United States Naval Academy, University of Richmond, East Carolina University and American University. In 2001 the 6 member conference added Towson University, Drexel University, Hofstra University, and the University of Delaware. Four years later the league expanded again when Georgia State and Northeastern were added.

On the playing field, the CAA has produced 16 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 11 national coaches of the year, 11 national players of the year and 12 Honda Award winners.

The CAA plays its men's basketball championship in the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia. The 2006 Champions were the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, who defeated the Hofstra Pride in the final. The last CAA team to win a game in the NCAA Tournament was George Mason in 2006 when they reached the Final Four after defeating Michigan State in the first round, North Carolina in second round, Wichita State in the Sweet 16, and Connecticut in the Elite 8. In doing so, George Mason not only became the first team from the CAA to advance to the Final Four, but the first team designated as a true mid-major to make it that far since the tournament expanded to 64 teams. Many consider David Robinson to be the best CAA participant ever, playing in the conference during his time at Navy.

Contents

Members

The league currently has 12 full members:
Institution Location Founded Affiliation Enrollment Year Joined
University of Delaware Newark, Delaware 1743 Public 19,067 2001
Drexel University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1891 Private/Non-sectarian 17,000 2001
George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia 1957 Public 29,728 1985
Georgia State University Atlanta, Georgia 1913 Public 27,267 2005
Hofstra University Hempstead, New York 1935 Private/Non-sectarian 13,000 2001
James Madison University Harrisonburg, Virginia 1908 Public 16,241 1985
Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts 1898 Private/Non-sectarian 22,942 2005
Old Dominion University Norfolk, Virginia 1930 Public 20,802 1991
Towson University Towson, Maryland 1866 Public 18,111 2001
University of North Carolina at Wilmington Wilmington, North Carolina 1947 Public 11,300 1985
Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, Virginia 1838 Public 28,303 1995
College of William and Mary Williamsburg, Virginia 1693 Public 7,700 1985

Image:Logo del.gif|Delaware Blue Hens Image:Logo drex.gif|Drexel Dragons Image:Logo gmu.gif|George Mason Patriots Image:Logo gsu2.gif|Georgia State Panthers Image:Logo hof.gif|Hofstra Pride Image:Logo jmu.gif|James Madison Dukes Image:Logo nu.gif|Northeastern Huskies Image:Odumonarchs.PNG|Old Dominion Monarchs Image:Logo tow.gif|Towson Tigers Image:Logo uncw.gif|UNC-Wilmington Seahawks Image:Logo vcu.gif|Virginia Commonwealth Rams Image:Logo wm.gif|William & Mary Tribe

By 2007, the CAA will have 17 associate members:

Men's Basketball Champions

SeasonRegular Season ChampionTournament Champion
1983William & Mary (9-0)James Madison
1984Richmond (7-3)Richmond
1985Navy (11-3)Navy
1986Navy (13-1)Navy
1987Navy (13-1)Navy
1988Richmond (11-3)Richmond
1989Richmond (13-1)George Mason
1990James Madison (11-3)Richmond
1991James Madison (12-2)Richmond
1992Richmond (12-2)Old Dominion
1993James Madison (11-3)East Carolina
1994Old Dominion (10-4)James Madison
1995Old Dominion (12-2)Old Dominion
1996Virginia Commonwealth (14-2)Virginia Commonwealth
1997Old Dominion (10-6)Old Dominion
1998UNC-Wilmington (13-3)Richmond
1999George Mason (13-3)George Mason
2000George Mason (12-4)UNC-Wilmington
2001Richmond (12-4)George Mason
2002UNC-Wilmington (14-4)UNC-Wilmington
2003UNC-Wilmington (15-3)UNC-Wilmington
2004Virginia Commonwealth (14-4)Virginia Commonwealth
2005Old Dominion (15-3)Old Dominion
2006UNC-Wilmington/George Mason (15-3)UNC-Wilmington

The CAA tournament has been contested at the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Virginia, since 1990. Prior hosts include:

Note: The conference was known as the ECAC South from 1983-1985.

Football conference

After Northeastern accepted the CAA's offer of membership, the CAA invited the University of Richmond to become a football-only member in 2007. Once UR accepted the offer, this left the Atlantic 10 football conference with only five members, less than the six required under NCAA rules. As a result, the remaining A-10 football programs all decided to join the CAA on a football-only basis, spelling the end of the A-10 football conference.

The new CAA football conference will have the following members:

Northern Division

Southern Division

On June 14, 2005, Old Dominion's Board of Visitors approved the creation of a football team by a 14-0 vote. The team is expected to begin play in 2009. As a division of William & Mary, Old Dominion once had a football program but dropped it in 1941. George Mason, Georgia State, & UNC-Wilmington are in the process of gauging support for football programs as well.

Conference Venues

School Football stadium Stadium capacity Basketball arena Arena capacity
Delaware Tubby Raymond Field at Delaware Stadium 22,000 Bob Carpenter Center 5,000
Drexel Non-Football School N/A Daskalakis Athletic Center (The "DAC") 2,300
George Mason Non-Football School N/A Patriot Center (The "Pat Dome") 10,000
Georgia State Non-Football School N/A GSU Sports Arena 4,500
Hofstra James M. Shuart Stadium 15,000 Hofstra Arena 5,124
James Madison Bridgeforth Stadium 14,000 JMU Convocation Center (The "Convo") 7,156
Northeastern Parsons Field 7,000 Matthews Arena 6,000
Old Dominion Foreman Field 20,000 Ted Constant Convocation Center (The "Ted") 8,650
Towson Minnegan Field at Johnny Unitas Stadium 11,198 Towson Center 5,000
UNC-Wilmington Non-Football School N/A Trask Coliseum 6,100
Virginia Commonwealth Non-Football School N/A ALLTEL Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center 7,500
William & Mary Walter J. Zable Stadium at Cary Field 12,259 Kaplan Arena 8,600

Note: Old Dominion will not reinstate its football program until 2009, but already has a suitable on-campus stadium. The school currently uses it for its women's field hockey program.

External links

 

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