Coastal Athletic Association

The **Coastal Athletic Association** (**CAA**), known before July 20, 2023 as the **Colonial Athletic Association**,  is a NCAA conference that plays in NCAA Division I. The conference is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia and features universities and colleges from the Eastern United States.

The CAA was founded in 1979 when the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) split its basketball league into several conferences. It was first known as the ECAC South Basketball League, and became the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 when it added other sports. The first word of the conference name was changed to "Coastal" in 2023.

The CAA plays 23 sports in all—10 for men and 13 for women. Its (American) football league is a separate conference marketed as CAA Football (in full, the Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference).

## Members

These colleges and universities are "full members" of the CAA, meaning that they play almost all of the sports that the CAA sponsors.

|School|Location|Founded|Type|Nickname|Joined CAA|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Campbell University|Buies Creek, North Carolina|1887|Private|Fighting Camels|2023|
|(Charleston) || Charleston, South Carolina || 1770 || Public || Cougars || 2013||||||
|Drexel University|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|1891|Private|Dragons|2001|
|Elon University|Elon, North Carolina|1889|Private|Phoenix|2014|
|Hampton University|Hampton, Virginia|1868|Private (HBCU) || Pirates || 2021|||
|Hofstra University|Hempstead, New York|1935|Private|Pride|2001|
|Monmouth University|West Long Branch, New Jersey|1933|Private|Hawks|2022|
|North Carolina A&T State University|Greensboro, North Carolina|1891|Public (HBCU) || Aggies || 2022|||
|Northeastern University|Boston, Massachusetts|1898|Private|Huskies|2005|
|Stony Brook University|Stony Brook, New York|1957|Public|Seawolves|2022|
|Towson University|Towson, Maryland|1866|Public|Tigers|1979, 2001|
|(UNCW)|Wilmington, North Carolina|1947|Public|Seahawks|1984|
||Williamsburg, Virginia|1693|Public|Tribe|1979|

### CAA Football

The CAA has run a separate football conference, branded as CAA Football, since the 2007 season. CAA Football plays in Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision), the lower of two levels of NCAA Division I football. Although the multi-sports CAA dates only to 1979, the football conference officially traces its history to 1947, and its history can be traced further back to the late 1930s.

In 1938, five schools in New England formed the New England Conference. When one of the schools left in 1945, the other schools joined with two other New England schools to form the Yankee Conference, which began play in 1947. CAA Football does not include the New England Conference in its own history, but instead considers the Yankee Conference to be its earliest ancestor.  In 1975, the Yankee Conference dropped all sports other than football, and over time many schools outside of New England joined the league. Due to changes in NCAA rules in 1997, the Yankee Conference merged into the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). After the CAA announced plans to start a football league in 2007, all of the A-10 football teams decided to join the CAA for that sport, and the CAA created the separate conference of CAA Football.

Of the members of the multi-sports CAA, Campbell, Elon, Hampton, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, Stony Brook, Towson, and William & Mary have football teams. The other schools that play in CAA Football are:

|School|Location|Founded|Type|Nickname|Joined|Main Conference|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
||Albany, New York|1844|Public|Great Danes|2013|America East|
|Bryant University|Smithfield, Rhode Island|1863|Private|Bulldogs|2024|America East|
||Orono, Maine|1865|Public|Black Bears|2007|America East|
||Durham, New Hampshire|1866|Public|Wildcats|2007|America East|
||Kingston, Rhode Island|1892|Public|Rams|2007|Atlantic 10|
|Villanova University|Villanova, Pennsylvania|1842|Private|Wildcats|2007|Big East|

Villanova and William & Mary will leave CAA Football in 2026 for the Patriot League. W&M will stay in the multi-sports CAA.

### Future CAA Football member

CAA Football will add a new member in 2026.
|School|Location|Founded|Type|Nickname|Joining|Main conference|Current football conference|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Sacred Heart University|Fairfield, Connecticut|1963|Private|Pioneers|2026|MAAC|FCS independent|

### Other associate members

The CAA has several other associate members, each of which plays one sport in the conference. In addition to these, CAA Football member Villanova became a single-sport member of the multi-sports CAA in 2015. It will keep its CAA sport in that conference after leaving CAA Football in 2026.

|School|Location|Founded|Type|Nickname|Joined|CAA Sport|Main Conference|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Fairfield University|Fairfield, Connecticut|1942|Private|Stags|2014|Men's lacrosse|MAAC|
|(UC San Diego)|La Jolla, California|1881|Public|Tritons|2020|Women's rowing|Big West|
|(UConn)|Storrs, Connecticut|1881|Public|Huskies|2019|Women's rowing|Big East|
|Villanova University|Villanova, Pennsylvania|1842|Private|Wildcats|2015|Women's rowing|Big East|