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  JoinedCAA  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

References


Category:NCAA Division I athletics conferences
Category:Richmond, Virginia
Category:1979 establishments in the United States