The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA),[1] formerly the ECAC South Conference and 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 Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeastern United States (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 Conference, made up of independent schools which played basketball in the Eastern College Athletic Conference's South Region Division I men's basketball tournament. During its first two seasons, its members continued to play basketball as independents during the regular season and take part in the ECAC's South Region tournament for independents, but it began conference play in basketball in the 1981–1982 season. 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. 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 legally separate entity of CAA Football.
The most recent changes to the conference membership took place in 2022 and 2023. First, Hampton University, Monmouth University, North Carolina A&T State University, and Stony Brook University joined 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 joined CAA Football in 2023.[2][3] This was followed by Campbell University joining both sides of the league in 2023.[4] The conference renamed itself the Coastal Athletic Conference in 2023.
The CAA has expanded in recent years, following the exits of longtime members such as the United States Naval Academy, the University of Richmond, East Carolina University, and American University. In 2001, the six-member conference added four additional universities: Towson University, Drexel University, Hofstra University, and the University of Delaware. Four years later the league expanded again when Georgia State University and Northeastern University joined, further enlarging the conference footprint. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) left for the Atlantic 10 Conference in July 2012.[5] More changes came in 2013: Old Dominion University left for Conference USA,[6] Georgia State joined the Sun Belt Conference,[7] and the College of Charleston joined the CAA from the Southern Conference.[8]
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 winners. In 2006, George Mason became the first CAA team to reach the Final Four. In 2011, the VCU Rams 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.[9] 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 announced it would leave the CAA, transition its football program to the Football Bowl Subdivision, and join the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). Initially, JMU was to join the SBC in July 2023.[10] 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.[11][12]
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, Howard University, Monmouth University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.[13][14] 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.[15] On January 18, local media in Monmouth's home of New Jersey reported that a CAA invitation to that school was imminent.[16]
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.[17] On February 22, the CAA announced that North Carolina A&T State University would join the all-sports CAA that July and CAA Football in 2023.[3] Still later, Campbell University was announced as a new member of both sides of the league effective in 2023.[4]
On July 20, 2023, the Colonial Athletic Association rebranded as the Coastal Athletic Association, citing the expansion of the conference footprint throughout the east coast for the change in name; however, the current logo was unchanged.[18]
On November 28, 2023, Delaware announced its departure from the CAA and transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) joining Conference USA on July 1, 2025.[19]
.jpg/1280px-Coastal_Athletic_Association_Commissioner_Joe_D'Antonio_(crop).jpg)
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.
Full members (non-football) Other Conference Other Conference
The CAA sponsors championship competitions in ten men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Eleven schools are associate members in three sports.[24] This does not include football, administered by the CAA through the separate entity of CAA Football.
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.
RS = regular-season champion; T = tournament champion
Note: The conference was known as the ECAC South from 1979 to 1985.
‡Former member of the CAA
‡Former member of the CAA
Note: The conference was known as the ECAC South from 1983 to 1985.
List of CAA regular season champions.[25]
Note: In the 2020–21 season, impacted by COVID-10, the CAA split into North and South Divisions, with conference play solely within each division, for that season only. No champion is included for this season.
Departing member indicated in pink.
