Post by Sly Fox on May 9, 2005 7:52:25 GMT -5
Obviously, we're not in their setup but the Colonial formally announced the launch of football this past week:
i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=69792
Colonial Athletic Association to Begin Sponsoring I-AA in 2007
by Colonial Athletic Association Sports Information, Rob Washburn
RICHMOND, Va. -– Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner Thomas E. Yeager announced today that the conference will sponsor football beginning with the 2007 season.
“We are pleased to announce the addition of football to the CAA,” Yeager said. “College football, with all of its tradition, pageantry, and rivalries, creates an interest and excitement on campus and across communities that is unmatched. We look forward to having the CAA name attached to such a distinguished group of institutions and building on the successes that those members have had in the past.”<br>
Members of the CAA’s Division I-AA football conference will be the University of Delaware, Hofstra University, James Madison University, the University of Maine, the University of Massachusetts, the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Richmond, Towson University, Villanova University and the College of William & Mary. All 12 teams are currently members of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference and will continue that affiliation through the 2006 season.
“The addition of Northeastern as a full CAA member and the sixth football-playing institution qualified the CAA for football conference recognition by the NCAA,” Yeager said. “With the commitment to begin conference competition, invitations were sent to the other six institutions and we are thrilled that the long, competitive history of this league will be preserved.”<br>
The conference is already considered one of the finest in Division I-AA football, having produced the past two national champions in Delaware (2003) and James Madison (2004) and three of the last seven with Massachusetts claiming the title in 1998. Ten of the 12 teams have reached the Division I-AA playoffs at least once in the past five years.
Four teams (Delaware, James Madison, New Hampshire and William & Mary) earned I-AA playoff berths a year ago and all of them advanced to the quarterfinals, marking the first time in the 27-year history of I-AA football that a conference had achieved that feat. Eight of the 12 conference members were ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll at the same time last October.
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2004-05, the CAA has established itself as one of the nation’s top collegiate conferences. Along with Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Towson and William & Mary, other full members include Drexel University, George Mason University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University and Virginia Commonwealth University. Georgia State University and Northeastern will increase the CAA’s full membership to 12 when they join the conference on July 1, 2005.
“I am very pleased that the CAA has seen two major events this year,” said Dr. Eugene P. Trani, President of Virginia Commonwealth University and chair of the CAA Council of Presidents. “First, the addition of Northeastern and Georgia State bringing the conference to 12 full-time members with six Division I-AA football programs and schools in five of the nation’s nine largest media markets. Second, I am delighted that Villanova, Maine, New Hampshire, Richmond, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are now all part of Colonial football. The CAA universities could not be more pleased with the increased recognition that the CAA is a major league on the national scene.”<br>
Football will become the 22nd sport to be sponsored by the CAA. The conference has produced 16 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 11 national players of the year, 11 national coaches of the year and 12 Honda Award winners.
The following statement was issued by Atlantic 10 commissioner Linda Bruno following today's announcement regarding the formation of Colonial Athletic Association football after the 2006 season:
"We have thoroughly enjoyed our association with the institutions which comprise the Atlantic 10 Football Conference. We are proud of the accomplishments of our institutions and the fact that the greatest success in the history of the Yankee Conference / Atlantic 10 Football Conference has occurred in the last eight years, with three national champions, four Walter Payton Award winners, one Buck Buchanan Award winner, and two Eddie Robinson Award winners. We look forward to two more seasons of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference being the best in the nation."
About The Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2004-05, proud of its past and excited about the future.
Boasting a roster of 10 (soon to be 12) well-respected academic institutions, the CAA has established itself as one of the nation's top collegiate conferences. On the playing field, the league 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 has consistently ranked among the top 15 in the Sears Directors Cup standings and has been the nation's top-ranked Division I non-football conference in recent years.
Even more impressive, however, are the honors accumulated away from competition, which include five Rhodes Scholars and 16 NCAA post-graduate scholars. Last year, the CAA had eight CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including five who were selected to the first team. Over 1,400 CAA student-athletes posted at least a 3.2 grade point average while lettering in a varsity sport and received the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award in 2003-04.
With a geographic footprint that currently stretches from the shadow of the Statue of Liberty to the beaches of North Carolina, the landscape of the conference includes four of the nation's top 25 media markets - New York (1), Philadelphia (4), Washington, D.C. (8) and Baltimore (24). That reach will expand even wider in 2005 with the addition of Northeastern University in Boston and Georgia State University in Atlanta, giving the CAA a presence in five of the nation's nine largest metropolitan areas.
The CAA conducts championships in 21 sports. Male athletes compete for championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and wrestling. Female athletes battle for conference titles in basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.
In men's basketball, the CAA has earned a reputation as a "giant killer" in the NCAA Tournament. Since 1981, CAA schools have posted 12 wins over higher-seeded teams. Last year, seven of the league's 10 teams were among the top 140 in the RPI and four were ranked in the top 100. In women's basketball, the CAA ranked ninth among the nation's 31 conferences in 2003-04. Perennial power Old Dominion has captured three national championships (1979, 1980, 1985) and reached the title game again in 1997.
The conference has also excelled in many other sports. CAA squads have won 10 field hockey national titles since the championship began in 1981, which is not only more than any other conference but represents nearly half of all titles won. In baseball, at least two CAA teams have earned NCAA Tournament berths for seven consecutive seasons. The CAA is annually ranked among the nation's top 10 conferences in men's and women's soccer, and has traditionally sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. The conference finished the 2003-04 campaign with teams ranked among the top 25 nationally in cross country, field hockey, men's soccer, wrestling, softball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's lacrosse.
CAA member institutions are also committed to excellence in the classroom. The Colonial Academic Alliance was created in 2002 by the league's presidents with a goal of expanding their partnership to all aspects of university life outside of intercollegiate athletics. Among the programs already established are an undergraduate research conference, coordination of study abroad programs and granting visiting academic status to student-athletes traveling to an away contest so that they have access to libraries, academic resource centers and computer labs.
In 2002, two faculty members from CAA institutions were awarded academia's most coveted distinction - the Nobel Prize. John B. Fenn, a research professor in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, received the Nobel Prize for chemistry, and Vernon Smith, a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, shared the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.
Under the direction of Commissioner Thomas E. Yeager, who has guided the CAA since its inception, the league currently includes 10 members and will expand to 12 in 2005. Core members George Mason University, James Madison University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William & Mary were joined by the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University and Towson University in 2001. Georgia State University and Northeastern University will become members of the conference in July, 2005.
i-aa.org/article.asp?articleid=69792
Colonial Athletic Association to Begin Sponsoring I-AA in 2007
by Colonial Athletic Association Sports Information, Rob Washburn
RICHMOND, Va. -– Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner Thomas E. Yeager announced today that the conference will sponsor football beginning with the 2007 season.
“We are pleased to announce the addition of football to the CAA,” Yeager said. “College football, with all of its tradition, pageantry, and rivalries, creates an interest and excitement on campus and across communities that is unmatched. We look forward to having the CAA name attached to such a distinguished group of institutions and building on the successes that those members have had in the past.”<br>
Members of the CAA’s Division I-AA football conference will be the University of Delaware, Hofstra University, James Madison University, the University of Maine, the University of Massachusetts, the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Richmond, Towson University, Villanova University and the College of William & Mary. All 12 teams are currently members of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference and will continue that affiliation through the 2006 season.
“The addition of Northeastern as a full CAA member and the sixth football-playing institution qualified the CAA for football conference recognition by the NCAA,” Yeager said. “With the commitment to begin conference competition, invitations were sent to the other six institutions and we are thrilled that the long, competitive history of this league will be preserved.”<br>
The conference is already considered one of the finest in Division I-AA football, having produced the past two national champions in Delaware (2003) and James Madison (2004) and three of the last seven with Massachusetts claiming the title in 1998. Ten of the 12 teams have reached the Division I-AA playoffs at least once in the past five years.
Four teams (Delaware, James Madison, New Hampshire and William & Mary) earned I-AA playoff berths a year ago and all of them advanced to the quarterfinals, marking the first time in the 27-year history of I-AA football that a conference had achieved that feat. Eight of the 12 conference members were ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll at the same time last October.
Celebrating its 20th Anniversary in 2004-05, the CAA has established itself as one of the nation’s top collegiate conferences. Along with Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Towson and William & Mary, other full members include Drexel University, George Mason University, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University and Virginia Commonwealth University. Georgia State University and Northeastern will increase the CAA’s full membership to 12 when they join the conference on July 1, 2005.
“I am very pleased that the CAA has seen two major events this year,” said Dr. Eugene P. Trani, President of Virginia Commonwealth University and chair of the CAA Council of Presidents. “First, the addition of Northeastern and Georgia State bringing the conference to 12 full-time members with six Division I-AA football programs and schools in five of the nation’s nine largest media markets. Second, I am delighted that Villanova, Maine, New Hampshire, Richmond, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are now all part of Colonial football. The CAA universities could not be more pleased with the increased recognition that the CAA is a major league on the national scene.”<br>
Football will become the 22nd sport to be sponsored by the CAA. The conference has produced 16 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual national champions, 11 national players of the year, 11 national coaches of the year and 12 Honda Award winners.
The following statement was issued by Atlantic 10 commissioner Linda Bruno following today's announcement regarding the formation of Colonial Athletic Association football after the 2006 season:
"We have thoroughly enjoyed our association with the institutions which comprise the Atlantic 10 Football Conference. We are proud of the accomplishments of our institutions and the fact that the greatest success in the history of the Yankee Conference / Atlantic 10 Football Conference has occurred in the last eight years, with three national champions, four Walter Payton Award winners, one Buck Buchanan Award winner, and two Eddie Robinson Award winners. We look forward to two more seasons of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference being the best in the nation."
About The Colonial Athletic Association
The Colonial Athletic Association celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2004-05, proud of its past and excited about the future.
Boasting a roster of 10 (soon to be 12) well-respected academic institutions, the CAA has established itself as one of the nation's top collegiate conferences. On the playing field, the league 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 has consistently ranked among the top 15 in the Sears Directors Cup standings and has been the nation's top-ranked Division I non-football conference in recent years.
Even more impressive, however, are the honors accumulated away from competition, which include five Rhodes Scholars and 16 NCAA post-graduate scholars. Last year, the CAA had eight CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including five who were selected to the first team. Over 1,400 CAA student-athletes posted at least a 3.2 grade point average while lettering in a varsity sport and received the CAA Commissioner's Academic Award in 2003-04.
With a geographic footprint that currently stretches from the shadow of the Statue of Liberty to the beaches of North Carolina, the landscape of the conference includes four of the nation's top 25 media markets - New York (1), Philadelphia (4), Washington, D.C. (8) and Baltimore (24). That reach will expand even wider in 2005 with the addition of Northeastern University in Boston and Georgia State University in Atlanta, giving the CAA a presence in five of the nation's nine largest metropolitan areas.
The CAA conducts championships in 21 sports. Male athletes compete for championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and wrestling. Female athletes battle for conference titles in basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and volleyball.
In men's basketball, the CAA has earned a reputation as a "giant killer" in the NCAA Tournament. Since 1981, CAA schools have posted 12 wins over higher-seeded teams. Last year, seven of the league's 10 teams were among the top 140 in the RPI and four were ranked in the top 100. In women's basketball, the CAA ranked ninth among the nation's 31 conferences in 2003-04. Perennial power Old Dominion has captured three national championships (1979, 1980, 1985) and reached the title game again in 1997.
The conference has also excelled in many other sports. CAA squads have won 10 field hockey national titles since the championship began in 1981, which is not only more than any other conference but represents nearly half of all titles won. In baseball, at least two CAA teams have earned NCAA Tournament berths for seven consecutive seasons. The CAA is annually ranked among the nation's top 10 conferences in men's and women's soccer, and has traditionally sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. The conference finished the 2003-04 campaign with teams ranked among the top 25 nationally in cross country, field hockey, men's soccer, wrestling, softball, men's and women's tennis and men's and women's lacrosse.
CAA member institutions are also committed to excellence in the classroom. The Colonial Academic Alliance was created in 2002 by the league's presidents with a goal of expanding their partnership to all aspects of university life outside of intercollegiate athletics. Among the programs already established are an undergraduate research conference, coordination of study abroad programs and granting visiting academic status to student-athletes traveling to an away contest so that they have access to libraries, academic resource centers and computer labs.
In 2002, two faculty members from CAA institutions were awarded academia's most coveted distinction - the Nobel Prize. John B. Fenn, a research professor in the Department of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University, received the Nobel Prize for chemistry, and Vernon Smith, a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, shared the Nobel Prize in economic sciences.
Under the direction of Commissioner Thomas E. Yeager, who has guided the CAA since its inception, the league currently includes 10 members and will expand to 12 in 2005. Core members George Mason University, James Madison University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the College of William & Mary were joined by the University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hofstra University and Towson University in 2001. Georgia State University and Northeastern University will become members of the conference in July, 2005.
