Coastal Athletic Association

The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), known before July 20, 2023 as the Colonial Athletic Association,^[1] 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
College of Charleston (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)^[a]	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)^[a]	Aggies	2022^[b]
Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	1898	Private	Huskies	2005
Stony Brook University	Stony Brook, New York	1957	Public	Seawolves	2022^[c]
Towson University	Towson, Maryland	1866	Public	Tigers	1979, 2001^[d]
University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)	Wilmington, North Carolina	1947	Public	Seahawks	1984
The College of William & Mary	Williamsburg, Virginia	1693	Public	Tribe	1979

1 2 "Historically black colleges and universities", defined in US federal law as higher education institutions that were both (1) created to educate African Americans and (2) founded before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.
↑ North Carolina A&T joined CAA Football in 2023.
↑ Stony Brook joined CAA Football in 2013.
↑ Towson left the conference in 1981 and came back in 2001.

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.^[2] 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
University at Albany	Albany, New York	1844	Public	Great Danes	2013	America East
Bryant University	Smithfield, Rhode Island	1863	Private	Bulldogs	2024	America East
University of Maine	Orono, Maine	1865	Public	Black Bears	2007	America East
University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	1866	Public	Wildcats	2007	America East
University of Rhode Island	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
University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego)	La Jolla, California^[a]	1881	Public	Tritons	2020	Women's rowing	Big West
University of Connecticut (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

↑ La Jolla is a neighborhood of San Diego with a separate post office from the city.

References

↑ "CAA Changes Official Conference Name To Coastal Athletic Association" (Press release). Coastal Athletic Association. July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
↑ "The CAA & CAA Football". Coastal Athletic Association. Retrieved July 21, 2023. The conference celebrated 75 years in 2022, with its roots tracing back to the Yankee Conference (1947-1996) and the Atlantic 10 Football Conference (1997-2006) before CAA Football begin (sic) in 2007.

"Coastal Athletic Association". caasports.com. Retrieved 2023-07-23.

[HBCU-2] 1 2 "Historically black colleges and universities", defined in US federal law as higher education institutions that were both (1) created to educate African Americans and (2) founded before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became law.

[3] North Carolina A&T joined CAA Football in 2023.

[4] Stony Brook joined CAA Football in 2013.

[5] Towson left the conference in 1981 and came back in 2001.

[7] La Jolla is a neighborhood of San Diego with a separate post office from the city.

[1] "CAA Changes Official Conference Name To Coastal Athletic Association" (Press release). Coastal Athletic Association. July 20, 2023. Retrieved July 20, 2023.

[6] "The CAA & CAA Football". Coastal Athletic Association. Retrieved July 21, 2023. The conference celebrated 75 years in 2022, with its roots tracing back to the Yankee Conference (1947-1996) and the Atlantic 10 Football Conference (1997-2006) before CAA Football begin (sic) in 2007.

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