3 schools join Delaware in expanded Colonial Athletic Association

The University of Delaware will soon have three new Colonial Athletic Association comrades, including one that has already been a feisty football rival.

Stony Brook will be joined by Monmouth and Hampton as full members of a newly expanded 12-school CAA, the league announced Tuesday. They'll enter the CAA on July 1 of this year and be part of 2022-23 league competition.

All three schools field football teams, meaning CAA football membership will swell to 13. CAA football is a collection of schools whose full-time membership is actually in four different leagues – the Colonial, America East, Atlantic 10 and Big East.

The move comes in response to James Madison’s impending move to the Sun Belt Conference at the end of the 2021-22 school year, which JMU announced in November. That change was fueled by JMU’s desire to play at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level rather than the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in which the CAA dwells.

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CAA commissioner Joe D’Antonio called the additions a "significant step" in the "future success and longevity of the CAA."

“All three institutions fit perfectly into the framework of the conference’s vison that calls for our membership to work together to advance nationally competitive athletic programs – coupled with outstanding academic programs – that empower student-athletes as whole persons to strive at the highest level in every aspect of their lives,” D'Antonio said in the CAA announcement.

Stony Brook, located on Long Island, has been a full-time America East member that has played CAA football since 2013. The Blue Hens and Seawolves have met six times with each winning three, including Stony Brook’s crucial 34-17 victory in their 2021 collision.

Monmouth, in Long Branch, New Jersey, moves from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, where it has been for all sports except football. Monmouth has been a Big South football affiliate since 2013.

Delaware trounced Monmouth 42-7 in 2007 at Delaware Stadium in their lone all-time football meeting. But the much-improved Hawks have more recent NCAA playoff appearances than Delaware, having qualified in 2017, 2019 and 2020.

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Hampton, from Virginia, comes from the Big South, where it has resided for all sports only since the 2018-19 school year. Prior to that, Hampton had been among Delaware State’s rival in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference since 1995.

Hampton is first among the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities to join the CAA. The Blue Hens and Pirates have never met on the football field.

The CAA's growth and geographical spread allow it to split into North and South divisions if it prefers for some sports to limit travel and costs. No such decisions have been made in that regard yet, D'Antonio said, saying discussions on "scheduling formats, potential division play as well as championship field sizes are ongoing and will be determined and announced over the coming months."

Hampton, Monmouth and Stony Brook join full-time CAA members Charleston, Delaware, Drexel, Elon, Hofstra, Northeastern, Towson, UNC-Wilmington and William & Mary. Should they be split in half geographically, Delaware would be in the northern six with Drexel, Hofstra, Monmouth, Northeastern and Stony Brook.

In basketball, the CAA's signature sport, the 10 teams presently play a full round-robin 18-game league schedule. A 12-team league operating under a similar structure would require a 22-game conference schedule. A North-South split in which teams play divisional foes twice and the others once would be a 16-game league schedule.

Delaware has gone 5-1 against Hampton in men's basketball, having last met in 2013-14, 3-5 versus Monmouth though they haven't played since 1994-95 and split a pair of meetings with Stony Brook in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

As for the CAA Men's Basketball Tournament, which will be held at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C, in 2022 and 2023, D'Antonio wouldn't speculate about future possible sites. With Monmouth, Stony Brook and Hofstra now giving the CAA three New York City metropolitan area schools, an arena in that area could be considered.

"I would never close any doors in terms of what options could be available to us in the future," D'Antonio said.

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The four present football-playing CAA schools – Delaware, Elon, Towson and William & Mary – plus the three newcomers will be part of a league that also includes Villanova of the Big East, Atlantic 10 members Rhode Island and Richmond and America East schools Albany, New Hampshire and Maine.

In football, the 13 CAA schools will continue to play eight league games, D'Antonio said, but also repeated that no decision on divisions has been made.

A 2022 CAA football schedule has not been announced as officials awaited a decision on who will actually be in the league. Delaware’s only known games are nonconference dates at Navy Sept. 3 and at home against Delaware State Sept. 10 and Morgan State Oct. 22.

The CAA began in 1979 as the ECAC South before being renamed in 1985. Delaware joined the conference for the 2001-02 school year, moving from America East along with Drexel, Hofstra and Towson. Northeastern made the same switch four years later.

The CAA football league dates to 2007, having taken over what had been the Yankee Conference (1947-1996) and Atlantic 10 Football Conference (1997-2006). Delaware joined in 1986.

The conference sponsors championships in 22 sports. Delaware has 12 women’s and eight men’s teams.

One sport that will certainly be impacted by the three additions is men's lacrosse, in which the CAA is particularly competitive and regularly puts teams in the national rankings. Stony Brook, which has qualified for three NCAA tournaments, Monmouth, a two-time NCAA participant, and Hampton, which began play in 2016, give the CAA nine teams, including affiliate members Massachusetts and Fairfield.

Stony Brook also made the College World Series in baseball in 2012.

D'Antonio said the CAA will "continue to assess any and all options that may be available" when it comes to further expansion.

Have an idea for a compelling local sports story or is there an issue that needs public scrutiny? Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: 3 join Delaware in expanded Colonial Athletic Association