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.
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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“We are pleased to welcome Hampton University, Monmouth University and Stony Brook University as the newest members of the CAA,” CAA commissioner Joe D’Antonio said in the league’s announcement.
“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.”
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.
Such growth and geographical spread allows the CAA to split into North and South divisions if it prefers for some sports to limit travel and costs. Such decisions will be made later, the CAA announcement said.
The CAA sponsors championships in 22 sports. Delaware has 12 women’s and eight men’s teams.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
The CAA has not announced a 2022 football schedule as it 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.
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.
