Richmond Bolts for Richer Pastures

What’s next for the CAA and its Members??

Good evening. It was about 1:00 PM EST on May 14th, 2024 when I saw the news that Richmond, long time CAA football affiliate, would be bolting the conference for the Patriot League. There’s a lot to unpack here, especially with what other members will do in the coming months, because this is going to move quickly now. In order to get a hold on how we got here and where we are going, as is tradition with me, let’s look back at the somewhat recent history. 

*Brief* Pre-CAA History.

The origins of this conference date back to the Yankee Conference that current CAA football members Maine, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire were founding members. UMASS was also a founding member and would continue into the CAA before leaving for the FBS. This Yankee Conference would then go on to add Delaware and Richmond in 1986, Villanova in 1988, and James Madison, Northeastern, and William & Mary in 1993. 8 of these teams, up until recently, have formed what became the core of the Colonial Athletic Association. 

Before that could happen though, the Yankee Conference was no more, and these schools became football affiliates of the Atlantic 10. During this time the conference would pick up Towson, Hofstra (who would drop football during time in the CAA along with Northeastern), and UCONN, former founding Yankee Conference member, would move on to the FBS. 

Put a pin in the A-10, as they will play a pivotal role later.

The CAA is Formed.

The CAA as a conference has always been slightly odd, with about half of its football playing members being affiliates and the other half being full time. Then of course it would have non football playing members who held significant power as well. While these non football members will play a role in how we got here, I’d like to focus on the first few years the CAA was a football conference. 

From 2007-2010, and even before then as the A-10, the FCS (then 1-AA) playoffs could not be properly archived without mentioning the CAA. From 2007-2010 the CAA had a team in the national championship, winning the titles in 2008 and 2009 with Richmond and Villanova respectively. Along with previous titles from Delaware in 2003 and James Madison in 2004 as A-10 football affiliates, the 2000’s saw the CAA member schools really flex, especially towards the end of the decade. Even with the 3 peat of Appalachian State from 2005-2007, there was little doubt which conference top to bottom was the toughest to make it out of and into the postseason, especially with a 16 team playoff at the time. 

The Basketball Contingent.

While the CAA was performing well with full and football only affiliates in the fall, basketball was also a sight to behold too. Non football members like Drexel, Hofstra, George Mason, Old Dominion (will get back to them) Virginia Commonwealth, and others formed a formidable core of full members who emphasized primarily men’s basketball. Though, to be fair, the women’s basketball was great too. 

The CAA for both men’s and women’s basketball was a league that would almost expect multiple bids each year. Add on the storied women’s programs of JMU and ODU, along with Final Four runs by the men of GMU and VCU, it was an incredibly healthy basketball league. Much like the Big East though, the tug of war between football and basketball was real. What made matters worse for the CAA, was many of the best basketball schools did not have football programs, and some of the best football programs were affiliates only. 

Fissures begin to show.

When ODU announced it would be restarting their football program, this was a great thing for the CAA. Hofstra and Northeastern had dropped football, and UMASS was on its way to be a FBS Independent. However, it would not be football that would be the first real crack in this strong athletics conference. 

As mentioned before, the CAA was more than formidable in basketball, and those schools who brought the conference the most clout did not play football. So, different budgets, different ideas on what was most important for the conference in terms of where to focus resources, would inevitably bubble to the surface. 

It eventually boiled over when Old Dominion, who had just started playing CAA football, George Mason, and Virginia Commonwealth all left the conference within a year of one another. ODU would take its football team to the FBS and join Conference USA, with GMU and VCU joining the basketball centric and highly competitive A-10, which is also where Richmond happened to apply its talented basketball trade and was a full-time member. These 3 schools from Virginia departing was the first real sign that the conference was not really in a sustainable place.

Gridiron Replacements.

Following the big basketball departures, the CAA did fill in with some full time members but trying to keep this football focused, they added Albany and Stony Brook in 2013 as affiliates, and Elon as a full member in 2014. The football was still good on the field with Towson making an improbable run to the Championship game in 2013, and Maine having a run into the semi finals as well. But it certainly wasn’t what it was in the 2000’s. The teams the CAA brought in for football could make occasional noise but weren’t making the same deep runs as some of the founding members would, and the conference wouldn’t win another (and consequently its most recent) national championship until 2016 when JMU broke up the NDSU dynasty, even if only for a minute. 

The Flo Deal.

In 2019, it was announced that the CAA would be signing a deal with FloSports, a platform that is streaming based and all conference games and home out of conference games would be on the platform. While many games could still be played on local cable, (this was mostly football and some basketball), all other sports were behind this paywall that was also higher than other streaming services at the time. 

It was at this point and time that many in the JMU community specifically felt like the conference did not have the same ambitions as they did as an athletic department. For example, while JMU focused on bolstering its entire athletic department, Richmond moved its football stadium on campus and while it is modern, they shrank the capacity significantly. This and other disparities put the writing on the wall that JMU was likely looking for other options. If we’re being honest, since 2016 JMU had been the flagship program for football in the CAA, being the only team to win a national title in the 2010’s and the only one making consistent deep runs in the playoffs. Disgruntled Dukes did not bode well as an omen for the conference. 

Texas and Oklahoma Ripple Effect.

Yes, the remnants of Texas and Oklahoma leaving for the SEC have brought us to where we are today. This set off a domino effect amongst the Power 5, which then of course went into the G5 and as a result got into the crosshairs of the FCS. JMU had been looking to find a place where they felt like they were amongst peers in athletic ambition, and paired with ODU, along with Marshall and Southern Miss, the SunBelt came calling. James Madison, a team that had more or less run the CAA and held up the conference for the back half of the 2010’s, was moving into FBS. This was of course a massive blow, but one that could be weathered. After all, the CAA still had storied programs with the potential to pick up the mantle as the leader in the conference. But how would the conference backfill now that JMU left?

There Goes the Neighborhood.

Now, when I say that above headline, I do not say it in the same way that it was written by a Delaware reporter a year ago when referring to new conference mates. Who were the new conference mates he was referring to? Hampton, North Carolina A&T, and…maybe Campbell because they also joined too. These schools along with Monmouth were the schools tapped to join the CAA as full time members in the 2022 and 2023 football seasons. Monmouth had some relative success recently in football, while North Carolina A&T was in a rebuild after dominating the HBCU landscape for many years. They were never going to replace JMU directly, but this combination did have legitimate potential.

Then, in late 2023, Delaware announced its departure from the CAA. This announcement came after the CAA welcomed Bryant into the fold. The ripples of Texas and Oklahoma were still being felt. Delaware, a school that was thought to have been eyeing a FBS move anyway, decided to make the jump into a Conference USA that had been decimated in the first rounds of realignment. The CAA was losing another tentpole full member, and that had others looking around thinking what could happen next. 

Richmond Runs Rapidly to the Patriot League.

That will bring us to our announcement today where Richmond, long time football affiliate of the CAA since the Yankee Conference days, would be moving to the Patriot League in 2025. Richmond was not quiet (though not as loud as Florida State and Clemson) about their discontent with the makeup of the conference they were a football affiliate of. With JMU and Delaware leaving, their longest and closest rival, William & Mary, was the only game the alumni likely cared about on the schedule. Villanova is still there, but not as close. 

But I am not convinced this was a move solely made for football reasons. Evidently, being on ESPN+ was a part of the Patriot League’s pitch, and as a consumer I can see the appeal there. But at the end of the day, Richmond, their alumni, and whatever board oversees them, wanted to rub shoulders with other schools that have endowments similar to theirs. And I am putting this very lightly. With JMU and Delaware gone, they could make the excuse that this was a football move, but I think we will find out in a very short time this had little to do with football and more to do with perception. The Patriot League as currently constructed is a step down from even a weakened CAA. So, let’s just see the move for what it was.

What’s next for the CAA?

With Richmond becoming the 3rd tentpole CAA team to move, this time for an FCS conference that is worse in football, one has to wonder what the other schools should do. Villanova, another likely disgruntled football-only affiliate with a Patriot League footprint, will probably be the next move the league makes. I’d expect that to happen sooner than later. 

What about William & Mary, Richmond’s long time rival? Well, being a full time CAA member, their departure could be very messy, and their options may not be as appealing. A FBS invite is all but gone and it’s not a given that the Tribe even wanted that for their athletics. The SoCon seems to be split on whether or not to expand. William & Mary seems to be in a bind as one of the earlier members of the CAA who was a full time conference member, and their options seem to be limited, but I would bet that their athletic department is making multiple phone calls as I type this.

What about the newer members? If you’re Hampton and North Carolina A&T specifically, do you even consider calling the MEAC? What are the other options? The MEAC as a football conference is relatively small compared to some others, would they consider taking a non HBCU like Elon or Campbell? (I’m talking strictly about football here. I know that’s WAY more complicated than just between the football lines). These newer southern members have a lot to think about and have to be shaking their heads as well. 

Towson, like William & Mary, is kind of in a bind. Honestly, I don’t know where they might go. Maybe the NEC? I don’t think the Patriot league would take them and I am not sure there are any other options for them. 

Then there’s a smattering of northern schools only affiliated in football but not with the potential prospects Villanova would have. What do Maine, Rhode Island, Albany, and New Hampshire do? 

Hold onto your Butts.

I don’t wish for the dissolving of any athletic conference because it affects a lot more than just the football programs many of these moves are done for. Every sport is impacted and of course losing out on traditional rivalries is never a good thing. That said, I do not know how the CAA continues to function as a conference essentially split into 3 parts: football only members, non football members, and full members. With Richmond leaving I expect the dominos to fall rapidly and can only hope the schools that are still in the conference are thinking about how to move forward. The last thing you want to do in these rapidly moving times of realignment is be caught flat footed. If you don’t, then you’ll look like Conference USA picking up the pieces. Which, to their credit, have done ok with the hand they have been dealt. As for the CAA, their commissioner must be pulling his hair out, because unless he’s living under a rock, he’s got to notice that the conference he overlooks is unraveling right before his eyes. 

Requiem for the Big East? Requiem for the CAA, and unlike the Big East, I’m not sure the CAA will be pulling together something that looks similar to the conference of old.