SB Nation DC - Conference Realignment: College of Charleston to discuss membership in CAA

College of Charleston votes to begin membership talks with CAA

2012-10-20T01:02:42Z

The College of Charleston voted on Friday to begin talks with the Colonial Athletic Association, exploring the possibility of the Cougars becoming full members in the conference. College of Charleston is currently a member of the Southern Conference, and the Friday vote by the Board of Trustees was not a vote to move out of that conference, but rather simply to begin initial discussions with the CAA.

CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager, however, would like to bring Charleston into the fold as soon as possible (via Dave Fairbank of The Daily Press):

"We'd like to move as quickly as we can, but we recognize that they have some Southern Conference obligations," Yeager said. "When you get into these things, the conference from where the school's leaving desires to move on, and the school and the new conference want to focus on their partnership and moving forward. It's in everybody's best interest to move as quickly as possible."

The CAA is trying to add a school and round the conference out to 10 members by the 2013-14 school year. Old Dominion and Georgia Southern will depart next season, dropping the current number from 11 to nine. The Cougars would certainly be another asset in men's basketball.

Charleston's vote is to explore the costs of making a move. Travel expenses appear to be an initial concern for the BoT, as they would be the southernmost school in the reconfigured conference. They also want to better understand the exit fees for departing the SoCon.

Davidson will not join CAA, according to report

2012-10-17T13:02:30Z

Davidson will not join the Colonial Athletic Association, according to Chris Dortch.

After pondering a move to the Colonial, Davidson decides to remain in Southern Conference, which retains a marquee hoops program.
— Chris Dortch (@cdortch) October 16, 2012

Davidson was officially invited to join the CAA in July. The CAA is trying to replace Georgia State, Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion. Georgia State is headed to the Sun Belt, Virginia Commonwealth is going to the Atlantic 10 and Old Dominion is slated for Conference USA.

Sports Illustrated's Luke Winn broke down the pros and cons of the potential move when the idea floated around in May:

The CAA would offer slightly more money and more TV exposure, but no guarantee of better NCAA tournament positioning -- and Davidson's travel costs, which are affordable in the bus-trip friendly SoCon, would skyrocket due to all the flights required to visit CAA opponents in the north. And then there's the issue of competition: Where would the Wildcats stand in the CAA's new hierarchy?

Conference Realignment: Albany, Stony Brook To Join CAA For Football In 2013

2012-08-08T00:02:50Z

Albany and Stony Brook will join the Colonial Athletic Association for football, beginning with the 2013 season, conference commissioner Tom Yeager announced Tuesday. Both programs have competed at the FCS level -- Alabny in the Northeast Conference and Stony Brook in the Big South.

"This is certainly a momentous day for CAA Football," Yeager said. "The addition of Albany and Stony Brook bring playoff-tested programs from the Northeast into an already nationally-prominent league."

Recently, Albany won the Northeast Conference title in 2011 and Stony Brook has captured the last three Big South conference titles.

Yeager, as a result, sounded pleased with their success.

"Albany's success last season is evidence Coach [Bob] Ford has built a program that will be ready to compete right away in our league," he said. "Coinciding with its new on-campus football stadium opening in 2013, we are looking forward to having the Great Danes create some great conference rivalries immediately."

On Stony Brook:

"Coach Priore has Stony Brook poised for yet another run for the NCAA Playoffs. Welcoming the Seawolves into our league next season will present our current members with yet another challenging matchup come Saturday's in the fall."

For more on the Patriots basketball program, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.

Conference Realignment: Old Dominion And Georgia State Ruled Ineligible For CAA Championships This Academic Year

2012-06-19T19:30:54Z

The Old Dominion Monarchs and the Georgia St. Panthers will not be participating in Colonial Athletic Association championship events for the 2012-13 academic year, according to a tweet by Daily Press sports columnist David Teel.

#CAA announces #ODU, Georgia State ineligible for championship events 2012-13. No surprise.
— David Teel (@DavidTeelatDP) June 19, 2012

Both programs are leaving the Colonial after this season. While the loss of Georgia State from various championship events should not pose too much of a problem, the loss of Old Dominion, especially in the men's and women's basketball tournaments, could be financially damaging to the conference, especially on the men's side given the exit of the Va. Commonwealth Rams.

This could also be damaging for other teams in the conference, especially the George Mason Patriots who'll lose the Monarchs as a possible tournament opponent that could help their late season at-large chances.

For more on the Patriots basketball program, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.

CAA Increases Its Exit Fee To $1 Million

2012-06-13T18:18:58Z

If the George Mason Patriots want to leave the Colonial Athletic Association now, they'll have to pay four times the money to do so. During a meeting in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, the CAA's Council of Presidents approved an increase of the conference's exit fee from $250,000 to $1 million.

Among the items addressed by the Council in Tuesday's meetings:

Voted to increase the base withdrawal fee for a departing institution under liquidated damages to $1 million dollars. This increase does not apply to institutions that have already announced their withdrawal from the conference.

This means that the Va. Commonwealth Rams, leaving for the Atlantic 10 this year and the Old Dominion Monarchs, leaving for Conference USA next year will not be effected by this rule.

GMU was rumored along with VCU to be looking to join the Atlantic 10 back a couple months ago, but they decided to remain in the conference at least for now. With being just a basketball school in a conference that is seemingly putting more of its resources towards football, GMU looks like they are caught between a rock and a hard place in athletics.

For more on the Patriots basketball program, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.

Shaka Smart Contacts George Mason About Possible Game Next Season

2012-05-18T20:48:31Z

Although the VCU Rams bolted from the Colonial Athletic Conference to the Atlantic 10, head coach Shaka Smart says he still would like to keep VCU's rivalries from their former conferences alive, including a possible game with George Mason.

In an interview with Myron Medcalf of ESPN.com, Smart says that he has been in contact with George Mason about a possible non-conference game during the 2012-2013 season, however nothing has been negotiated yet.

The move to try and play a game with George Mason could be viewed as a bit of a surprise, as Smart says VCU has received criticism from the CAA for their decision to leave.

"This is a bold move that we at VCU have made," Smart said. "And I think there certainly are some people that don't like the move we made."

For more on the Patriots basketball program, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.

Old Dominion To Join Conference USA In 2013

2012-05-17T19:10:03Z

Now the Colonial Athletic Association could be in trouble. Hot on the heels of the Va. Commonwealth Rams leaving for the Atlantic 10 this year, the Old Dominion Monarchs announced that they will join Conference USA effective July 1, 2013.

University president John Broderick commented on the move, making it clear that football was a major part in the decision to leave the Colonial.

Conference USA offers us a unique opportunity. Football certainly was a driving force in this decision. ... But football is only one part of this. We know the potential of all our sports to be successful and compete for conference championships and NCAA championships.

This move means that their football team, revived in 2008, will rise to the Bowl Subdivision by 2015.

Now the George Mason Patriots seem to be in a no-win position as just a basketball school. Their two biggest competitors are leaving the conference and with the CAA's television deal with NBC sports, the Patriots are no longer playing in the ESPN Bracketbuster games, taking away both exposure and a quality game opportunity. What will be the next step for the Patriots.

Conference Realignment: VCU Will Join Atlantic 10 July 1

2012-05-15T18:04:59Z

The Va. Commonwealth Rams made it official today that they will join the Atlantic 10 conference effective July 1, 2012. They will be participating in the Atlantic 10 in all sports for the 2012-13 academic year. VCU president Michael Rao spoke at a press conference that lasted only about 15 minutes to address why they are accelerating their plans to join the conference.

The Atlantic 10 has premier universities across the board and that includes athletics. The ability to recruit and retain student athletes will be sufficiently enhanced because of this move.

This move does come with a price however, the cost for joining the Atlantic 10 will be a hefty $700,000 dollars. For some universities that's not much, but for VCU that's a big price to pay. Rao and those in the athletic department hope that new revenue from the Atlantic 10 will help offset that cost.

Rao also took time during the press conference to address the conference they are leaving in the Colonial Athletic Association.

We have the utmost respect of Tom Yeager and his leadership team as well as the other institutions of CAA.

The move leaves the CAA in flux. The Old Dominion Monarchs have been rumored to possibly be leaving the conference to join the Sun Belt Conference in 2013. So if those two leave the CAA the George Mason Patriots would not have as much competition and the conference would be much weaker.

Even more discouraging for Mason fans is the report from CBS Sports via the GMUHoops.com blog that the Patriots were passed over for the Rams, despite being in a larger media market and also having a close rival in the George Washington Colonials.

For more on the Rams and Patriots basketball programs, stay tuned to SB Nation DC. For all your college basketball news and notes be sure to check out SB Nation's NCAA hoops hub.