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.