The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeastern United States after the turn of the 21st century, which added geographic balance to the conference.
NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic powers, with large budgets, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Division II and Division III as well as many smaller schools committed to the highest level of intercollegiate competition.
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represents the University of Delaware (UD) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) college football as a member of CAA Football, the technically separate football arm of UD's full-time home of the Coastal Athletic Association. The team is currently led by head coach Ryan Carty and plays on Tubby Raymond Field at 18,500-seat Delaware Stadium located in Newark, Delaware. The Fightin' Blue Hens have won six national titles in their 117-year history – 1946, 1963, 1971, 1972, 1979, and 2003. They returned to the FCS National Championship game in 2007 and 2010.
The Drexel Dragons are the athletic teams of Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The school's athletic program includes eighteen NCAA Division I sports including nine men's and nine women's teams, with most sports teams competing in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). Drexel's athletic department was ranked first in gender equity by U.S. News. The university has demonstrated a high level of student-athlete academic performance, with a 10-year NCAA graduation rate of 91% compared to a national average of 85%.
The Villanova Wildcats are the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East for every sport; except football and women's rowing where they compete in the Coastal Athletic Association, and women's water polo where the compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. On December 15, 2012, Villanova and the other six, non-FBS schools announced that they were departing the Big East for a new conference. This conference assumed the Big East name on July 1, 2013.
The Northeastern Huskies are the athletic teams representing Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. They compete in thirteen varsity team sports: men's and women's hockey ; men's baseball, men's and women's basketball, women's field hockey and volleyball, swimming, and men's and women's soccer, and men's and women's rowing, track and cross-country.
The James Madison Dukes are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent James Madison University (JMU), in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The name "Dukes" is derived from Samuel Page Duke, the university's second president. The Dukes play as members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), which sponsors sports at the NCAA Division I level. In football, JMU participates in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of Division I, formerly known as Division I-A. JMU was a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA),. The Dukes officially left the CAA and joined the SBC in 2022, participating in Division I FBS football and other sports sponsored by the conference.
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's lacrosse team represents the University of Delaware in NCAA Division I men's college lacrosse. Delaware currently competes as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and plays its home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
The VCU Rams are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University of Richmond, Virginia, United States. The Rams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The most successful teams have been the men's tennis and basketball teams, which have had success in their conference and on the regional and national stages. The school's colors are black and gold. The athletic director is Ed McLaughlin. The official student supporter group is known as the Rowdy Rams.
The 2010 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by ninth-year head coach K. C. Keeler, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 12–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, sharing the CAA title with William & Mary. Delaware advanced to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where the Fightin' Blue Hens received a first round bye. They beat Lehigh in the second round, New Hampshire in the quarterfinals, and Georgia Southern in the semifinals before losing to Eastern Washington in the NCAA Division I Championship Game, after leading by 19 points late in the third quarter. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. The school's team was first fielded on the 1905–06 season, and currently competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) since 2001. Home games are played at the Acierno Arena at the Bob Carpenter Center.
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's soccer team represents the University of Delaware in all men's college soccer competitions. The Blue Hens have enjoyed a resurgence in conference and national prominence in the last 2 years under head coach Ian Hennessy. The team qualified and lost in the semi-finals of the CAA in 2010 before winning its first ever conference championship in 2011. The 2011 team defeated the University of Virginia in the NCAA first round before succumbing to Final Four participant UCLA in the second round. The team's previous apex of success came in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the Blue Hens qualified into the 1968 and 1970 editions of the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship, their only appearances in the tournament to date.
The 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 41st year of college soccer for the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's soccer program. The Blue Hens competed in the Colonial Athletic Association.
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team is the basketball team that represents University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. The school's team currently competes in the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). After the 2024–25 season, Delaware will leave the CAA to join Conference USA.
The Delaware–William & Mary football rivalry between the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and the William & Mary Tribe is a matchup between two public universities, the University of Delaware (UD) and the College of William & Mary (W&M), that are also members of both the Colonial Athletic Association and its legally separate football arm of CAA Football. Both schools have academic reputations that have labeled them as Public Ivies. Both schools are also colonial colleges, having been founded before the United States became independent in 1776; W&M was founded in 1693 and UD's predecessor school was founded in 1743.
The 2014–15 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens men's basketball team represented the University of Delaware during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Fightin' Blue Hens, led by ninth year head coach Monté Ross, played their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 10–20, 9–9 in CAA play to finish in a tie for sixth place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament to Northeastern.
The 2017 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Danny Rocco, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 7–4 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the CAA. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
The 2011–12 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team represented the University of Delaware during the 2011–12 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fightin' Blue Hens, led by sixteenth year head coach Tina Martin, played their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association. They finished the season 31–2, going 18-0 in CAA play to win their second CAA regular season championship. They won the 2012 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament, defeating Drexel in the finals to win their first CAA title. A #3 seed in the Des Moines region of the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, the Blue Hens defeated #14 seed Arkansas-Little Rock for the first Delaware NCAA Basketball tournament win, men's or women's, before falling to #11 seed Kansas in the second round.
The 2020–21 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team represented the University of Delaware during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fightin' Blue Hens, led by fourth year head coach Natasha Adair, played their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). They finished the regular season 19–3, 16–2 in CAA play to win their first conference regular season championship since 2013. They lost in the finals of the CAA women's tournament to Drexel. The team was given an automatic qualifier to the 2021 Women's National Invitation Tournament where they won the Charlotte Regional Championship by defeating Villanova. The team lost to eventual WNIT Champion Rice in the semifinals, marking Delaware's furthest advance in the tournament. The team received Top 25 votes in the Coaches Poll of the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings in weeks 8, 9, 16, and 17.
The 2021–22 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens women's basketball team represented the University of Delaware during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Fightin' Blue Hens, led by fifth year head coach Natasha Adair, played their home games at the Bob Carpenter Center and were members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
