The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The 14 member institutions of the Sun Belt are distributed across the Southern United States.
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions whose football programs are not part of an NCAA-affiliated conference. This means that FBS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition like conference schools do.
The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States: Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision independent schools are four-year institutions in the United States whose football programs are not part of a football conference. This means that FCS independents are not required to schedule each other for competition as conference schools do. As of the 2024 season, Merrimack and Sacred Heart will be competing as independents, as their primary conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, does not sponsor football after previously being members of the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart announced on February 5, 2024 that it would play as an FCS independent in 2024, while Merrimack has yet to receive any affiliate membership invitation as of February 8, 2024.
The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly 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.
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 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, 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 Sun Belt Conference in 2022, participating in Division I FBS football and other sports sponsored by the conference.
The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), formerly known as Division I-A, is the highest level of college football in the United States. The FBS consists of the largest schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As of the 2024 season, there are 10 conferences and 134 schools in FBS.
The James Madison Dukes football program represents James Madison University in the sport of American football. The Dukes compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC), beginning play within the conference for the 2022 season. The university first fielded a football team in 1972, and the Dukes play at the on-campus Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The Dukes are currently coached by Bob Chesney.
The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens are the athletic teams of the University of Delaware (UD) of Newark, Delaware, in the United States. The Blue Hens compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as members of the Coastal Athletic Association and its technically separate football league, CAA Football.
The William & Mary Tribe are a college football team representing the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. William & Mary competes in CAA Football, a single-sport NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision conference operated by the Tribe's primary athletic home of the Coastal Athletic Association. They are currently coached by Mike London. He succeeds Jimmye Laycock, who was the head coach of the Tribe for 39 years.
The 2009 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the South Division of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2009 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by eighth-year head coach K. C. Keeler, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, tying for fourth place in the CAA's South Division. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
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 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 James Madison–William & Mary football rivalry between the James Madison Dukes and the William & Mary Tribe is a match-up between two public universities, James Madison University and the College of William and Mary, in the state of Virginia as well as members of the Colonial Athletic Association. The football series began in 1978 and has been played a total of 44 times as of 2021.
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 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2014 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Dave Brock, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 6–6 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, placing in a four-way tie for fifth in the CAA. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
The 2018 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team represented the University of Delaware as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by second-year head coach Danny Rocco, the Fightin' Blue Hens compiled an overall record of 7–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie for third in the CAA. Delaware received an at-large bid to the NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, the Fightin' Blue Hens they lost in the first round to James Madison. The team played home games at Delaware Stadium in Newark, Delaware.
The Royal Rivalry refers to the U.S. college rivalry games between the James Madison Dukes and the Old Dominion Monarchs of the Sun Belt Conference. It is an intra-conference match-up between two Div. I FBS public universities, James Madison University and Old Dominion University, in the state of Virginia.
The Coastal Athletic Association Football Conference, formerly the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference, branded as CAA Football, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Maine to North Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. The conference is run by the same administration as the multisport conference Coastal Athletic Association but is legally a different entity.
