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Pete Thamel, ESPN
The Colonial Athletic Conference will be renamed the Coastal Athletic Conference, with the plans finalized and the change coming in the near future, sources told ESPN.
Known as the CAA, the league will retain that familiar moniker and keep the same logo. The league has expanded out of its initial Northeast and Mid-Atlantic footprint in recent years amid conference realignment, and sources said the name change was put in place to reflect both the expansion and modernization of the league.
The CAA, which was founded in 1979, is best known nationally as a basketball league that includes programs like Charleston, Delaware and Towson. The league’s heyday in basketball included runs to the Final Four by former members VCU (2016) and George Mason (2006).
The league’s football membership varies from the basketball membership, as it stretches from Maine to Elon, Campbell and North Carolina A&T in North Carolina. Schools like Villanova, Rhode Island and New Hampshire also play football in the CAA.
The basketball footprint stretches from Northeastern in Boston to Charleston in South Carolina. Recent additions to the league have included Campbell, North Carolina A&T, Monmouth, Hampton and Stony Brook.
The league has been discussing this change for nearly a year, according to sources. The new league will include the tag line: “United in Excellence.”
