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 Maine Football To Join Colonial Athletic Association
May 4, 2005 ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine announced today that the football team will compete as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association Football Conference beginning with the 2007 season. Members of the CAA's Division I-AA football conference will be the University of Delaware, Hofstra University, James Madison University, the University of Maine, the University of Massachusetts, the University of New Hampshire, Northeastern University, the University of Rhode Island, the University of Richmond, Towson University, Villanova University and the College of William & Mary. All 12 teams are currently members of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference and will continue that affiliation through the 2006 season. "The true value of a conference is determined by the members in that particular conference," said Maine Athletic Director Patrick Nero. "The change from the Atlantic 10 to the Colonial is significant because it allows the University of Maine to continue to align itself with the top Division 1-AA football programs in the country. All of the members of Atlantic 10 Football have dedicated themselves to making the conference the best in the nation, this will now continue under the Colonial name." The Black Bears have won two Atlantic 10 Football titles (2001 and 2002) and have won a total of eleven Atlantic 10 and Yankee Conference titles, third most among current league members. Maine was a charter member of the Yankee Conference, which was formed in 1947 along with Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. When Division I-AA was formed in 1978, the conference disbanded all sports except football. The Atlantic 10 Conference took over operations of the conference in 1997. "We are pleased to announce the addition of football to the CAA," CAA Commissioner Thomas Yeager said. "College football, with all of its tradition, pageantry, and rivalries, creates an interest and excitement on campus and across communities that is unmatched. We look forward to having the CAA name attached to such a distinguished group of institutions and building on the successes that those members have had in the past. The addition of Northeastern as a full CAA member and the sixth football-playing institution qualified the CAA for football conference recognition by the NCAA," Yeager said. "With the commitment to begin conference competition, invitations were sent to the other six institutions and we are thrilled that the long, competitive history of this league will be preserved." The conference is considered one of the finest in Division I-AA football, having produced the past two national champions in Delaware (2003) and James Madison (2004) and three of the last seven with Massachusetts claiming the title in 1998. Ten of the 12 teams have reached the Division I-AA playoffs at least once in the past five years.Eight of the 12 conference members were ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll at the same time last October. "As members of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference we were fortunate to be led by Commissioner Linda Bruno and her staff," said Nero. "They directed and pushed us in a direction that challenged us to be the best, for this we are very grateful." Maine will continue as a member of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference until the 2007 football season. Maine will remain a member of the America East conference and Hockey East conference for all other sports.
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