THE CAA
The Colonial Athletic Association continues to build on its reputation as one of the nation’s top collegiate conferences both athletically and academically.
The CAA encompasses five of the nation’s nine largest metro- politan areas with a geographic footprint that stretches from Boston to Atlanta. The conference has produced 16 national team champions in five different sports, 33 individual na- tional champions, 12 national players of the year, 12 national coaches of the year and 12 Honda Award winners. Just as impressive, however, are the honors accumulated away from competition, which include five Rhodes Scholars and 22 NCAA post-graduate scholars. In 2010-11, more than 1,900 of the league’s 4,000 student-athletes received the Commission- er’s Academic Award after posting at least a 3.2 grade point average while lettering in a varsity sport. The conference had 21 teams in 12 different sports receive NCAA Public Recogni- tion Awards based on the latest Academic Progress Report released in 2011.
The landscape of the conference stretches along the majority of the East Coast, and includes six of the nation’s top 25 media markets – New York (1), Philadelphia (4), Boston (7), Atlanta (8), Washington, D.C. (9) and Baltimore (25). The number of television homes in the CAA market exceeds 20 million. The CAA conducts championships in 23 sports. Male athletes compete for championships in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, lacrosse, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field and wrestling. Female athletes battle for conference titles in basketball, cross country, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, ten- nis, track & field and volleyball. In 2010-11, 25 teams earned NCAA Tournament berths and 50 student-athletes received All-America honors in 13 different sports.
The conference has made its presence known nationally in men’s basketball with two teams – George Mason (2006) and VCU (2011) – advancing to the NCAA Final Four over the past five years. Three CAA teams earned NCAA Tournament berths for the first time in 2011 as conference champion Old Domin- ion was joined by VCU and George Mason. VCU knocked off USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and top-seeded Kan-
158 VCU MEN’S BASKETBALL
sas, while Mason defeated Villanova. The Rams were ranked No. 6 in the final ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll, which was the highest ranking ever for a CAA team. In 2006, George Mason captured the nation’s imagination by becoming the first mid- major program since 1979 to reach the Final Four, posting victories over Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and Connecticut along the way.
Six CAA women’s basketball teams advanced to postseason play in 2011. James Madison represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament after capturing its second straight conference championship. Delaware, Drexel, UNC Wilming- ton, Old Dominion and VCU participated in the WNIT, with the Seahawks advancing to the second round. ODU, which won an NCAA-record 17 straight CAA titles from 1992-2008, boasts three national championships (1979, 1980, 1985) and was national runner-up in 1997.
The conference also excels in many other sports. CAA squads have combined to win 10 field hockey national titles since the championship began in 1981. At least two women’s soc- cer teams have advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in three of the past four seasons and William & Mary gave the CAA a team in the final 16 of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship for the sixth time in the last nine years. In men’s cross country, William & Mary advanced to the NCAA Championship for the 12th straight year and finished 19th overall. In the pool, Towson’s Meredith Budner finished as the runner-up in the 500 freestyle and 1650 freestyle at the 2011 NCAA Championship and received All-America honors along with George Mason’s Ashley Danner. Delaware and Towson have each reached the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship in the past decade. The CAA has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Baseball Championship in nine of the last 14 years and has had at least 12 players selected in the eight of the last nine Major League Baseball drafts. The conference also boasts numerous All-Americans in lacrosse, tennis, golf, track and field, women’s lacrosse and wrestling.
CAA member institutions are committed to excellence in the classroom. The Colonial Academic Alliance was created in 2002 by the league’s presidents with a goal of expanding
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