Colonial Athletic Association

The CAA football conference was formed in 2005, although it did not begin play until 2007. In the 2004–05 academic year, the CAA had five member schools that sponsored football, all of them as football-only members of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A10). In 2005, as previously noted, Northeastern accepted the CAA's offer of membership, giving the CAA the six football-playing members it needed under NCAA rules to organize a football conference. At that time, the CAA announced it would launch its new football conference in 2007. Next, the CAA invited the University of Richmond to become a football-only member effective in 2007. Once UR accepted the offer, this left the A10 football conference with only five members, less than the six required under NCAA rules. As a result, the remaining A10 football programs all decided to join the CAA on a football-only basis, spelling the end of A10 football, at least under that conference's banner. Since the CAA football conference had the same members as the A10 the previous year, it can be said that the CAA football conference is the A10 football conference under new management. With that in mind, the CAA football conference's oldest ancestor is the Yankee Conference, which began play in 1938, eliminated sports other than football in 1975, and merged with the A10 in 1997. Every school that was in the Yankee Conference at the time of the A10 merger and still fields an FCS-level football team (nine out of the final 12 members of the Yankee Conference) is in the CAA football conference. On May 31, 2006, Old Dominion University announced that it would start a football team to begin play in 2009.[5] Old Dominion will join the CAA football conference in 2011.[6] On April 17, 2008, Georgia State University announced that it will start a football team to begin play in 2010 and join the CAA football conference in 2012.[7] The team will play in the 70,000 seat Georgia Dome. Since the CAA began play as a football conference in 2007, a member team has always played in the FCS Championship game, with the University of Delaware making it in 2007 and the University of Richmond and Villanova University winning it in 2008 and 2009, respectively. In 2007, the CAA set records with 15 national player of the week honorees and by sending five teams to the national championship playoffs. The very next season, in 2008, they broke that record with 19 national player of the week honorees and tied their own record by again sending five teams to the national championship playoffs for the second straight year. At the end of the 2008 season, the CAA had six Top 25 teams with four placing in the Top Ten. Players from the CAA received 78 All-America honors.

In the opening weekend of the 2009 season, CAA teams defeated three Division I FBS teams. William & Mary and Richmond took down teams from the ACC (one of the six conferences whose champions receive automatic Bowl Championship Series berths), respectively Virginia and Duke, while Villanova defeated Temple from the MAC. The following weekend saw New Hampshire defeat another MAC team, Ball State (which had gone through the previous regular season unbeaten, but ended 2009 2–10). All four of the CAA teams to defeat FBS teams qualified for the 2009 FCS playoffs and won their first-round games; Villanova and William & Mary reached the semifinals, and Villanova won the FCS championship.

Northeastern—the school whose 2005 move to the CAA enabled the creation of the CAA football conference—dropped football after the 2009 season. President Joseph E. Aoun and the board of trustees endorsed the move Friday after an extensive, two-year review of the athletic program by its director, Peter Roby. The decision to eliminate football follows six straight losing seasons and sparse game attendance at a school whose ice rink often sells out for hockey.[8]

On December 3, 2009, Hofstra announced that the university would no longer be sponsoring football. The decision follows a two-year review of sports spending at Hofstra. School officials stated there are no plans to cut any other sports at the Long Island school. Hofstra cited costs and low student interest—only 500 students would attend home games despite free tickets—as reasons to drop the program.[9] Due to the reduction of the conference, the CAA announced would not be using division format for the 2010 season. However, the CAA will return to twelve teams by 2012, when both Old Dominion and Georgia State will be playing a full conference schedule.

The 2010 season started with the biggest non-conference win of the CAA's short history, when James Madison defeated nationally-ranked Virginia Tech (FBS #13 at the time) of the ACC. JMU won 21-16 on September 11, at Virginia Tech's Lane Stadium.

The CAA football conference has the following members:
 * Delaware
 * Georgia State[10] (Program begins with the 2010 season and joins CAA play in 2012)
 * James Madison
 * Maine
 * UMass
 * New Hampshire
 * Old Dominion (Program was revived for the 2009 season and joins CAA play in 2011)
 * Richmond
 * Rhode Island (Reportedly leaving the CAA for NEC in 2012[11] )
 * Towson
 * Villanova
 * William & Mary

Former members
The former members of the CAA football conference are: Additionally, former members of its ancestor conferences include:
 * Northeastern 2007–2009, dropped football[8]
 * Hofstra 2007–2009, dropped football[12]
 * Boston U.: 1971–1997, dropped football
 * Connecticut: 1938–1999, moved up to Division I-A (now FBS), joined Big East Conference in 2004
 * Holy Cross: 1971, became independent, now in Patriot League
 * Vermont: 1938–1973, dropped football