The CAA is considered among the top FCS conferences along with the Missouri Valley Soccer Conference in which the State of North Dakota is a member.
The Bison played CAA member James Madison for the FCS National Championship last January in Frisco, Texas.
“I think every time there is another FCS conference that is canceled or postponed, at some level it will affect what we are doing,” said NDSU sports director Matt Larsen. “Most of the FCS conferences still seek or plan to play soccer, so I think it is positive. More and more they decide to postpone that will impact the Valley in some way or form.
“Right now, again, we’re still planning to play soccer this fall in some way.”
Bison has already lost two conferenceless games on its schedule, in Oregon and at home against North Carolina A&T, due to decisions made in those teams’ leagues due to COVID-19.
Part of the CAA statement said: “In expressing an understanding of the uniqueness of the composition of the Conference (12 institutions competing in other sports in four Division I Conferences), the geographic expansion of Conference members and Given the complexity of an ever-changing situation, the Conference Board of Directors also stated that Conference policies would allow member institutions the ability to explore the option of continuing to play an independent soccer schedule in the fall of 2020. “
The CAA is a 12-team FCS league based in Richmond, Virginia.
James Madison announced on Friday that he would explore his options for playing fall soccer and building a separate schedule. The school’s athletic director Jeff Bourne said he would like to have at least an eight-game schedule if the Dukes can play fall soccer.
“So far, our plan with soccer has been, we feel that that decision was possibly made in a hurry by some institutions, but they are in a different place than we have in James Madison,” Bourne said during a conference call. “As a result, we decided that we wanted more time to evaluate it and we are also closely monitoring other, more aligned conferences in the mid-Atlantic and southern parts of the country.
“We are firmly committed to making sure we do things the right way. I think we have a good record of that. … As long as the NCAA still provides those championships, national championships, we will try to get our teams in a position to compete. “
Bison and James Madison have developed a rivalry in recent history, playing for the FCS National Championship in two of the past three seasons with NDSU winning both games for the title. The Dukes knocked Bison down in the 2016 FCS semifinals, ending the NDSU chain of five consecutive national crowns.
“The most important thing is when looking at the geographical composition of the CAA, one, which is located on the east coast, two, which has a fairly significant division between north and south, and then, obviously, on the north side, There are a handful of schools in New York that cannot have people traveling from different states, “said Larsen. “I think they are only found in states where some of their institutions may not be able to participate. I’m sure that was what drove most of that decision making. “
Bourne said JMU has had conversations with FCS and FBS schools as the Dukes seek to build a soccer schedule without playing at the conference. He added that JMU would like to keep all three non-conference games currently on its agenda. Bourne said that when adding games to the calendar, he would prefer contests that could be bus trips.
“There will be a variety of institutions, both FCS and FBS, that are within a James Madison geographic footprint where we could make that happen,” said Bourne.
The CAA is the second FCS conference in so many days that it cancels or suspends fall soccer due to COVID-19. The Middle East Athletic Conference (MEAC) canceled its fall sports on Thursday, July 17.
North Carolina A&T is at the MEAC and was scheduled to play a game on September 19 at the Fargodome. The Bison has nine games remaining on its fall soccer schedule.
“I would say that we have some optimism, although it is not as strong as it has been in recent times, but I think that in the Midwest we are in a space very different from that of the two coasts,” said Larsen. “Again, with the idea we still want to do it in a very healthy way for everyone involved. We are still waiting for an opportunity to play soccer sometime this fall and exhaust all those options and opportunities before looking at other scenarios. “
Larsen said that if the NCAA decided to change the fall championships to spring, that would affect the NDSU decision.
“If the NCAA was suddenly going to transfer the FCS championship to spring, that would make a lot of our decision,” Larsen said. “We want to play soccer, but if there is an opportunity to compete for a conference championship and ultimately enter the playoffs, we would like to do so.” That would weigh heavily on our decision. “
