Soccer from the Colonial Athletic Association became the last domino to drop in college football, and announced Friday that it will not have a conference schedule this fall due to concerns about the global coronavirus pandemic. The 12 conference members, however, can follow separate schedules.
The latter scenario is different from previous announcements made by the Ivy and Patriot leagues and the Middle East Athletic Conference, where neither member will have a fall sports season. A member of the Big South Conference, Hampton also announced earlier this week that there will be no fall competition.
The FCS, the bottom half of Division I, has 13 conferences and 127 member programs. The CAA is considered one of the top three conferences with Big Sky and Missouri Valley, with a total of 11 appearances in national championship games among six different programs since 2003.
The James Madison Dukes have captured three of the last four CAA titles and advanced to the national championship game three times in that span, winning the 2016 crown. Even without a CAA schedule, the Dukes’ athletic program announced that it will explore your own schedule as long as the NCAA has a postseason and medical orientation allows for safe competition.
Most CAA members do not view that opportunity as viable, and some immediately announced the complete suspension of the fall competition, instead hoping for a possible spring season.
CAA Commissioner Joe D’Antonio said: “Each of our institutions is making the best decisions for their campus community, based on a full analysis of the circumstances.”
Last Tuesday, the CAA suspended next week’s virtual media day, an ominous signal, in retrospect. With the conference schedule rejected on Friday, it could be seen as a potential turning point against any form of a 2020 FCS season. The CAA was one of the largest dominoes, with more likely to drop in the coming weeks.
.
