What is everyone's preference for a 14th member?
I guess the question is does the CAA want to be an elite sports conference.

High Point University
USNEWS: #1 in Regional Colleges South
Carnegie: Professions-focused Undergraduate/Graduate-Doctorate Medium
Enrollment: ~6,040
25-26: Men's NCAA #12 Seed
Women's NCAA #15 Seed

Fairfield University
USNEWS: #139
Carnegie: R2
Enrollment: ~6,020
25-26: Men's 21–13
Women's NCAA No. 11 seed

Univ of Maryland Baltimore County
USNEWS: #127
Carnegie: R1
Enrollment: ~14,150
25-26: Mens NCAA #16 Seed
Women's 16–14

Albany
USNEWS: #127
Carnegie: R1
Enrollment: ~17,560
25-26: Mens 11–21
Women's 14–16

Per Gemini:

To garner a media deal similar to the Mountain West Conference (MWC), the CAA would need to add an institution that provides both elite facilities and top-tier media market access.

1. High Point University (The "Network-Ready" Fit)
High Point is the best candidate to help the CAA mirror the MWC’s national broadcast value.
Facility Appeal: Like MWC institutions, HPU has invested heavily in "TV-ready" infrastructure. The $170M+ Qubein Arena provides the high-end aesthetic that networks like CBS and FOX require for national showcases.
Performance Narrative: HPU’s recent success—including a 30-win season and #12 NCAA seed in 2026—creates the "winning content" that attracts national linear partners.

Targeted Market Density: While not a top-10 DMA, the Greensboro/High Point market consistently ranks as one of the top 10 most-watched college basketball markets in the country, often outperforming much larger cities in raw viewership share.

https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca...082470007/

2. Fairfield University (The "Market Valuation" Fit)
Fairfield is the key for a deal focused on media market leverage, similar to the MWC’s focus on the West Coast.
NYC Media Market: Fairfield provides the CAA with a foothold in the #1 DMA (New York). This is a massive multiplier for advertising rates and linear distribution fees, which are the backbone of MWC-style payouts.
Institutional Wealth: With a $503M endowment, Fairfield brings the financial stability and donor support needed to match the operational scale of a higher-payout conference.

3. UMBC (The "Streaming Volume" Fit)
UMBC matches the MWC’s move toward subscription-based digital revenue.
Scale: With 14,000 students, UMBC drives the high-volume traffic necessary to make a direct-to-consumer app (like the MWC/Kiswe partnership) profitable.
Postseason Revenue: As 2026 America East Champions, UMBC secures NCAA "units," providing a consistent stream of shared revenue to the conference.

UMBC and Albany should be hard no's. To me High Point is the most obvious one, Fairfield is the adequate, but lazy one. If we plan to keep the HCBU's, I think we should consider another run at Howard.

I agree, from a purely athletics perspective HP seems to be the most logical choice.

I do wonder if Joey D is looking to add another school.

Howard is going to stay in the MEAC, they do not want to be the reason for conference collapse. My uneducated guess is that A&T and HU will stay an all sports member of the CAA as long as the southern portion of the conference doesn't have defections.

If there are southern defections, the CAA must replace them with schools in the same region.

Hopefully none. The conference is way too large as it is. I don't see the benefit of a 14 team member (1-bid) conference. But High Point is an interesting choice. It is not a very good school academically...it's more of a country club school. But they are spending a lot of money investing in their university and especially in their athletic programs.

(03-18-2026 10:26 AM)J.B. Wrote:  Hopefully none. The conference is way too large as it is. I don't see the benefit of a 14 team member (1-bid) conference. But High Point is an interesting choice. It is not a very good school academically...it's more of a country club school. But they are spending a lot of money investing in their university and especially in their athletic programs.

Yeah, High Point is very interesting...a lot of money being donated.

HP has a law school, school of optometry, Pharmacy school, Dental school, Doctor in Physical Therapy program and a Master's in Physicians Assistant studies.

(03-18-2026 10:26 AM)J.B. Wrote:  Hopefully none. The conference is way too large as it is. I don't see the benefit of a 14 team member (1-bid) conference. But High Point is an interesting choice. It is not a very good school academically...it's more of a country club school. But they are spending a lot of money investing in their university and especially in their athletic programs.

I think you make an add if it improves your conference's chances of getting wins at the NCAA level. High Point does that, they are putting enough money into men's basketball that they should continue to be a top 125 team regularly, making them either a good bet to get a 12/13 seed if they make the tourney, or good for the metrics for whoever does. Maybe some of the presidents don't want to be associated with them but we're talking about an athletic conference here, if they raise the bar for everyone else then it's a net positive.

Fairfield would be OK but they need to start having the same success in men's basketball that they do in other sports. I used to be higher on UMBC as a peer of Drexel's, but their all-sports profile is much worse than Fairfield's (they're not even good in lacrosse), so they really need to be a difference-maker in men's basketball and they aren't. Albany is a complete nothing burger and would be a massive unforced error if the CAA added them.

My list

1. High Point - clearly the best basketball choice but they are southern so I get it. But man games with them would be fun
2. UMBC - a school with a feel and profile like UNCW. North but not too far north and a great travel partner for Towson. Trying in basketball and would probably be receptive to moving to a conference in which they are in the center versus the southern outpost

(03-18-2026 02:26 PM)solohawks Wrote:  My list

1. High Point - clearly the best basketball choice but they are southern so I get it. But man games with them would be fun
2. UMBC - a school with a feel and profile like UNCW. North but not too far north and a great travel partner for Towson. Trying in basketball and would probably be receptive to moving to a conference in which they are in the center versus the southern outpost

Tiffany Tucker is their AD. Tiffany previously worked at UNCW as the Deputy AD.

(03-18-2026 10:51 PM)AGGIE2039 Wrote:  

(03-18-2026 02:26 PM)solohawks Wrote:  My list

1. High Point - clearly the best basketball choice but they are southern so I get it. But man games with them would be fun
2. UMBC - a school with a feel and profile like UNCW. North but not too far north and a great travel partner for Towson. Trying in basketball and would probably be receptive to moving to a conference in which they are in the center versus the southern outpost

Tiffany Tucker is their AD. Tiffany previously worked at UNCW as the Deputy AD.

She is quality

I'm changing my vote to High Point!
Don't forget that the further a team goes in the tournament, ALL teams in the conference get more money.

https://x.com/i/status/2034720346302034353

HP just beat Wisconsin

It will be Fairfield.

(06-24-2026 08:23 PM)jcohen42 Wrote:  It will be Fairfield.

Quality addition that will increase conference visibility in the very affluent NE, hopefully it will translate into more lucrative sponsorship deals.

They are probably the best option for a northern school. Pretty sure few schools are knocking on the CAA's doors to come aboard. It stabilizes the north. Which being a school in the north with all of the uncertainty out there, is a good thing. I posted on our board, but I think the southern flank of schools are much more on unstable footing with the conference, so from a conference standpoint its good to shore up the more stable side to avoid complete collapse

(06-26-2026 10:24 AM)dan10 Wrote:  It stabilizes the north. Which being a school in the north with all of the uncertainty out there, is a good thing. I posted on our board, but I think the southern flank of schools are much more on unstable footing with the conference, so from a conference standpoint it's good to shore up the more stable side to avoid complete collapse

Agree -- just looking in from the outside, it looks prudent to make Northeastern happy with this. It's not my recollection that they're tearing it up in MBB lately, but that's a school name that anyone in the north would hate to lose, comparably to William & Mary, whom the entire conference would hate to lose in all-sports.

I know the CAA keeps being a punching bag for some on the realignment board who like to question and criticize the variety-verging-on-disalignment in the conference, but while that could be valid depending on the case, the CAA keeps reaffirming that it's decidedly ahead of a bunch of other eastern leagues in the pecking order (by moves).

(06-27-2026 11:33 AM)DanSteenkamer Wrote:  

(06-26-2026 10:24 AM)dan10 Wrote:  It stabilizes the north. Which being a school in the north with all of the uncertainty out there, is a good thing. I posted on our board, but I think the southern flank of schools are much more on unstable footing with the conference, so from a conference standpoint it's good to shore up the more stable side to avoid complete collapse

Agree -- just looking in from the outside, it looks prudent to make Northeastern happy with this. It's not my recollection that they're tearing it up in MBB lately, but that's a school name that anyone in the north would hate to lose, comparably to William & Mary, whom the entire conference would hate to lose in all-sports.

I know the CAA keeps being a punching bag for some on the realignment board who like to question and criticize the variety-verging-on-disalignment in the conference, but while that could be valid depending on the case, the CAA keeps reaffirming that it's decidedly ahead of a bunch of other eastern leagues in the pecking order (by moves).

Yes, the discussions are quite interesting and appear to be a bit illogical. I look at the SOCON which is a mix of small liberal arts private universities, military schools and large public schools yet they do not get the same level of grief. Heck once upon a time Ga Southern and App State were in the SOCON too...what do they have in common with Furman, Wofford and Samford?

No offend anyone but is this due to northeastern USA since of elitism?

It may to some degree, but I would also say its less the northeast elitism and more the school prestige elitism. W&M throws our the same arguments that NU does when a member below them academically joins. It is the main driver of those schools and their prestige is everything. So any school that appears to go against their interests gets looked down upon.

The fact remains, in realignment, schools move up not down. So the higher you are the higher you pull from but the flow remains the same. So as conference up top expand, they naturally pull from the biggest groups below them. Even at a mid level that is the case. At the end of the day the CAA is going to continue to pull from conferences below them, just like the ones below us pull from the bottom conferences or even below (new to DI). In general there are still only so many schools that appeal to the vast majority in athletics, so as time goes on the list only thins. The AEast schools were not appealing to the VA schools, but it was needed to save the conference. So the current group will be just as critical as those schools were then. The only difference now is there are fewer ambitious schools out there from below than there were, since most that have move up and onward are getting close or achieved all they will achieve with their ambitions. So to me its just a general philosophy on realignment. Any time you bring someone from below, the ones who are already there are hardly ever happy bringing another school "to their level". (FYI you saw that same thing at the highest level when the Big 12 was adding teams and how current members viewed the new additions)

As a Hofstra fan, I am okay with Fairfield, and suburbs of New York City will have four CAA teams. Albany is not close to another CAA school like additions Hampton, Stony Brook, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, and Campbell are. I do not think there is a need for a second Baltimore school, and it is easy to combine a trip to Towson with Drexel, Hampton, or William & Mary. I would think that fans in Baltimore will focus on Maryland, Georgetown, and maybe Atlantic 10 teams in Philadelphia and/or Virginia, and the only way the CAA could get more attention there is by winning, not by adding a mid-major. High Point is near North Carolina A&T, but I do not want another North Carolina team. Even if teams leave like UNCW and Charleston together, I would rather have 12 teams than replace them with other southern schools.

(07-06-2026 06:02 PM)EvanJ Wrote:  As a Hofstra fan, I am okay with Fairfield, and suburbs of New York City will have four CAA teams. Albany is not close to another CAA school like additions Hampton, Stony Brook, Monmouth, North Carolina A&T, and Campbell are. I do not think there is a need for a second Baltimore school, and it is easy to combine a trip to Towson with Drexel, Hampton, or William & Mary. I would think that fans in Baltimore will focus on Maryland, Georgetown, and maybe Atlantic 10 teams in Philadelphia and/or Virginia, and the only way the CAA could get more attention there is by winning, not by adding a mid-major. High Point is near North Carolina A&T, but I do not want another North Carolina team. Even if teams leave like UNCW and Charleston together, I would rather have 12 teams than replace them with other southern schools.

I am 100% with you except for regarding High Point. They are the only difference-making type program within the CAA's footprint that could reasonably be available, if they want to join then the CAA should make it work. That said, I think the point is moot because I don't think they are interested in leaving for any conference other than the A-10.

Hopefully this is the last addition we have for awhile and we can see a season of stability.

I think you are most likely to see that in the northern bloc though versus the southern bloc
Northeastern, Hofstra, Fairfield, Drexel only have one other logical destination - the A10 - and that is just not likely
Monmouth and Towson could theoretically also pursue FBS, but that is not likely either
Stony Brook is the only potential destabilizing factor in the nothern bloc - being a large state school with AAU status, they will always be mentioned as an FBS candidate - if they ever got the leadership interested - they would be a very logical addition for the MAC

On the southern side, it feels like everyone is a potential flight risk
W&M has a great setup IMO - but there will always be rumors and options for them to go all in on the Patriot League
Charleston had their bags packed to the A10 not too long ago and is probably still very interested and a logical fit if a spot ever opened up
NC A&T can't be happy with how CAA FC has turned out and if they no longer have FBS ambitions, does the CAA make long term sense for them?
Elon is another one that can not be happy with the evolution of CAA FC - but their options are more limited - they will all but certainly never be FBS but their only other realistic option is the SoCon which isn't a much better setup with travel to TN/AL/GA versus flying to major airports in NYC and Philly and getting your name out there to northern students wanting to move south
Campbell is in some serious financial strains apparently and while I don't see them leaving for upward progression, they definitely feel like they are already trying to punch above their weight class and struggling
UNCW and Hampton are probably the most invested in making the CAA work long term and are content with the status quo