Six-Team Tournament Fields Announced

Athletics None

Six-Team Tournament Fields Announced

RICHMOND, Va.– An increase in the field size for five conference championships and the decision to sponsor new NCAA legislation for FCS football were among the highlights of the five-day Colonial Athletic Association annual meetings.

Starting this season, the field sizes for CAA championships in five sports will return to six teams after being only four-team events for the past two years. Those new six-team championships will be held in:

• baseball
• field hockey
• men's soccer
• women's soccer
• volleyball

In field hockey, soccer and volleyball, all six teams will compete for the CAA title at the site of the regular-season champion.

In baseball, a six-team, double-elimination tournament will be played over four days. Bids to host the next two CAA Baseball Championships in 2012 and 2013 will be solicited this summer. Softball's eight CAA teams will still play their four-team tournament at the site of the top seed.

CAA Football will have 11 members this season with the addition of Old Dominion University. Georgia State University will join CAA Football in 2012. In CAA Football, it was decided that the University of Massachusetts, which is in the process of transitioning to the FBS level, will not be eligible for the CAA Championship in 2011, but its players will still be eligible to receive pre-season, weekly and post-season awards. The Minutemen's official conference record will be recorded as 0-0 and it will not occupy a spot in the CAA Football standings. However, the game results will be reflected in their opponents' conference record.

CAA football teams have played in five straight NCAA FCS Championships and seven of the last eight national championship games. For four straight years, the CAA has placed four or more teams in the FCS 20-team playoff. They CAA earned received 35 FCS tournament bids in the past 10 years, the most of any league in the country.

In addition, CAA Football has decided to sponsor NCAA legislation that would provide five seasons of eligibility for student-athletes in FCS football programs.

The first CAA Championship this year will be hosted by Georgia State on Oct. 29 when the Cross Country Championships are held at Nash Farm Battlefield. The women's soccer championships will be held Nov. 3, 4 & 6, while the men's will compete Nov. 10, 11 & 13. The volleyball championship is Nov. 18-21 (dates are flexible).

As always, all 12 CAA basketball teams will compete in the league tournament. The men play March 2-5 at the Richmond Coliseum again, while the women play March 8-11 in Washington, D.C. at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md.

The full schedule of all CAA Championships in 2011-12 is included in the PDF document.

John R. Broderick, the president of Old Dominion University, was appointed to a four-year term on the NCAA Board of Directors which will begin in April, 2012. In the interim, Mr. Broderick will serve as the CAA's representative on the NCAA Presidential Advisory Group.
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