CAA: ODU not eligible for hoops title in 2013

The Colonial Athletic Association Council of Presidents has voted that Georgia State University and Old Dominion University are ineligible in 2012-13 for CAA team championships in which the conference receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

Georgia State and Old Dominion made a formal request they remain eligible to compete for all conference championships during the 2012-13 season and that their set effective date of withdrawal be set as June 30, 2013. After thorough discussion, the presidents unanimously decided to set July 1, 2012 as the date at which both institutions would become ineligible.

“The conferences Bylaws were well understood and evaluated when the institutions made their decision to withdraw from the conference,” CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager said. “While we respect an institution’s decision to withdraw, it is not without consequences that the institution must accept. As a conference, we desire to have those institutions that are fully invested in the continued prosperity of the conference represent the conference as its champion.”

This same ruling applied to American University, East Carolina University and the University of Richmond following their withdrawal from the CAA during the 2000-01 academic year.

Georgia State and Old Dominion will be unable to compete in conference championships in baseball, basketball, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, tennis and volleyball.

Individual student-athletes from Georgia State and Old Dominion will be able to compete in CAA championships in cross country, swimming and diving, track and field and wrestling, but team points will not be calculated.

While not participating in CAA championships, the institutions will still be eligible for selection to NCAA Championships as an at-large selection. The institutions are also eligible for inclusion in the conference television package and its student-athletes and coaches are eligible for all conference awards.

Decisions on extending associate membership opportunities will be evaluated when conference realignment is complete.