Monmouth University accepted an invitation from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) to join in all sports the league sponsors, on Jan. 25. The deal will be put into effect on July 1, 2022.
Our Monmouth Hawks will now compete in the CAA in all sports except bowling which will continue to compete as a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). For the remainder of this season, Monmouth will compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
After the announcement today, President Leahy praised the CAA and emphasized what a wonderful opportunity this is for Monmouth. He spoke about how it will enhance the Monmouth brand and increase the school’s recognition to much greater levels. This is a great achievement for Monmouth athletics due to athletes’ hard work and the many accolades of the teams.
Currently, Monmouth sponsors 24 Division 1 athletic programs and since 2013 a majority of them have competed in the MAAC. Football has competed as a member in the Big South Conference and the field hockey team joined the America East Conference prior to their 2018 season.
Throughout this time, Monmouth has won six overall MAAC commissioner’s cups, made 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, and won 60 regular season championships. In the school’s Division 1 history, Monmouth has achieved 43 NCAA Tournament appearances, 144 regular season championships, and has produced 123 professional athletes.
In 1993, Monmouth football was established and it has completely dominated in recent years. The Hawks have made three NCAA FCS Playoff appearances since 2017. They have also won two Big South titles and hold an overall record of 38-11 against FCS competition. The team is nationally ranked and were 23-3 in Big South play. During that span, they own a home record of 22-3.
Over on the court, the Monmouth men’s basketball team has won three regular-season titles in the MAAC and have made two NIT appearances. This is all under Head Coach King Rice. As for the Monmouth Track and Field program, they have earned much success which consists of 55 team conference championships and 23 individual All-America awards.
Over in soccer, the women’s team has absolutley dominated in the conference after winning eight regular season titles, six NCAA Tournament appearances and a conference record of 66-5-5 over nine seasons.
Making three appearances in the NCAAs (MAAC) is the Field Hockey team who has also won a pair of regular season crowns while members of the America East Conference. The Hawks have been ranked 20th twice in the NFHCA Poll which is the highest ranking in program history.
Monmouth’s new conference consists of many of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas ranging from Boston to Charleston. In five different sports, the conference has produced 18 national team champions. They have also produced 33 individual national champions, 15 national coaches of the year, 15 national players of the year, and 13 Honda winners.
With Monmouth being the region’s premier private coastal university, it is inevitable that we will see more titles and astounding accolades when the Hawks have officially soared into the CAA.
