Richmond, Va. (September 13) -- The Colonial Athletic Association, consistently rankedas one of the top five baseball conferences in the nation, ranked third(.5581) inthe final 1999 baseball RPI published by the NCAA. The SoutheasternConferencewas first (.5740) followed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (.5734).
Four of the eight CAA conference teams were in the top 32, led byCAAchampion East Carolina who ranked fifth in the country. The otherconferenceschools in the top 32 were Richmond (20), Virginia Commonwealth (28) andCAA Tournament runner-up Old Dominion (32).
The CAA's ranking was bolstered by strong scheduling (opponentsstrengthof schedule rated sixth and opponents success rated fourth) and a highwinningpercentage. In fact, the CAA boasted the best winning percentage in thenationin 1999 at .6014. Conference teams finished the year with a combinedrecord of271-177 against Division I opponents, and only one team finished the seasonwith asub-500 record.
For only the second time in the 14-year history of the CAA three teamsmade itto the NCAA Tournament, and East Carolina and Richmond were within one gameof advancing to the Super Regional.
The 2000 and 2001 Colonial Athletic Association baseball championshipmoves to Coy Tillet, Sr.,Field in the Outer Banks of North Carolina inManteo, NC. The 2000CAA Baseball Championship is scheduled for May 16-22.