BOSTON (AP) – Northeastern University has accepted an invitation to join the Colonial Athletic Association beginning in 2006, school officials announced Wednesday.

Northeastern, currently is a member of the America East Conference for all sports except football, will be the northernmost school in the CAA and hopes to expand its recruiting and admissions into the mid-Atlantic region, officials said.

“It’s an honor to be invited to join a group of prestigious institutions that have well-established academic and athletic histories,” athletic director Dave O’Brien said. “Furthermore, the CAA member schools cover a wide geographic footprint in the East that will expose our teams to thousands more alumni, fans, and potential students.”

Northeastern will compete in 12 sports, including basketball, in the CAA, but will remain in the Atlantic 10 Conference for football. The CAA currently does not conduct a football championship, but the addition of Northeastern gives it a sixth football-playing institution.

Atlantic 10 spokesman Ray Cella said it will continue to lobby its football members to stay put.

“This league is the best league in the country if it stays together,” Cella said. “Half of our football schools are in the Colonial (for their other sports).”

Colonial members Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, William & Mary, Towson, and Northeastern play football in the A-10, a Division 1-AA league. Towson joins the A-10 football conference this fall.

Northeastern will reunite with Delaware, Drexel, Hofstra and Towson, which departed America East for the CAA after the 2000-01 athletic season.

With the 2006 additions of Northeastern (Boston) and Georgia State (Atlanta), the CAA will have schools in six of the nation’s top 25 media markets: New York (Hofstra); Philadelphia (Drexel, Delaware); Washington (George Mason) and Baltimore (Towson).

The CAA is based in Richmond, Va. Other schools in the association are UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, and Virginia Commonwealth.

America East spokesman Matt Bourque said the move was no surprise.

“It’s been speculated about for a couple of years,” he said. “It doesn’t affect us in any of our automatic (NCAA tournament) qualifiers, which is the most important factor.”

The CAA is rated higher in men’s basketball, but Bourque said America East’s top basketball programs are still strong.

“Boston University and Vermont would compete very favorably in the Colonial,” he said.