ORONO – The University of Maine football team will become a member of the Colonial Athletic Association football conference at the start of its inaugural season, school officials said Wednesday.

In addition to the Black Bears, members of the CAA’s Division I-AA football conference include Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, UMass, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, Richmond, Towson, Villanova and William & Mary.

All 12 teams are currently members of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference and will continue that affiliation through the 2006 season.

“The true value of a conference is determined by the members in that particular conferences,” said Maine Athletic Director Patrick Nero. “The change from the Atlantic 10 to the Colonial is significant because it allows the University of Maine to continue to align itself with the top Division I-AA football programs in the country. All of the members of Atlantic 10 Football have dedicated themselves to making the conference the best in the nation, this will now continue under the Colonial name.”

The Black Bears won two Atlantic 10 football titles (2001 and 2002) and have won a total of 11 Atlantic 10 and Yankee Conference titles, third most among current league members.

Maine was a charter member of the Yankee Conference, which was formed in 1947 along with Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. When Division I-AA was formed in 1978, the conference disbanded all sports except football. The Atlantic 10 Conference took over operations of the conference in 1997.

The Atlantic 10 has produced the past two national champions in Delaware (2003) and James Madison (2004), and three of the last seven with Massachusetts claiming the title in 1998.

Ten of the 12 teams have reached the Division I-AA playoffs at least once in the past five years. Eight of the 12 conference members were ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll at the same time last October.

Maine will continue as a member of the Atlantic 10 Football Conference until the 2007 football season.

Maine will remain a member of the America East conference and Hockey East conference for all other sports.