UAlbany Football Moving to Colonial Athletic Association in 2013

In a move that has been rumored for some time now, the University at Albany finally announced its move to the Colonial Athletic Association of college football's Championship Subdivision for football only, starting in the 2013 season.

The move is very beneficial for the program, as they will be in a more competitive conference than their current one, the Northeast Conference. Instead of taking on the likes of Bryant and Robert Morris, UAlbany will be up against members of a league that has featured a team in the FCS championship game four times since 2007 (Delaware twice, Villanova, Richmond), with two of those appearances (Villanova and Richmond) resulting in championship game victories.

Also worth noting is that the CAA is what is known as a full scholarship league, meaning that all 63 players on a team can be given a scholarship. The Northeast Conference was not a full scholarship league, as they only allowed teams to give 38 scholarships.

All of this is great for UAlbany football, which will be undergoing a complete transformation in 2013 between this change and the fact that they will be playing in a new stadium starting in 2013. However, will this change help to pack that stadium at all? Will people be lining up to see the Richmond Spiders? Only time will tell.