Football
RICHMOND, Va. — The University of Richmond has accepted an invitation for Spider Football to join the Patriot League, the school announced Tuesday. The Spiders will compete in the CAA in 2024 and move to the Patriot League prior to the 2025 season. Richmond will join the Patriot League as an associate member in football only. Conference affiliations for all other Spider sports will not be affected.
The decision comes following a comprehensive University review of the football team’s conference affiliation initiated after the 2023 season in response to continued changes in the national FCS landscape.
"The institutions of the Patriot League are outstanding, both athletically and academically, and we are excited to join them for the 2025 football season," said University of Richmond President Kevin F. Hallock. "The University of Richmond is firmly committed to not only meeting, but advancing the competitive goals of our student-athletes, and the upward trajectory of the Patriot League provides a great environment for the future success of Spider Football."
Richmond will become the eighth football member of the Patriot League, joining Bucknell, Colgate, Fordham, Georgetown, Holy Cross, Lafayette, and Lehigh. The Spiders are the first school to enter or exit the Patriot League football conference since 2004.
"The Patriot League provides our football student-athletes and staff with the opportunity to experience championship-level competition at the highest levels of the FCS in a conference that is rich in tradition, scholarship, and stability," said Vice President and Director of Athletics John Hardt. "Joining the Patriot League puts our football program in a great position to continue to compete for championships and achieve the type of postseason success that is so important to our players, our university, and Spiders everywhere."
Richmond is coming off a CAA championship season in 2023, when the Spiders finished 9-4 and reached the second round of the FCS Playoffs for the second straight season. UR is one of eight schools to reach the second round of the FCS Playoffs in each of the last two seasons, along with Delaware, Furman, Montana, Montana State, North Dakota State, Sacramento State, and South Dakota State.
"I’m excited for what joining the Patriot League means for the future of our program," said Spider Football head coach Russ Huesman. "This is a big change for Spider Football, but our goals will stay the same: win conference championships, advance in the FCS Playoffs, and compete for national championships. The Patriot League is full of great football programs and great schools, and I think it will be a great fit for Richmond."
Richmond’s move to the Patriot League will be the first change in conference affiliation for Spider Football since 2007, when the Spiders won the South Division title in the inaugural CAA football season after competing in the Atlantic 10 from 1997 to 2006. Richmond has also been a football member of the Southern Conference (1936 to 1975) and the Yankee Conference (1986 to 1996).
"We are elated to welcome the University of Richmond as our eighth football member," Patriot League Commissioner Jennifer Heppel said. "Richmond’s consistent success on the field has made them a premier program in the FCS and their addition positions the League for continued competitive success at the national level. Beyond their on-field excellence, our shared commitment to prioritizing highly competitive academic and athletic experiences makes them an ideal institutional partner for the Patriot League."
The Patriot League has had five teams finish in the top 25 of the final FCS Coaches Poll in three full seasons since the COVID-19 pandemic, with Holy Cross advancing to the second round of the postseason in 2021 and the quarterfinals in 2022. The Patriot League introduced athletic scholarships in football in 2013 and allows its schools to award the FCS maximum of 63 equivalencies in athletics scholarship support.
Richmond Football has won 13 conference championships, made 13 NCAA Playoffs appearances, and won the 2008 national championship, the University’s first NCAA national title.
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