Catholic University has been accepted as the seventh
football-playing member of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
The league champion will receive an automatic bid to the expanded
28-team playoffs.
"I am very excited for the football program to be aligned with the
Old Dominion Athletic Conference," Catholic U. athletic director
Robert Talbot said. "It"s a league of solid academic institutions
and football programs, and I think the match is perfect."
The Cardinals competed as an ODAC member in all sports from
1982-84. In 1983 -- the only season Catholic was eligible for the
league title -- they went 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the ODAC. The team
has gone 10-1 each of the past two seasons and made consecutive
appearances in the NCAA playoffs.
Coach Tom Clark welcomes the independent program's entrance into
the 23-year-old conference. "We"re joining one of the most
distinguished conferences in the nation at this level," Clark said.
"It gives us an identity that we lacked as an independent."
Catholic returns to ODAC
Jul 07, 1999