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."