The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states, from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universities, and the conference is headquartered in Richmond. The CAA was historically a Southern conference until the addition of four schools in the Northeastern United States after the turn of the 21st century, which added geographic balance to the conference.

Monmouth University is a private university in West Long Branch, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1933 as Monmouth Junior College, it became Monmouth College in 1956 and Monmouth University in 1995 after receiving its charter.