If the state of affairs in the Colonial Athletic Association could be compared to the old high school sock hop, Old Dominion athletic director Jim Jarrett says the Monarchs are sticking with their steady dance partner in the foreseeable future.

The university is committed to preserving the health and tradition of the CAA, of which it has been a member since 1991, despite the defections of three longtime conference schools, Jarrett said.

The once nine-team CAA was to fall to seven teams at the close of 2000-01 with the planned departures of East Carolina and American University. Then, a month after pledging allegiance to the CAA, the University of Richmond announced May 25 it also was leaving at the end of next year.

"That complicated everything," Jarrett said.

Richmond's decision created some concern among the six remaining universities - Old Dominion, James Madison, William and Mary, Virginia Commonwealth, George Mason and UNC-Wilmington - which Jarrett said want to keep the conference alive.

"All six schools are on the record as being committed (to the CAA) for the foreseeable future" and the best way to accomplish that is through planned expansion, Jarrett said. Virginia Military Institute has already expressed interest in joining the CAA.

Reasons to support preserving the CAA are plentiful, Jarrett believes. The conference has produced 14 national championship teams - in four different sports and all from the six remaining schools - since 1979.

Eight national coaches of the year since 1983 were from the six remaining CAA schools, as were numerous individual championships in track and field since 1984.

A four-year average of the basketball ratings percentage index (RPI), which measures a conference's performance and strength of schedule, has the CAA eighth in women's basketball and 14th in men's.

"One of the critical things for people to realize is that across the board the league is really strong," Jarrett said.

Should the CAA enlarge, opinions differ about the size of an expanded conference. Having more teams creates a buffer against departures, while lessening each school's chance of gaining the conference's automatic NCAA tournament bid.

The CAA has discussed a merger with the America East conference, a 10-team league of East Coast schools from Maine to Maryland. Should the two merge, the schools would be divided into northern and southern divisions to limit travel costs during conference seasons. The regular season would emphasize divisional play with season-ending tournament determining NCAA bids.

Jarrett, a self-described "middle of the road expansionist," said he favors a smaller conference of eight to 10 teams, saving room for what he says is an inevitable realignment of conferences because of television rights.

Ultimately, the decision about the CAA's immediate future rests with the universities' presidents, who will decide when and how to expand or merge. Jarrett said that could possibly happen sometime in the next 30 days.