and at the same time it was very strong in athletics, so it was very appealing to us. We believe we're going to a conference that values both very highly, and we know we can be successful" Former Loyola AD Joe Boylan noted that the school had first discussed joining the Patriot League in the late 1990s. He echoed his successor's sentiments, saying, "I think it's a very significant move. I think it says a lot about where the institution is from the academic side and the national profile side. I think it aligns them with the second Ivy League and it reinforces the school's profile as a fairly top-level academic institution." Colonial Athletic Association After having been raided by several other conferences in the preceding months, the CAA initially decided to reload with football in mind. On August 7, 2012, the conference announced that it would add Albany and Stony Brook as members of CAA Football in 2013. At the time of the announcement, both schools were full members of the America East with associate football memberships elsewhere—Albany in the Northeast Conference (NEC) and Stony Brook in the Big South Conference. Both remained America East members. In a postscript, Stony Brook would eventually join the all-sports CAA in 2022. Southern Conference The Southern Conference lost 5 members and gained 3 between 2013 and 2014. The College of Charleston departed the SoCon in 2013, joining the CAA. Appalachian State and Georgia Southern began transitions to the FBS level in 2013. Both Appalachian State and Georgia Southern remained on the Southern Conference schedule for the 2013 season; however, both teams were ineligible for the league championship and playoffs. Both schools joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, becoming bowl eligible in 2015. The other two departing members Elon and Davidson joined the CAA and Atlantic 10, respectively. Two of the three schools joining the SoCon in 2014 were past members. Both VMI and East Tennessee State left the SoCon in 2003, joining the Big South and Atlantic Sun, respectively. Football upstart Mercer departed from the Atlantic Sun to join the SoCon in all sports. Non-football Division I conferences affected West Coast Conference The first non-football conference to make a significant move during this realignment cycle was the West Coast Conference (WCC), which officially invited Mountain West member Brigham Young University (BYU) on August 31, 2010. The move to the WCC, which