The Continental Athletic Conference (CAC) takes the place of the former Association of Independent Institutions. While the league has a new name and logo, former NAIA DII Tournament host, College of the Ozarks, decided to no leave the league and the NAIA. All was not lost though, as the CAC welcomes Florida College (Southern States) to the league this season. We were originally told that Edward Waters would be joining the CAC as well, but it appears they are indeed staying in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference this year.
Like the Aii, the CAC, will not have a formal conference schedule. Teams instead meet at the end of the season in the CAC Tournament, with the Top 3 teams getting auto-bids to the NAIA National Championships. This past season, with the NAIA field down to just 48 teams, only the Conference Tournament Champion qualified for the NAIA National Championships. With many programs playing non-NAIA opponents, it can sometimes be a very interesting league. Voorhees (S.C), for instance, last season won the Aii Tournament and no one really knew anything about them, except for that they were 3-9 overall. However, they gave, a very good, Bethel (Kan) team a run for their money in the opening round last season!
2020-21 Champions/Qualifiers
Aii Tournament Champions
National Tournament Qualifiers
National Tournament Qualifiers: Voorhees (SC) lost 79-82 to Bethel (Kan) in the opening round of the NAIA National Championships.
2021-22 CAC Preview
What’s New?
New Name/Logo
New Teams
Conference POY Watch List:
Hector Rosario, 6’3 Jr., Voorhees. 2020-21 HM All-American and Aii All-Conference. 11ppg, 5.5rpg, 2.1apg, 1.3spg last season. Led the Tigers in all four categories.
Matt Simpson, 6’0 Sr., 2020-21SSAC 2nd Team All-Conf. 2019-20 All-American. Matt is just a few hundred points away from being the all time leading scorer at Florida College.
Phat Cleveland, 6’0 So., 2020-21 2nd Team All-SSAC and SSAC Freshman of the Year. Phat really compliments Matt Simpson well and both provide the Falcons with a great backcourt.
K.J. Corder 6’3 Jr., Crowleys Ridge. 2020-21 Aii All-Conference. Averaged 13.2ppg, 5.6rpg.
Top Newcomers:
Matt Simpson, 6’0 Sr., 2020-21SSAC 2nd Team All-Conf. 2019-20 All-American. Matt is just a few hundred points away from being the all time leading scorer at Florida College.
Phat Cleveland, 6’0 So., 2020-21 2nd Team All-SSAC and SSAC Freshman of the Year. Phat really compliments Matt Simpson well and both provide the Falcons with a great backcourt.
Favorites to Win CAC:
Voorhees – A team that was 3-9 on the weird season headed into last years postseason. While you may think that is crazy to call a team with that kind of record a contender, they actually competed hard and looked good in the NAIA Opening Round last year. They lose Malik Wood, who went off in the NAIA Opening Round as well as All-Aii performer Staten Levine, but Coach Huff does a great job and when you have a unique league, it takes some experience to be able to navigate it and Voorhees will come in as the team to beat.
Florida College – The Falcons, after being middle of the pack, in the VERY tough Southern States Athletic Conference, start their first year in the CAC. With no disrespect to the CAC, they should jump in as the heavy favorite to win the league. The Falcons are a smaller squad, but have great guard play back in Matt Simpson and Phat Cleveland. Cleveland was the SSAC Freshman of the Year last year while him and Simpson were both 2nd team All-SSAC. Simpson was also a HM All-American 2 seasons ago. New additions Chinedu Okonkwo (Wayland Baptist) and Jashavius Perdue (Wallace CC-Selma) are coming off good seasons at their previous programs and if it can translate over, this Falcon team will be tough to beat in the CAC this season.
Other Contenders:
Washington Adventist – WAU lost one of the better coaches in the NAIA in Patrick Crarey. They are also coming off of a season where they didn’t have a season. Hard though, to not include a program who has been so good over the past few years. Coach Jerry McFarland moves into the head coaching chair and you can best believe that this team will be competitive this season!
Sleeper Team:
Crowley’s Ridge – While K.J. Corder returns, the Pioneers lose All-Aii members, Montrel James and Kyle Moore. They do get Stud Sophomore, Bo Roberson back. He didn’t play the 2nd half of the season last year, but averaged 17.4ppg in 14 games played. This is a super young squad that is going to have to rely on Freshman to carry the load, especially on the inside.
