By Paul Perillo

Even the most ardent supporters of Northeastern's move from America East to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA)—athletic director Dave O'Brien chief among them—never envisioned anything as satisfying as the Huskies' first year in their new conference.

"Our wildest dreams were realized multiple times over," O'Brien said shortly after the 2005-2006 season came to an end. "I feel much better about the decision today than I did when we made it, and I felt pretty strongly in favor of it at the time."

What's not to like? Northeastern fits comfortably in its new home, alongside teams from eleven other universities—Delaware, Drexel, George Mason, Georgia State, Hofstra, James Madison, Old Dominion, Towson, the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, Virginia Commonwealth, and William and Mary.

Northeastern athletes found themselves competitive within their new clan and, in several instances, among the creme de la creme. Husky field hockey, baseball, men's basketball, and men's and women's track rose to the conference's upper echelon. Men's and women's cross-country, men's and women's soccer, swimming, and women's basketball enjoyed their moments of success as well.

At the team level, not surprisingly, the move set off the biggest ripples for the sport with the highest profile—men's basketball. Remember, no America East team has ever made it past the NCAA tournament's second round. This year, however, Huskies fans watched with pride as Colonial cousin George Mason shocked the hoops world with its run to the Final Four.

And Northeastern gained much more than pride from George Mason's Cinderella story. The Patriots' late-round success—and UNC-Wilmington's first-round showing—means the Colonial conference will receive roughly $1 million annually over the next six years. The NCAA awards money to every conference with one or more teams in the tournament; the more tournament games a conference's teams play, the more money the conference gets.

O'Brien says the CAA will allocate its windfall in a variety of ways, both to the central organization and to individual members. "The league will be making decisions on how best to spend the money," he explains, likely on such improvements as "webcasting our games more easily and productively, increasing marketing and promotions to increase teams' fan bases, and [funding] incentive rewards for teams that compete at a high level."

Northeastern hadn't been slated to join the CAA until 2006-2007, but America East released the university from its commitment a year early. Though the Huskies would likely have earned a piece of the financial pie anyway—they were already official CAA members—competing in the league last season conferred prestige.

Not that Northeastern rode on anyone's coattails. On any given night, the Huskies were one of the league's five best basketball teams, advancing to the conference tournament semifinals before falling to eventual champ UNC-Wilmington.

Out on the field-hockey pitch, Cheryl Murtagh's contingent was similarly unfazed by the step up in competition. Her team finished second to Old Dominion in the regular season before falling to them in the conference title game.

Then there was the baseball squad, which managed a strong third-place showing. During the regular season, junior Adam Ottavino pitched a no-hitter to soon-to-be top seed James Madison, Northeastern's first nine-inning no-hitter since 1985. (In June, Ottavino became a first-round draft pick for the St. Louis Cardinals.)

Competing in the new league has come with a few pitfalls. Rocketing gas prices have upped the travel-costs ante even higher than expected. And after seeing the impressive athletics facilities most of the league's teams enjoy, O'Brien and his coaches know theirs require some upgrades.

"Many of the league members loved coming to Boston and were struck by the beauty of Northeastern," O'Brien says. "But we found that games at places like William and Mary, Old Dominion, and UNC-Wilmington are true events. There was some level of disappointment [on the part of other teams] with the current state of our facilities." He hopes the university will be able to address such issues moving forward.

Buckle in. If year one is any indication, moving forward is exactly what the Huskies plan to do in their higher-octane league.

Gridders Must Tap Inner Road Warrior

Maybe Rocky Hager's first two Northeastern seasons didn't go as well as he had hoped. Even so, progress was made on the gridiron. And now that another solid recruiting class has filed into the locker room, the coach thinks the planets have aligned for a pronounced upswing.

"We had a very productive spring, where a lot of our young players emerged," Hager says. "We're at a point where we believe we're better prepared to handle injuries and adversity."

But health and prosperity won't come easy to the hopeful Huskies, given the murderous schedule they face. The season, which opens on September 2, kicks off with five straight road games. The first is a monumental encounter against Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg.

In all, seven of the season's eleven games will take place away from the friendly confines of Parsons Field. This makes winning even more of an uphill climb. Consider: Nine of Hager's fifteen losses at NU have fallen short by four points or fewer. Give the Huskies wins in just four of those matches, and Hager's record improves from 7-15 to 11-11. Northeastern has stayed competitive. Now it's time to find ways to win when a game is on the line.

Hager hopes a change in defense philosophy, coupled with a power running game, will translate into success. The Huskies plan to utilize a three-four defense, built around their active and athletic linebackers. It's a scheme that uses a variety of disguised blitzes to confuse opposing offenses. Hager used a similar system during his days of winning Division II national championships at North Dakota State.

"A half-second's worth of indecision by the offense can be worth a sack per game," he says. "If we make those plays consistently enough, that should translate in the win column."

Senior Matt Campopiano and sophomore Jason Vega are moving from defensive end to outside linebacker, a key switch in a successful three-four alignment. Senior Jamil Young, who likes to blitz, will get more opportunities to do just that on the outside. Junior A. J. Lillie rounds out the mix, giving Hager a reliable quartet of outside performers.

Inside, run-stuffer junior Joe Mele will bottle up the middle, along with sophomores Craig Kenney and Cornelius Bunch, and the lightning-quick Alton Bradley, whom Hager calls "one of the fastest linebackers I've ever been around." This group's depth and talent is the main reason the coach decided to make his tactical switch.

He's also shifted his lieutenants around. Paul Schaffner, who spent last season as assistant head coach/linebackers coach, will now assume defensive-coordinator responsibilities. Wally Dembowski, last year's coordinator, will be the defensive line coach. Schaffner played linebacker for Hager at North Dakota State, under the same system the Huskies are now implementing.

Offensively, Hager hopes to employ a thunder-and-lightning backfield. Powerful junior Maurice Murray will likely get the bulk of the work, with

5-foot-6 sophomore Alex Broomfield stepping in for a change of pace. Productive in the past, both men enjoyed strong springs. Sophomores Anthony Orio and John Sperrazza will lead the charge at the quarterback position.

"We showed the ability to move the ball last year," Hager says. "With another year of experience for our quarterbacks, we expect that to improve."