Colonial Athletic Association Picks for Week #8

[Ivytalk]

Delaware @ Rhode Island: 31-27
New Hampshire @ UMass: 24-22
Old Dominion @ Villanova: 44-20
Maine @ Richmond: 21-17
Towson @ William & Mary: Tribe goes to 8-0 against TU, wins HC game, and keeps playoff hopes alive.

Bonus:

South Alabama @ Georgia State: GA St sleeps through the game as the prepare to move to the SEC next season.

This. W&M wins at home and derails the Towson Express.

[Sirloinburger]

Delaware (4-3, 2-2) @ Rhode Island (1-5, 0-3)
New Hampshire (4-2, 2-1) @ UMass (4-2, 0-0)
Old Dominion (5-2, 2-2) @ Villanova (1-6, 0-4)
Maine (5-1, 3-0) @ Richmond (3-3, 0-3)
Towson (5-1, 3-0) @ William & Mary (4-3, 2-2)

Bonus:

South Alabama @ Georgia State (1-5)

Any word on Demarco.....

[bluehenbillk]

UD 24 URI 21 Must-win for inconsistent Hens squad - Sasek provides a spark
UNH 38 UMass 36 - Shootout in Gillette, if UNH didn't lose last week I'd have taken Minutemen
ODU 38 Nova 17 - Monarchs injuries mounting but doesn't matter against hapless Wildcats
Maine 24 UR 19 - Wanted to pick upset, but don't believe in Spiders who'll be in game to end
W&M 21 TU 17 - Can't see Tigers winning 2 in a row in Virginia

[AshevilleApp]

So U-Mass isn't eligible for conference play since they are moving to the MAC?

[Pitz]

So U-Mass isn't eligible for conference play since they are moving to the MAC?

From my understanding, wins and losses against UMass will count toward the conference record of CAA teams playing them, but UMass themselves will officially have a 0-0 mark in conference. And they are of course ineligible for the postseason.

Someone correct me if I'm mistaken here.

[bluehenbillk]

Yep, basically UMass is a "transition" team right now - meaning they are over the 63 scholly allotment for FCS and will enter MAC play in the fall of 2012. They are not eligible for postseason, the CAA title, and they will finish officially with a 0-0 conference record this year, but the games count as conference games for their CAA opponents.

[LastMinuteman]

I don't know why the CAA had to do the 0-0 goofiness that confuses everyone. Just make us ineligible for the AQ, like Fordham in the PL or the Dakota States when they moved up from DII. This UMass team isn't much different from the last 3 UMass teams that all finished around .500, and probably isn't a threat to win the CAA title. Besides, anyone in the CAA with 7 DI wins goes to the playoffs. The AQ is meaningless unless you went 0-3 in non-conference games but 6-2 in the CAA was good enough to finish first.

[bluehenbillk]

I don't know why the CAA had to do the 0-0 goofiness that confuses everyone. Just make us ineligible for the AQ, like Fordham in the PL or the Dakota States when they moved up from DII. This UMass team isn't much different from the last 3 UMass teams that all finished around .500, and probably isn't a threat to win the CAA title. Besides, anyone in the CAA with 7 DI wins goes to the playoffs. The AQ is meaningless unless you went 0-3 in non-conference games but 6-2 in the CAA was good enough to finish first.

UMass isn't eligible for the postseason at all, AQ or at-large. Fordham can still play in the FCS playoffs, big difference.

[BDKJMU]

I don't know why the CAA had to do the 0-0 goofiness that confuses everyone. Just make us ineligible for the AQ, like Fordham in the PL or the Dakota States when they moved up from DII. This UMass team isn't much different from the last 3 UMass teams that all finished around .500, and probably isn't a threat to win the CAA title. Besides, anyone in the CAA with 7 DI wins goes to the playoffs. The AQ is meaningless unless you went 0-3 in non-conference games but 6-2 in the CAA was good enough to finish first.

I agree. Just say that UMass is ineligible for the playoff period (AQ or at At-Large), but since their league games are being counted for the opponents, count them for UMass as well.

[BDKJMU]

Yep, basically UMass is a "transition" team right now - meaning they are over the 63 scholly allotment for FCS and will enter MAC play in the fall of 2012. They are not eligible for postseason, the CAA title, and they will finish officially with a 0-0 conference record this year, but the games count as conference games for their CAA opponents.

Are they? The official announcement that UMass was moving up didn't come till Wed, April 20, about 2 1/2 months after signing date. Most teams are a few under 63 upon signing date, in anticipation of some schollies going to walkons and transfers. IF UMass is over 63, it can't be by much.

[BDKJMU]

UD (4-3/2-2) @ URI (1-5/0-3): by a TD or less.(12:30 PM) UD, now in the same boat as W&M, staves being eliminated from playoff contention. Well, URI came close to pulling off the upset on the road @ Maine last week, and UD looked like crap in their embarrassing upset loss at home to UMass. URI also played well the week before vs ODU at home, only losing by 8.

UMass (4-2/2-1*) vs UNH (4-2/2-1) at Gillette Stadium by a TD or less in the Colonial Clash, the CAA game of the Week (CSN NE, CSN MA, 3:30 PM). UMass coming off big upset win on the road @ UD. UNH coming off big upset loss on the road @ W&M. UNH hasn’t been able to stop anybody all year, and until last week UMass couldn’t stop anyone through the air. I would imagine UMass will be slightly favored, so call this a very sleight upset here.
(*yeah, I know, 0-0).

Maine (5-1/3-0) @ UR (3-3/0-3) by a TD or less (3:30 PM). Maine follows up “A” game performances in upsets at the time wins over UD at home and @ JMU followed up by an undoubtedly, and understandably, poor performance at home vs URI. On the one hand I think Maine plays much better vs UR. On the other hand this is a long road game for Maine with their 2nd plane trip to VA in 3 weeks, and UR has had a bye week to prepare and heal up. That will be enough to keep it close, but not enough for UR to pull the upset.

Towson (5-1/3-0) @ W&M (4-3/2-2) by a TD or less in the Letdown Game, as both teams are coming off of big wins (3:30 PM). W&M staves off playoff elimination for another week. 2nd week in a row on the road for Towson, and they might have a bit of a letdown after their big win on the road @ ODU. On the other hand W&M could have a bit of a letdown after their big win vs UNH. But it is their 2nd week in a row at home, so going with W&M pulling the mild upset here.

ODU (5-2/2-2) @ Villanova (1-6/0-4) by a TD or less in the upset of the week (heck, maybe upset of the season as far as the CAA) (3:30 PM). No, I am not smoking crack. I am going out on a limb here, but I don't think its that huge of a limb to think Nova has a chance. Think Villanova wins 1 CAA game this season, and this is their best shot of the last 4, as they don’t get to play URI.
-Villanova granted was horrible at the beginning of the season. But starting so many freshmen, and being so bad at the beginning of the season, they undoubtedly have the biggest improvement curve. They have probably improved from horrible to just bad, and probably on their way to below avg.
-Thanks to a missed JMU XP Villanova actually led JMU last week at the half 7-6 and then 10-6 before JMU pulled their collective heads out of their a**es and scored 28 straight in the last 1 ½ + qtrs to win 34-10.
-ODU has been avg on the road.
-ODU has a slew of injuries right now, and might be playing about as many freshmen than Nova is. Nova I believe started 6 Tr Fr and 2 rFr vs JMU, including the QB who was back from an injury suffered vs Towson in week 2.
-ODU might be looking past Nova to their huge game with JMU.
Course ODU might come out focused full of piss and vinegar due to their loss to TU and try to take it out on Nova winning by 2-3 TDs. We'll see.

Every game I'm picking this week to be decided by a TD or less. 1st time I've done that. Looks like going to be a very interesting week in the CAA.

[ODUalum11]

ODU definitely can't take anyone lightly, especially a team who is only ONE year removed from being defending national champions.

[Dukie95]

They say they did that to keep UMass at the bottom of the standings (I know technically, they would stay in the middle with a .500 record) on all their official publications, game programs, etc. Perhaps in an effort to not confuse people that aren't as current on this as we all are.

[MadMaxMonarch]

Delaware @ Rhode Island
New Hampshire @ UMass
ODU @ Villanova
Maine @ Richmond
Towson @ William and Mary

Bonus pick...

South Alabama @ Ga. St.

[BDKJMU]

UD (4-3/2-2) @ URI (1-5/0-3): by a TD or less.

URI 38, UD 34

UMass (4-2/2-1*) vs UNH (4-2/2-1) at Gillette Stadium by a TD or less

UNH 27, UMass 21

Maine (5-1/3-0) @ UR (3-3/0-3) by a TD or less

Maine 23, UR 22

Towson (5-1/3-0) @ W&M (4-3/2-2) by a TD or less

TU 38, W&M 27

ODU (5-2/2-2) @ Villanova (1-6/0-4) by a TD or less

ODU 37, Nova 14

I have sucked picked the last 2 weeks. At least I've had plenty of company.

Week 1 9-1 (missed UR over Duke)
Week 2 8-1 (missed Towson over Nova)
Week 3 7-1 (missed Monmouth over Nova)
Week 4: 6-1 (missed UNH over UR)
Week 5: 5-2 (missed ODU over UMass & Brown over URI)
Week 6: 4-2 (missed JMU/Maine and UR/TU)
Week 7: 2-3 (missed TU/ODU, W&M/UNH, UMass,/UD)
Week 8: 2-3
Total 43-14

[MadMaxMonarch]

Delaware @ Rhode Island
New Hampshire @ UMass
ODU @ Villanova
Maine @ Richmond
Towson @ William and Mary

Bonus pick...

South Alabama @ Ga. St.

I went 3-2 week 8. Plus I missed the extra credit. Congrats GASU.