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Who is your early top 5 and who is a sleeper to watch for?

5 Teams to watch, not in order, for me are:

W&M- if that new QB is any good
SIU- you know they will get a new RB
SFA- if they can replace those WRs they have a lot of talent back
SC State- they have a lot of talent back and only need to replace 1 key WR and the 2 RBs
JMU- they could be back as long as they can replace the TE and the WRs

Sleeper team for me is either Missouri State or Liberty.

I think Villanova, Montana, Richmond, App State, etc. will all be top 10 caliber teams but there are some major question marks that I think keep them out of the top 5 at this point next year.

What do you guys think?

Nova - without Szczur not top 10

Next year is going to be really different. Richmond has been seemingly dismantled, ASU finally has to go on without Armanti, Nova, Mont, and UNI all lose a lot of players, SIU brings a lot back but will lose Karim, WM loses a QB. Lots of shakeups next year.

Richmond wins 5 or 6 games next year...

NAU returns QB Herrick. Loses RB Henderson.

dbackjon wrote:NAU returns QB Herrick. Loses RB Henderson.

What is this NAU you speak of..?

Chizzang wrote:

dbackjon wrote:NAU returns QB Herrick. Loses RB Henderson.

What is this NAU you speak of..?

Second best team Montana played all year.

Chizzang wrote:

dbackjon wrote:NAU returns QB Herrick. Loses RB Henderson.

What is this NAU you speak of..?

http://northamericanuniversity.org/

We're returning Selle, Reynolds and Zambrano, but we're definitely going to miss Mariani.

UNI could be looking at another 7-4 season

clenz wrote:UNI could be looking at another 7-4 season

which has a better chance of landing them a playoff spot next year.
(unless they have a D2 on the schedule)

dbackjon wrote:Nova - without Szczur not top 10

Eh, they still have A-ball and Whitney... both run the ball... Szczur is a huge loss, but he only accounted for 25% of their offensive output, wasn't the leading rusher or receiver.

I think App state is in a tough situation... struggled without AE (accounted for 64% of their total offense)... could be very similar to JMU losing Landers (I believe he was around 75% of JMU 2008 offensive production).


UR loses Ward and Forte... as well as a change of coach.

JMU needs to replace a lot on both sides of the ball.... Moats, Brooks, Caussin, McGee, McCarter, etc.... come back with Thorpe, Sullivan, Acker and Noble on offense though...


Good teams find a way to reload.

JMU DJ wrote:

dbackjon wrote:Nova - without Szczur not top 10

Eh, they still have A-ball and Whitney... both run the ball... Szczur is a huge loss, but he only accounted for 25% of their offensive output, wasn't the leading rusher or receiver.

Is it definite that Szczur is leaving early for the MLB?

Montana reloads every year. No reason to think 2010 will be any different, I expect them to be a top 5 team.

The Hens better be at least a top 10 caliber team next year, or Keeler may be in trouble.

Mvemjsunpx wrote:

JMU DJ wrote:
Eh, they still have A-ball and Whitney... both run the ball... Szczur is a huge loss, but he only accounted for 25% of their offensive output, wasn't the leading rusher or receiver.

Is it definite that Szczur is leaving early for the MLB?

Poor choice of wording, it was more of a reply to Jon mentioning the loss. He will get drafted, there's no doubt, especially if he has another season like 2009... depending on where he goes he may be out of there.

I think Liberty will be top 15, but not enough respect to put us any higher.

Other than that, it will be really tough to figure out who will be in the top 5. People will freak about Armanti leaving App, so they won't be ranked as well as they usually are preseason.

I'm gonna guess that William and Mary, Nova, UNH and JMU will be the CAA teams given the most love. App and Elon will be given some love, with Furples getting some props, too. Don't know what SDSU's returning crew looks like but they'll get looks, along with SIU. Griz will be up there, McNeese and SFA will be up there, but maybe not as high...

My 2010 CAA Pre-Season Rankings:

1. UNH (Top 5)
2. W&M (Top 5)
3. Villanova (Top 10)
4. Maine (Top 15)
5. UMass (Top 15)
6. JMU (Top 25)
7. Delaware (Top 25)
8. Richmond
9. URI
10. Towson

My question with McNeese is that they have to replace their QB and they lose 14 from this year's team. I know their younger guys got pt so we'll have to sit on this and see. SFA loses their receiving corps and need younger guys to step up. If that happens they will be ok but they need to become more than one dimensional on O. If they find a good/better RB (or 2) they could repeat. They need to open up a running game badly.

Both these teams need to shore up their D or they will have the same fate in playoffs as this past year. That and the SLC usually has to go through Montana to get anywhere. We were fortunate in 2005 because we didn't face them.

I'm looking for improvement from JMU and Delaware, and major struggles for Richmond--think they're graduating 17 starters. Not one to put much store in preseason polls, though. Tribe was picked preseason to finish 2nd from bottom (ahead of Towson) in CAA South this year.

UNI will reload, too. They do every year. They weren't expected to do much in 2008, but.......

Villanova will be top 5 even without Szczur. The core of that offensive line returns, along with Whitney and RBs Ball and Babbaro. Replacing Kukucka and Matusz on the d-line is their biggest challenge on the defense. Those two were always out there, and leave holes similar to Moats and Daniels for JMU. Their LBs will be very good again.

Cap'n Cat wrote:UNI will reload, too. They do every year. They weren't expected to do much in 2008, but.......

We do have arguably the best OL coach in the country, and we will actually have a true QB next year.

clenz wrote:

Cap'n Cat wrote:UNI will reload, too. They do every year. They weren't expected to do much in 2008, but.......

We do have arguably the best OL coach in the country, and we will actually have a true QB next year.

I played two years with Rick Nelson. Good guy. He learned under The Master, Walt Klinker.

1. Sacred City
2. Montana
3. Liberty
4. App St.
5. SIU

Yes, I'm myopic. I see no reason to change now.

SuperHornet wrote:1. Sacred City
2. Montana
3. Liberty
4. App St.
5. SIU

Yes, I'm insane. I see no reason to change now.