CAA Preview

[TribeNomad]

The CAA is going to be a blood bath this year, as usual lots of quality teams who beat each other up every week. Sadly, some will be left behind come playoff time who have the potential to make some noise in the playoffs......

I think UD will be improved, as will JMU.

A lot has been made about the player losses from last year, I think what the casual fan misses is that a lot of the players in the wings saw a lot of action last year (see W&M and UR on defense) and should be solid players this year.

I do not see UNH as often, but they typically field a solid team every year. VU brings a ton back from the great team, so it would be foolish to bet against them.

I doubt, especially given the reduced CAA field, that any team is going to run the table in conference. Gotts stay in it to make it to the playoffs........

[MaineBlackBear]

With what Maine did last yr, has coming back, and the way the schedule sets up, it would be nuts to predict them at 1-7 CAA. They'd have to lose half their starters for that to happen...

If mainejeff was here, he might says something like this: Cosgrove is still coach, so anything an happen

sadly that's still true...

[jstclmet]

If mainejeff was here, he might says something like this: Cosgrove is still coach, so anything an happen

sadly that's still true...

I think Cosgrove and the Maine Black Bears have all of the ingredients for a 2nd place CAA finish. In fact the Maine vs. Nova game is exactly where the UNH vs. Nova game was last year when UNH won. If Nova is undefeated or has 1 loss (Temple), I could see them stubbing their toe against Maine. Hopefully, history won't repeat itself in the form of the Black Bears.

Should Nova beat Maine and is undefeated in the CAA when they play, UD, I could see Nova resting their starters as the CAA crown should be locked up, and they should have one of the top 4 seeds. Essentially giving their starters a two week rest prior to beginning the playoffs. With injuries being in front of everyone's mind, it would be prudent for Nova to rest their starters if the game held no playoff implications.

Now UD on the other hand, I have at 7 - 4 overall, and 4 - 4 in the CAA. So, if they're 7 - 3 (6 D1 Wins) come time to play Nova, they're going to need that game in order to get into the playoffs. They would have a lot more to play for, and could end up giving Nova their first CAA loss.

My 4 from the CAA to make the playoffs are Nova, Maine, UNH, & W&M.

But, we have a lot of football until then.

[State Line Liquors]

Let's dive into the Maine schedule a bit further:

Sept. 2 ALBANY Orono, Maine W
Sept. 11 at Monmouth West Long Branch W
Sept. 18 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. L
Sept. 25 *WILLIAM AND MARY Orono, Maine L
Oct. 2 *NEW HAMPSHIRE Orono, Maine L
Oct. 9 *at Delaware Newark, Del. L
Oct. 16 *VILLANOVA Orono, Maine L
Oct. 23 *at Rhode Island Kingston, R.I. W
Oct. 30 OPEN
Nov. 6 *at Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. W
Nov. 13 *at Towson Towson, Md. W
Nov. 20 *JAMES MADISON Orono, Maine L

Supposing they go 2-0 through their first 2 games (they lost at Albany last year), to make the playoffs (7-4) they have 9 games remaining where they will have to go 5-4. I'll give them the 3 road games against URI, UMass (15-40 all time), and Towson. That means they'll have to scratch out 2 wins from @ Syracuse, W&M, UNH, @ UD, Nova, JMU. That's a formidable task, considering that they finished behind all five of those CAA opponents last year, and were predicted to finish behind all 5 of them (bold, italicized, underlined) at CAA media day.

More likely a 5-6 or 6-5 team than a 7-4 IMO. However, 6-5 could still potentially get them in the playoffs with the expanded format though.

[BDKJMU]

The CAA is going to be a blood bath this year, as usual lots of quality teams who beat each other up every week. Sadly, some will be left behind come playoff time who have the potential to make some noise in the playoffs......

I think UD will be improved, as will JMU.

A lot has been made about the player losses from last year, I think what the casual fan misses is that a lot of the players in the wings saw a lot of action last year (see W&M and UR on defense) and should be solid players this year.

I do not see UNH as often, but they typically field a solid team every year. VU brings a ton back from the great team, so it would be foolish to bet against them.

I doubt, especially given the reduced CAA field, that any team is going to run the table in conference. Gotts stay in it to make it to the playoffs........

The CAA is a bloodbath every year, esp among the southern teams. Nothing new...

[BDKJMU]

sadly that's still true...

I think Cosgrove and the Maine Black Bears have all of the ingredients for a 2nd place CAA finish. In fact the Maine vs. Nova game is exactly where the UNH vs. Nova game was last year when UNH won. If Nova is undefeated or has 1 loss (Temple), I could see them stubbing their toe against Maine. Hopefully, history won't repeat itself in the form of the Black Bears.

Should Nova beat Maine and is undefeated in the CAA when they play, UD, I could see Nova resting their starters as the CAA crown should be locked up, and they should have one of the top 4 seeds. Essentially giving their starters a two week rest prior to beginning the playoffs. With injuries being in front of everyone's mind, it would be prudent for Nova to rest their starters if the game held no playoff implications.

Now UD on the other hand, I have at 7 - 4 overall, and 4 - 4 in the CAA. So, if they're 7 - 3 (6 D1 Wins) come time to play Nova, they're going to need that game in order to get into the playoffs. They would have a lot more to play for, and could end up giving Nova their first CAA loss.

My 4 from the CAA to make the playoffs are Nova, Maine, UNH, & W&M.

But, we have a lot of football until then.

You're nuts if you think BOTH UD and JMU miss the playoffs again. I'm willing to bet anyone (name the price) that at least 1 of the 2, JMU or UD, is among the 4 CAA playoff teams. I'm thinking they'll both be in, but I wouldn't bet on both, but certainly would bet on one of them making it.

CAA will get 4 (no way 1/2 the league gets in, that would be equivalent to 6 of 12)

-Nova will get in

-Among UD, JMU, and W&M, 2 of the 3. UD most likely of the 3. W&M would probably be the least likely since they got f**ked with their schedule
-miss Towson
-3 road trip to New England (likely never happened before for a CAA South team)
-Finish season with probably toughest 5 game stretch in all of I-AA (UD, @ UNC, @ UNH, @JMU, UR)

-Among the 4 northern teams, between Maine and UNH, one will get in, one won't.

[BDKJMU]

Let's dive into the Maine schedule a bit further:

Sept. 2 ALBANY Orono, Maine W
Sept. 11 at Monmouth West Long Branch W
Sept. 18 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. L
Sept. 25 *WILLIAM AND MARY Orono, Maine L
Oct. 2 *NEW HAMPSHIRE Orono, Maine L
Oct. 9 *at Delaware Newark, Del. L
Oct. 16 *VILLANOVA Orono, Maine L
Oct. 23 *at Rhode Island Kingston, R.I. W
Oct. 30 OPEN
Nov. 6 *at Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. W
Nov. 13 *at Towson Towson, Md. W
Nov. 20 *JAMES MADISON Orono, Maine L

Supposing they go 2-0 through their first 2 games (they lost at Albany last year), to make the playoffs (7-4) they have 9 games remaining where they will have to go 5-4. I'll give them the 3 road games against URI, UMass (15-40 all time), and Towson. That means they'll have to scratch out 2 wins from @ Syracuse, W&M, UNH, @ UD, Nova, JMU. That's a formidable task, considering that they finished behind all five of those CAA opponents last year, and were predicted to finish behind all 5 of them (bold, italicized, underlined) at CAA media day.

More likely a 5-6 or 6-5 team than a 7-4 IMO. However, 6-5 could still potentially get them in the playoffs with the expanded format though.

Absolutely ZERO chance of a 6-5, 6 Div I 5th CAA team will get in, even if there was no 7 Div I win rule. 7 Div one wins from the CAA will likely get in. 8 div one wins to be an absolute lock.

[State Line Liquors]

Absolutely ZERO chance of a 6-5, 6 Div I 5th CAA team will get in, even if there was no 7 Div I win rule. 7 Div one wins from the CAA will likely get in. 8 div one wins to be an absolute lock.

Since there is no rule outlawing it, I refuse to completely deny the possibility. I'll agree that it's not probable.

I don't want to turn this into a thread about how many teams from the CAA get into the postseason, so let's not venture too far down this road.

[jstclmet]

You're nuts if you think BOTH UD and JMU miss the playoffs again. I'm willing to bet anyone (name the price) that at least 1 of the 2, JMU or UD, is among the 4 CAA playoff teams. I'm thinking they'll both be in, but I wouldn't bet on both, but certainly would bet on one of them making it.

CAA will get 4 (no way 1/2 the league gets in, that would be equivalent to 6 of 12)

-Nova will get in

-Among UD, JMU, and W&M, 2 of the 3. UD most likely of the 3. W&M would probably be the least likely since they got f**ked with their schedule
-miss Towson
-3 road trip to New England (likely never happened before for a CAA South team)
-Finish season with probably toughest 5 game stretch in all of I-AA (UD, @ UNC, @ UNH, @JMU, UR)

-Among the 4 northern teams, between Maine and UNH, one will get in, one won't.

UD achilles heel is it's defense. They're going to have to outpoint teams to win. Think 27-24 or 35-31 type of games. The 4 teams I have them losing to have strong defenses that will not allow UD to score a ton of points. Two of those games are on the road. 10/2 @ JMU, 10/9 vs Maine, 10/23 @ W&M, 11/20 vs Nova. Hence, 7-4, 4-4 in conference.
Oct is brutal for the Blue Hens, but if Nova doesn't need that last W in Nov, then UD may get lucky enough to be the 5th team.

JMU on the other hand will have no such luck. My magic 8 ball has the Dukes going 6-5 and 4-4 in conference. Early losses are to Va Tech and Nova, and unlike last year where you won your last 4, I see 3 straight losses to end the season. And if what UMass says is true about their team, it could be 4, but for now I'm giving you the UMass game.

[jstclmet]

Let's dive into the Maine schedule a bit further:

Sept. 2 ALBANY Orono, Maine W
Sept. 11 at Monmouth West Long Branch W
Sept. 18 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. L
Sept. 25 *WILLIAM AND MARY Orono, Maine L
Oct. 2 *NEW HAMPSHIRE Orono, Maine L
Oct. 9 *at Delaware Newark, Del. L
Oct. 16 *VILLANOVA Orono, Maine L
Oct. 23 *at Rhode Island Kingston, R.I. W
Oct. 30 OPEN
Nov. 6 *at Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. W
Nov. 13 *at Towson Towson, Md. W
Nov. 20 *JAMES MADISON Orono, Maine L

Supposing they go 2-0 through their first 2 games (they lost at Albany last year), to make the playoffs (7-4) they have 9 games remaining where they will have to go 5-4. I'll give them the 3 road games against URI, UMass (15-40 all time), and Towson. That means they'll have to scratch out 2 wins from @ Syracuse, W&M, UNH, @ UD, Nova, JMU. That's a formidable task, considering that they finished behind all five of those CAA opponents last year, and were predicted to finish behind all 5 of them (bold, italicized, underlined) at CAA media day.

More likely a 5-6 or 6-5 team than a 7-4 IMO. However, 6-5 could still potentially get them in the playoffs with the expanded format though.

Your predictions may very well be right, but IMHO, Maine only loses to CUSE, Nova, & UMass

[BDKJMU]

You're nuts if you think BOTH UD and JMU miss the playoffs again. I'm willing to bet anyone (name the price) that at least 1 of the 2, JMU or UD, is among the 4 CAA playoff teams. I'm thinking they'll both be in, but I wouldn't bet on both, but certainly would bet on one of them making it.

CAA will get 4 (no way 1/2 the league gets in, that would be equivalent to 6 of 12)

-Nova will get in

-Among UD, JMU, and W&M, 2 of the 3. UD most likely of the 3. W&M would probably be the least likely since they got f**ked with their schedule
-miss Towson
-3 road trip to New England (likely never happened before for a CAA South team)
-Finish season with probably toughest 5 game stretch in all of I-AA (UD, @ UNC, @ UNH, @JMU, UR)

-Among the 4 northern teams, between Maine and UNH, one will get in, one won't.

UD achilles heel is it's defense. They're going to have to outpoint teams to win. Think 27-24 or 35-31 type of games. The 4 teams I have them losing to have strong defenses that will not allow UD to score a ton of points. Two of those games are on the road. 10/2 @ JMU, 10/9 vs Maine, 10/23 @ W&M, 11/20 vs Nova. Hence, 7-4, 4-4 in conference.
Oct is brutal for the Blue Hens, but if Nova doesn't need that last W in Nov, then UD may get lucky enough to be the 5th team.

JMU on the other hand will have no such luck. My magic 8 ball has the Dukes going 6-5 and 4-4 in conference. Early losses are to Va Tech and Nova, and unlike last year where you won your last 4, I see 3 straight losses to end the season. And if what UMass says is true about their team, it could be 4, but for now I'm giving you the UMass game.

Despite missing URI the rest of JMU's schedule sets up favorably: Outside of @ NOVA have 3 of the next 4 toughest (UD, UNH, W&M) at home, including catching W&M on the tail end of a brutal stretch. @ Maine in Nov will suck.

-W&M @ JMU will be W&M's 3rd straight road game (after UD, @ UNC, @ UNH). At W&M or not after that brutal stretch I'd say maybe W&M wins. But under those circunstances I don't see JMU losing a 2nd straight to W&M after winning previous 5 straight.

-JMU has won the last 3 @ UR. UR with new coach & rebuilding year. I'm confident for the Dukes in that one.

Your other 9 games with JMU I agree with. 6-5 only if Dudzik goes down and there are a lot of other injuries. And even if Dudzik goes down, Thorpe won't be a liability. Sure he sucked the 1st 3 games he started last season, but look who that was against: #1 UR, NC Nova, and semifinalist W&M. Next 4 games with some experience under his belt against lesser opponents he was much better. JMU won't have a QB problem this year unless they BOTH go down. But that wouldn't be any different than anyone else in the CAA. Heck, half your CAA teams are screwed if they lose just their starting QB.

[MaineBlackBear]

Let's dive into the Maine schedule a bit further:

Sept. 2 ALBANY Orono, Maine W
Sept. 11 at Monmouth West Long Branch W
Sept. 18 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. L
Sept. 25 *WILLIAM AND MARY Orono, Maine L
Oct. 2 *NEW HAMPSHIRE Orono, Maine L
Oct. 9 *at Delaware Newark, Del. L
Oct. 16 *VILLANOVA Orono, Maine L
Oct. 23 *at Rhode Island Kingston, R.I. W
Oct. 30 OPEN
Nov. 6 *at Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. W
Nov. 13 *at Towson Towson, Md. W
Nov. 20 *JAMES MADISON Orono, Maine L

Supposing they go 2-0 through their first 2 games (they lost at Albany last year), to make the playoffs (7-4) they have 9 games remaining where they will have to go 5-4. I'll give them the 3 road games against URI, UMass (15-40 all time), and Towson. That means they'll have to scratch out 2 wins from @ Syracuse, W&M, UNH, @ UD, Nova, JMU. That's a formidable task, considering that they finished behind all five of those CAA opponents last year, and were predicted to finish behind all 5 of them (bold, italicized, underlined) at CAA media day.

More likely a 5-6 or 6-5 team than a 7-4 IMO. However, 6-5 could still potentially get them in the playoffs with the expanded format though.

With what we have back we can beat any of those teams, also JMU in Orono on November 20th, aka really cold..... I'm taking Maine there

[State Line Liquors]

Let's dive into the Maine schedule a bit further:

Sept. 2 ALBANY Orono, Maine W
Sept. 11 at Monmouth West Long Branch W
Sept. 18 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. L
Sept. 25 *WILLIAM AND MARY Orono, Maine L
Oct. 2 *NEW HAMPSHIRE Orono, Maine L
Oct. 9 *at Delaware Newark, Del. L
Oct. 16 *VILLANOVA Orono, Maine L
Oct. 23 *at Rhode Island Kingston, R.I. W
Oct. 30 OPEN
Nov. 6 *at Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. W
Nov. 13 *at Towson Towson, Md. W
Nov. 20 *JAMES MADISON Orono, Maine L

Supposing they go 2-0 through their first 2 games (they lost at Albany last year), to make the playoffs (7-4) they have 9 games remaining where they will have to go 5-4. I'll give them the 3 road games against URI, UMass (15-40 all time), and Towson. That means they'll have to scratch out 2 wins from @ Syracuse, W&M, UNH, @ UD, Nova, JMU. That's a formidable task, considering that they finished behind all five of those CAA opponents last year, and were predicted to finish behind all 5 of them (bold, italicized, underlined) at CAA media day.

More likely a 5-6 or 6-5 team than a 7-4 IMO. However, 6-5 could still potentially get them in the playoffs with the expanded format though.

With what we have back we can beat any of those teams, also JMU in Orono on November 20th, aka really cold..... I'm taking Maine there

Where do you think Maine has improved most during the off season?

[GannonFan]

You're nuts if you think BOTH UD and JMU miss the playoffs again. I'm willing to bet anyone (name the price) that at least 1 of the 2, JMU or UD, is among the 4 CAA playoff teams. I'm thinking they'll both be in, but I wouldn't bet on both, but certainly would bet on one of them making it.

CAA will get 4 (no way 1/2 the league gets in, that would be equivalent to 6 of 12)

-Nova will get in

-Among UD, JMU, and W&M, 2 of the 3. UD most likely of the 3. W&M would probably be the least likely since they got f**ked with their schedule
-miss Towson
-3 road trip to New England (likely never happened before for a CAA South team)
-Finish season with probably toughest 5 game stretch in all of I-AA (UD, @ UNC, @ UNH, @JMU, UR)

-Among the 4 northern teams, between Maine and UNH, one will get in, one won't.

UD achilles heel is it's defense. They're going to have to outpoint teams to win. Think 27-24 or 35-31 type of games. The 4 teams I have them losing to have strong defenses that will not allow UD to score a ton of points. Two of those games are on the road. 10/2 @ JMU, 10/9 vs Maine, 10/23 @ W&M, 11/20 vs Nova. Hence, 7-4, 4-4 in conference.
Oct is brutal for the Blue Hens, but if Nova doesn't need that last W in Nov, then UD may get lucky enough to be the 5th team.

So I don't get it. UD puts up 27 points and 500+ yards of offense against Maine last year, in Maine, but now somehow, with UD bringing back more on offense than Maine's bringing on defense, and now with the game being in Newark rather than Orono, UD's going to have less offensive success? Tell me how that makes any sense (and this is from a guy who does think Maine will be pretty good, but I don't see them potentially winning the CAA).

[LeadBolt]

Given the schedule for W&M, I would consider 7-4/5-3 to be a very successful year for us.

I would think splitting the games with Maine, Villanova, Delaware, New Hampshire, JMU and Richmond is likely, but don't see a clear favorite in any of these games, so I feel any and all could go either way.

Hopefully the QB situation will be settled early enough not to raise its ugly head at UMass. Their defense, who took a hit due to graduation hopefully won't have jelled yet, although defense usually comes together faster than offense.

ODU will come into the game with a huge chip on their shoulders and nothing to lose. Hopefully we won't be looking past them.

Beating UNC late in the year is not as likely as beating UVA early last year was, unless the NCAA declares a bunch of their better players ineligible in the agent investigation.

VMI has a new offense that we don't see much of, but I still think our defense will prevail. I don't see losing to them or Rhode Island at home.

William & Mary
Aug 28 Bye
Sep 04 at Massachusetts
Sep 11 Virginia Military Institute
Sep 18 at Old Dominion
Sep 25 at Maine
Oct 02 Villanova
Oct 09 Rhode Island
Oct 16 Bye
Oct 23 Delaware
Oct 30 at North Carolina
Nov 06 at New Hampshire
Nov 13 at James Madison
Nov 20 Richmond

[State Line Liquors]

William & Mary
Aug 28 Bye
Sep 04 at Massachusetts W
Sep 11 Virginia Military Institute W
Sep 18 at Old Dominion W
Sep 25 at Maine W
Oct 02 Villanova L
Oct 09 Rhode Island W
Oct 16 Bye
Oct 23 Delaware W
Oct 30 at North Carolina L
Nov 06 at New Hampshire L
Nov 13 at James Madison L
Nov 20 Richmond W

I think 7-4 sounds like a good prediction. Those are 3 tough road games sandwiched in between an improved UD and the oldest rivalry in the South. Schedule is front loaded with several very winnable games. It could probably go either way with Maine, UD, UNH and JMU....but 2-2 through that 4 is a reasonable expectation.

[89Hen]

Lots of people hyping Maine. 6-5 seems to the number for them this year IMO, but then again, I see a lot of 7-4 teams.

[BDKJMU]

Lots of people hyping Maine. 6-5 seems to the number for them this year IMO, but then again, I see a lot of 7-4 teams.

The 1st time I ran through everyone's schedule, I came up Nova as a playoff lock and 5 teams 7-3 vs I-AA/5-3 CAA, which would all be the same- playoff bubble:
-JMU
-UD
-W&M
-Maine
-UNH

Of course it's not to going to happen that way, as 1-2 of those teams will likely break 6-2 CAA, and 1-2 will likely break 4-4. Plus you do have some tough OOC I-AA games: SDSU @ UD, UNH hosting CCSU and Lehigh (teams that are picked to win the NEC and Patriot respectively) where an upset could possibly occur. Plus you can't predict injuries, which play a major roll every year.

The only things that are highly likely are:
-Nova finishes 1st or tied for 1st in the CAA and makes the playoffs.
-The CAA gets 4 teams in, 3 of them from the above 5 (I didn't forget UR. 7 returning starters, new inexperienced coach, new system, new hot shot QB, OOC @ UVGay and home vs likely playoff Elon don't see them above 6-5/4-4)
-URI finishes last or tied for last, winnning only 1-2 games.
-Towson and UMass finish below 500 overall and in the CAA.

Everything else (the above 5 teams) is impossible to predict.

[GannonFan]

Lots of people hyping Maine. 6-5 seems to the number for them this year IMO, but then again, I see a lot of 7-4 teams.

The 1st time I ran through everyone's schedule, I came up Nova as a playoff lock and 5 teams 7-3 vs I-AA/5-3 CAA, which would all be the same- playoff bubble:
-JMU
-UD
-W&M
-Maine
-UNH

Of course it's not to going to happen that way, as 1-2 of those teams will likely break 6-2 CAA, and 1-2 will likely break 4-4. Plus you do have some tough OOC I-AA games: SDSU @ UD, UNH hosting CCSU and Lehigh (teams that are picked to win the NEC and Patriot respectively) where an upset could possibly occur. Plus you can't predict injuries, which play a major roll every year.

The only things that are highly likely are:
-Nova finishes 1st or tied for 1st in the CAA and makes the playoffs.
-The CAA gets 4 teams in, 3 of them from the above 5 (I didn't forget UR. 7 returning starters, new inexperienced coach, new system, new hot shot QB, OOC @ UVGay and home vs Elon don't see them above 6-5/4-4)
-URI finishes last or tied for last, winnning only 1-2 games.
-Towson and UMass finish below 500 overall and in the CAA.

Everything else (the above 5 teams) is impossible to predict.

I agree with this. #2 through #6 in the CAA is very hard to discern this year. May not even be that clear after the season is over as the deciding games may all be pretty close. People will have different records, obviously, but I don't think a whole lot will really separate these teams. Pretty even.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Let's dive into the Maine schedule a bit further:

Sept. 2 ALBANY Orono, Maine W
Sept. 11 at Monmouth West Long Branch W
Sept. 18 at Syracuse Syracuse, N.Y. L
Sept. 25 *WILLIAM AND MARY Orono, Maine L
Oct. 2 *NEW HAMPSHIRE Orono, Maine L
Oct. 9 *at Delaware Newark, Del. L
Oct. 16 *VILLANOVA Orono, Maine L
Oct. 23 *at Rhode Island Kingston, R.I. W
Oct. 30 OPEN
Nov. 6 *at Massachusetts Amherst, Mass. W
Nov. 13 *at Towson Towson, Md. W
Nov. 20 *JAMES MADISON Orono, Maine L

Supposing they go 2-0 through their first 2 games (they lost at Albany last year), to make the playoffs (7-4) they have 9 games remaining where they will have to go 5-4. I'll give them the 3 road games against URI, UMass (15-40 all time), and Towson. That means they'll have to scratch out 2 wins from @ Syracuse, W&M, UNH, @ UD, Nova, JMU. That's a formidable task, considering that they finished behind all five of those CAA opponents last year, and were predicted to finish behind all 5 of them (bold, italicized, underlined) at CAA media day.

More likely a 5-6 or 6-5 team than a 7-4 IMO. However, 6-5 could still potentially get them in the playoffs with the expanded format though.

With what we have back we can beat any of those teams, also JMU in Orono on November 20th, aka really cold..... I'm taking Maine there

I hope you have the same weather in Orono Nov 20th you had the last time UNH was up there

[MaineBlackBear]

I hope you have the same weather in Orono Nov 20th you had the last time UNH was up there

me too

[Longhorn]

FCSU, you mind showing us your game by game picks? I'm honestly not seeing your JMU analysis. I don't think they will win the conference or even their division, but I also don't see them tanking like you say. I think they'll be the third, probably fourth, CAA team in the tourney. They ended the season pretty strong with 4 wins (all 4 of those teams on the schedule again this year, BTW). Yeah, they probably lose to UD this year, but I don't see them losing to Towson/Maine/UMass. Add in Morehead State as a win, Liberty as a game they SHOULD win (although they could very well lose that game), and then I honestly don't see any FCS team that is guaranteed a victory over JMU so I'm chalking up a .500 split for their other CAA games. To boot, they also don't have a QB controversy going into the season like they did last season (last I heard, anyways).

Anyways, I think if you lay out your game by game picks we can all get a better grasp on your prediction.

Hey bandl, I didn't keep my game by game picks. I chose not to post them because it would start a million arguments over individual games. On the MVFC preview I used JMU last year as an example of how close you can be on the field, but still have a "bad" record. I got a lot of guff for continuing to vote for JMU towards the end of the season, but to me, they were a Top 25 team who lost a couple close ones.

I wouldn't bet against JMU in any of their games this year. This is just they way my predictions fell. The CAA was tough with UD, UNH, Nova, JMU, W&M, and Richmond. Anytime they played each other it was a hard pick.

Total and complete cop out. In other words, you made up your picks, pulling them out of thin air, and thus can't defend them (don't even want to try) so you hide behind the "it would start a million arguments" ruse. Sad.

[EPJr]

CAA FOOTBALL BOASTS NATION’S LARGEST FCS CONFERENCE TELEVISION PACKAGE FOR 2010 SEASON


BALTIMORE, Md. (July 28, 2010) -- CAA Football, which is the home of the last two NCAA Division I National Champions, will once again feature the nation’s largest Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) television package in the upcoming 2010 season.

CAA Football Commissioner Tom Yeager announced a 29-game television schedule as part of the league’s Media Day Celebration, Wednesday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. The schedule is highlighted by a conference package of 19 games airing on Comcast Sports Group regional networks.

“We are thrilled to have the largest FCS television package in the country for the fourth-straight year,” Yeager said. “Thanks to our partnerships with Comcast Sports Group, ESPN and a number of other carriers we are able to create a television package which showcases the best FCS conference in the country.”

The 19-game conference-only package covered by Comcast Sports Group features the most competitive games airing on regional networks spanning the East Coast. Comcast Sports Group networks, including Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and Comcast SportsNet New England, will cover eight games throughout the 12-week season, with additional distribution on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia and CSS, schedule permitting. The Comcast Network will air the remaining 11 conference games as well as Villanova’s contest with Penn throughout its footprint.

“Our long-standing media partnership with Comcast Sports Group has afforded us great exposure over our first three seasons of football,” Yeager said. “Comcast Sports Group networks reach more than 17 million homes in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, which means our league’s most passionate fans can count on watching CAA Football broadcasts every Saturday throughout the season.”

“CAA Football institutions have passionate fan bases in the markets we serve,” Mike Sheehey, Comcast Sports Group senior vice president of sports content said. “By partnering with CAA Football for another season, we’re able to deliver exciting content our viewers want and to help the conference continue to grow through the exposure we’re able to provide.”

The remaining nine games on the 2010 CAA Football Television package will feature six combined non-conference broadcasts on ESPN3.com and the Big Ten Network. Two of Maine’s home conference games will be televised on Maine’s institutional television package on WABI-TV in the Orono, Maine area, while Rhode Island’s season-opening game at Buffalo will air live on Time Warner Cable SportsNet in New York.

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[FCS Update]

See how things are going...

X Delaware 10-1 7-1 – Still looking good here. Only loss by one point.

X William and Mary 9-2 7-1 – This one is still feeling good as well.

X New Hampshire 9-2 7-1 – UNH needs to win out for me to even be close

Y Villanova 9-2 6-2 – Not too far off. Wildcats blew a few games at the end. All 3 losses by 7 or less.

UMass 5-6 4-4 – UMass will finish better than I expected. If they lose out I'll be close. I think they beat URI.

Richmond 5-6 4-4 – Richmond is going to be close.

James Madison 5-6 3-5 – The Dukes are going to be right around here.

Towson 2-9 1-7 – Towson needs another win. Not sure if they'll get it.

Maine 3-8 1-7 – Feeling pretty good.

Rhode Island 1-10 0-8 – Better than expected.

[UD1Hens]

UD achilles heel is it's defense. They're going to have to outpoint teams to win.

I don't know if UD has the #1 or #2 ranked defense in the country as of now...