SEVEN CAA FOOTBALL TEAMS RANKED; CAA FOOTBALL HOLDS NO. 1 AND NO. 2
RICHMOND, Va. (September 16, 2009) -- CAA Football continues to garner national FCS attention from not only its four wins over BCS/FBS foes, but also its record in non-conference FCS action. The league is a combined 12-4 in non-conference games and has an unblemished mark of 7-0 against non-conference FCS competition.
The league is a combined 4-4 against BCS/FBS foes after New Hampshire became the latest CAA Football squad to knock off an FBS opponent. The Wildcats logged a 23-16 win over Ball State Saturday, helping CAA Football to a 2-0 record against the Mid-American Conference in 2009.
A look at the entire landscape of FCS vs. BCS/FBS games in 2009 shows a record of 48-4 in favor of the BCS/FBS, but CAA Football is responsible for all four of those victories -- New Hampshire (Ball State), Richmond (Duke), Villanova (Temple) and William and Mary (Virginia). The four wins in 2009 is the most single-season victories over BCS/FBS foes in league history, and pushes CAA Football’s all-time mark to 27-108 (.200) in those games dating back to 1978. Four CAA Football squads still have BCS/FBS opponents remaining on their schedules -- Rhode Island at Connecticut (Sept. 26), Hofstra at Western Michigan (Sept. 26), Maine at Syracuse (Sept. 26) and Delaware at Navy (Nov. 14).
Both the Sports Network Top-25 and FCS Coaches’ Top-25 include seven of CAA Football’s 12 member programs. League schools in this week’s polls include James Madison (No. 7 in Sports Network, No. 6 in FCS Coaches’ Poll), Maine (No. 20 in Sports Network, No. 19 in FCS Coaches’ Poll) Massachusetts (No. 17 in both), New Hampshire (No. 6 in Sports Network, No. 7 in FCS Coaches’ Poll), Richmond (No. 1 in both), Villanova (No. 2 in both) and William and Mary (No. 5 in both). Delaware and Hofstra earned votes in both polls, while Rhode Island picked up votes in the Sports Network Poll.
CAA Football shows seven ranked teams in the Sports Network Top-25 for the second-straight week in 2009. Richmond’s No. 1 ranking helps place the league atop the poll for the second-straight week in 2009. CAA Football held the No. 1 ranking for 11-straight weeks in 2008.
The Spiders and Villanova, which are 1-2 in the poll this week, mark the second time in as many years CAA Football has held the Top-2 spots in the poll -- Richmond and James Madison were 1-2 in the poll last season on Sept. 22. Prior to 2008, only the Big Sky had placed two teams in the Top-2 spots of the Sports Network poll in 1991 (Nevada and Idaho, respectively).
CAA Football’s strength in this week’s poll is shown by making up five of the Top-10 spots. Even more impressive is that four of the six CAA Football South Division squads are part of the national Top-10.
CAA Football has now had at least six teams ranked in 17 of the last 18 editions of the Sports Network poll. The league has also had at least three teams ranked every week since the poll’s inception, and two teams among the poll’s Top-10 in 58-straight weeks and 84 of the last 88 editions.
For the second-straight week seven CAA Football squads are in the FCS Coaches’ Top-25. Richmond’s No. 1 ranking gives the league now two-straight weeks atop the rankings, after it owned No. 1 for 11-straight weeks in 2008. Villanova’s No. 2 ranking gives CAA Football ownership of the No. 1 and No. 2 spots at least one week in each of the last two seasons. James Madison and Richmond garnered the Top-2 spots last season on Sept. 22, marking the first time since 1998 one conference held No. 1 and No. 2 in the same Coaches’ Poll (The Southern Conference’s Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, respectively).
The league holds five of the Top-10 spots in this weeks poll, while four of the league’s six CAA Football South Division teams appear in the Top-6.
Since the FCS Coaches’ Poll debuted in 2007 CAA Football has had at least four squads ranked in every edition (31 weeks).
Fans and members of the media can now follow CAA Football on Twitter: twitter.com/The_CAAFootball. Logon now and “follow” the league to get the latest news and notes from one of the top College Football Conferences in the country. Fans and members of the media can also now see CAA Football’s new media efforts on YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/CAAFootball. Logon now and subscribe to see the latest video productions from CAA Football. Checkout The CAA Football Pressbox located as a button on CAASports.com as well as in the menus down the left-hand side of the football page, The CAA Football Pressbox is the official source for all CAA Football information.
Below is a comparison showing both National Polls released Sept. 14.
| Sports
Network Top 25 |
Ranking |
FCS Coaches' Top 25 |
| Richmond (122) |
No. 1 |
Richmond (26) |
| Villanova (13) |
No. 2 |
Villanova |
| Northern Iowa (6) |
No. 3 |
Montana |
| Montana |
No. 4 |
Northern Iowa |
| William and Mary (2) |
No. 5 |
William and Mary |
| New Hampshire (1) |
No. 6 |
James Madison |
| James Madison |
No. 7 |
New Hampshire |
| McNeese State (1) |
No. 8 |
Southern Illinois |
| Southern Illinois |
No. 9 |
Appalachian State |
| Appalachian State |
No. 10 |
McNeese State (1) |
| Elon |
No. 11 |
Elon |
| Cal Poly |
No. 12 |
Weber State |
| Weber State |
No. 13 |
Central Arkansas |
| Wofford |
No. 14 |
Cal Poly |
| South Carolina State (1) |
No. 15 |
Wofford |
| Central Arkansas |
No. 16 |
South Carolina State |
| Massachusetts |
No. 17 |
Massachusetts |
| South Dakota State |
No. 18 |
Texas State |
| Texas State |
No. 19 |
Maine |
| Maine |
No. 20 |
Eastern Washington |
| Eastern Washington |
No. 21 |
South Dakota State |
| Eastern Kentucky |
No. 22 |
Jacksonville State |
| Holy Cross |
No. 23 |
Eastern Kentucky |
| Jacksonville State |
No. 24 |
Liberty |
| Harvard |
No. 25 |
Harvard |