I’m sure I have 5-7 teams on there right now that will not be there at the end of the season, 5-7 more that are way too high, and 5-7 that are probably way to low.  I’ve always been on the side of saying the CAA is slightly overrated, although I have not beat that drum as hard as others in the FCS world.  However, it’s tough to do a legit top 25 poll and not include at least 5-6 CAA teams.  Part of that is legitimate top 25 teams, but most of it is because of the top of the conference.  The top 2 or 3 teams are usually top 10 teams, the bottom teams *coughTowsonAndycough* are bottom of the FCS.  That leaves the middle of the pack teams to beat up on each other and look tougher because of the occasional upset of a top team.  I noticed I had more Big Sky and SoCon teams than I thought I would.  As well as more MEAC, Southland and OVC teams in contention….possibly too many.

The Big Sky, SoCon and CAA take home 8 of the top 10 spots in my poll.  That seems excessive, especially to those who support teams from other conferences or who don’t really follow the FCS.  However, it doesn’t take much more than 10 minutes of research to see that there are only a handful of teams from outside of those conferences who have accomplished anything (to be honest there is only a handful of teams from those three conferences who have accomplished anything.)

Full conference break down:

Next 5 considered: Western Illinois (MVFC) , Southern Utah (Great West), Murray State(Ohio Valley), Bethune-Cookman (MEAC), Sacramento State(Big Sky)

As you know, if you have spent more than 2 minutes reading my posts, my knowledge of the FCS starts with UNI and the Missouri Valley Football Conference.  Due to that my FCS blogs on the MVFC will likely be “stronger” than my blog posts on other conferences.  I am a fan of everything FCS – yes even you PFL – so I will do my best to create a blog that gives all the major stories of the day, week, month, whatever from around the FCS proper commentary.  My first actual blog that covers anything will be my yearly MVFC predictions (game by game predictions, O and D POY, COY, playoff predictions, etc…).  I’ll also do my best to put together my preseason predictions for every conference in the FCS.  With those I’m sure I’ll catch a heck of a lot of flak for some of those, so be it.  Once the polls start rolling out I’ll start doing a “Poll Attack”, similar to what Gary Parrish does.  I think Shark Head is a giant D-Bag but I like his idea of the poll attack, and given some of the polls put out by voters from the various polls it seems like a good idea.

On top of the preseason predictions that I’ll be putting out I’m looking to do some other FCS related posts.  I’ll put out my own list (and an fcsfans.com favorite) for top and worst stadiums, best and worst uniforms, and just general commentary on things I find that pertain to the FCS in general.  I’m also open to suggestions to news stories to comment on.

Outside of the football side I’ll be doing college basketball (with an emphasis on mid-majors and FCS schools), and with the NCAA tournament coming up I’ll be doing predictions for those games, as well as my prediction for a couple other games in the NCAA’s.  I’ll also be doing some blogs and commentary on the MLB, NBA, and NFL.  I don’t really follow any other sports (well I do follow Aussie Rules Football but I’m sure I’m the only one here that does so I’ll avoid that).

I’ll do my best to be as objective as I can with this blog, but I’m not going to take a middle of the road approach.  That just isn’t who I am, and it would be a disservice to you as the reader if I tried to act that way.  If you have a problem with my opinions, want to call me out, call me names, or whatever you feel like doing so be it.  After-all:.

If there is anything you want me to look at and blog about send me a PM on fcsfans.com and let me know.  I’ll look it over and see if I feel it is worth my time to do so.

X Delaware 10-1  7-1 – I’m not even going to try to work out tiebreakers. Delaware comes back strong.

X William and Mary 9-2 7-1 – The Tribe have another great season.

X New Hampshire 9-2  7-1 – UNH continues to stretch its playoff appearances.

Y Villanova 9-2  6-2 – Defending champion returns to defend the throne.

UMass 5-6  4-4 – Things just aren’t right in Amherst.

Richmond 5-6 4-4 – CAA is tough and the Spiders just have to get things back on course.

James Madison 5-6  3-5 – The Dukes just can’t turn the corner.

Towson 2-9 1-7 – Same old for the Tigers.

Maine 3-8  1-7 – Another rough year for Maine.  Tough schedule and the CAA is strong.

Rhode Island 1-10 0-8 – Maybe the PL or NEC would be a better fit?

The CAA has come out strong. So strong that the top teams in the conference have a combined four FBS wins. Those teams have also combined for a 15-0 record and are receiving at least one vote in one of the three major polls.

This week is the first chance we have to start sorting things out at the top.

Saturday at 3:30pm EST, William and Marywill take the field at Villanova Stadium against the Wildcats.

William and Mary comes into the game with quite the resume.  The Tribe opened the season with a big 26-14 win over in-state FBS rival, Virginia. They have followed that up with three straight FCS wins, including a win over Delaware. Although Delaware isn’t “back”, they appear to be much improved from last year’s miserable 4-8 campaign.

Villanova has continued last year’s success that took them to the quarterfinals in the FCS playoffs. They have rattled off four straight wins, including a last second win over crosstown FBS rival Temple in a game that was played at the Philadelphia Eagles’ Lincoln Financial Field.

Both teams come into the game 1-0 in the CAA. The only team with a better record in the CAA is Richmond at 2-0. Richmond has a bye this week.

The big debate in the Northeast is: Should the winner of the Villanova-William and Mary clash overtake Richmond as the number one team in FCS football?

In this writers opinion, yes. Those of you who have read my previous article about the polls have seen my thought process on the polls. I don’t care who last year’s champion was. I am voting for the best teams in 2009. I think that an argument can be made for five or six teams to be number one, but the winner of this game will have the most quality wins of any of the teams involved. No one else would have a FBS win and  FCS Top 5 win.

Villanova follows up this game by heading to New Hampshire and James Madison. William and Mary  plays Northeastern, has a bye week, and then has James Madison at home.

In the end, everything will be sorted out. Most of the top CAA teams face each other this year with a few exceptions. William and Mary  and Villanova avoid Massachusetts, while New Hampshire dodges Richmond and James Madison.