CAA Top 25/playoff breakdown

[pantherrob82]

CAA:
William and Mary- (4-0, 1-0) To me, the Tribe are the team to beat in the CAA. It’s a close race with 4-5 teams right in there, but at this point, they stand out. Undefeated, FBS win, closest game was 12 points. The CAA is going to give us some huge match-ups this season. W&M heads to Villanova next week. That should help us narrow down the top teams.

Wins: @ Virginia 26-14 , Central Connecticut State 33-14 , Norfolk State 27-15 , Delaware 30-20

Villanova- (4-0, 1-0) In a move that won’t be too popular down in Virginia, Richmond does not crack my top 2 in the CAA. Like W&M, Nova is also undefeated, has a FBS win, and their closest FCS game was an 11 point win vs. Penn. Unless it’s a close or OT game, the loser of next weeks W&M-Nova game will drop a little in the polls and in my conference power ratings.

Wins: @ Temple 27-24 , Lehigh 38-17 , Pennsylvania 14-3 , Northeastern 56-7

Richmond- (4-0, 1-0) The Spiders have had a great season this far. They are also undefeated and have a FBS win. Some of the small factors that leave them a sliver out of the first two spots? (although really these teams are all 1A, 1B, etc) Richmond struggled to a one point win in Week 2 against Delaware. A game W&M dominated tonight. Richmond also looked very sloppy and undisciplined today against VMI, a game I was able to watch. A win is a win, but when teams are this closely matched in their resumes, someone has to come out on top. Big game for them next week against James Madison.

Wins: @ Duke 24-16 ,@ Delaware 16-15, Hofstra 47-0 , Virginia Military Institute 38-28

James Madison- (2-1, 0-0) James Madison and New Hampshire are in a virtual tie between the top 3, so I went with alphabetical order. James Madison went down to Liberty and got the 2 TD win. They also lost their FBS game in OT. Next week they have a chance to move up in the CAA by getting a win over Richmond.
Wins: Virginia Military Institute 44-16 , @ Liberty 24-10
Losses: @ Maryland 38-35 OT

New Hampshire- (3-0, 0-0) The Wildcats are off to an impressive start. Undefeated and a FBS win. The only thing that moves them down here is their strength of schedule. No big wins yet. In two weeks Villanova comes to town. That should tell us where they stand.

Wins: St. Francis (PA) 24-14 , @ Ball State 23-16 , Dartmouth 44-14

Massachusetts- (3-1, 1-0) The Minutemen are only a TD from being undefeated. A 21-17 loss to FBS Kansas State is the only blemish on their resume at this point in the season. Although their FCS competition hasn’t been the best, they have won, and won big. Possible elimination game against Delaware on 10/10.

Wins: Albany 44-7, Rhode Island 30-10 , Stony Brook 44-17
Losses: @ Kansas State 21-17

[JMU DJ]

Excellent analysis dude

I think you've summed up the parity within the league pretty well, next week is huge for your top four picks.

[pantherrob82]

Thanks. I'm trying to stay objective and take each resume as it comes. I don't move teams up and down each week.

[Uncle Buck]

JMU is at Hofstra this week, they have UR the week after.

[BlueHen86]

Good stuff pantherrob82.

I would rank Nova 1, Richmond 2 and then W&M 3. It will be interesting to see how their head ot head games turn out.

[pantherrob82]

JMU is at Hofstra this week, they have UR the week after.

Maybe Richmond has a bye week and that threw me off?

[JMU DJ]

JMU is at Hofstra this week, they have UR the week after.

Maybe Richmond has a bye week and that threw me off?

That would be correct... just like W&M and UD have before they play us too... man, I love our schedule.

[Uncle Buck]

Maybe Richmond has a bye week and that threw me off?

That would be correct... just like W&M and UD have before they play us too... man, I love our schedule.

That's tough when you have to go straight through, but damn, i didn't realize that UR, W&M and UD all have bye weeks before taking on the Dukes.

[Col Hogan]

Great analysis...UMass is starting to get my expectations up for this year...we have Delaware, and Richmond on the road and JMU at home in addition to the other CAA North teams including New Hampshire, Maine, Northeastern and Hofstra to get through....

We'll see.....