CONFERENCE OUTLOOK: CAA CONFERENCE

[SUUTbird]

Alright this is my prediction for the 2009 CAA Conference standings. Note i do believe that the southern conference will be alot tougher then the North.

NORTH

1st-Maine (With 15 starters returning on a gritty Black Bear team i see the Bears competeing with New Hampshire for the top Spot in the North)

1st-New Hampshire (With a several starters returning along with a veteran defense the game versus Maine will be the game of the year in the North)

3rd-Umass (The loss of starting QB Liam Coen will force the minutemen to rely heavily on the running game this year)

4th- Rhode Island (The following twoi could see end either way, i put the rams here just because i think the transfer qb from rutgers will have a big impact)

5th-Hofstra (Lots of young players will allow the pride to get better, but nothing else)

6th-Northeastern (The loss of a ton of seniors will see the huskies once again as the cellar dwellers of the CAA)

SOUTH

1st-James Madison (Last year showed that the Dukes QB problems were erased when their backup against montana did better then landers, along with a ton of talent will see JMU atop the south again)

2nd-Delaware (After a rough last year i see the Blue Hens rebounding strongly and surprising alot of people in 09)

**ANYTHING BELOW THIS POINT COULD END UP IN A DIFFERENT WAY, LOTS OF TEAMS THAT COULD WIN/LOSE**

3rd-Richmond (Second year head coach will keep the Spiders succses going but not as much as their national championship year in 08)

4th-Villnova (The cats will finish in the middle of the pack this year)

5th-W&M (The tribe will be breaking in a new QB and i see that as the one factor keeping them from being better)

6th-Towson (The tigers are rebuliding but they will need another year to get any good after losing their record setting QB)

[dbackjon]

CAA North:

UNH
UMass
Maine

URI
Hofstra
Northeastern


CAA South:
JMU
Richmond
Villanova
Delaware
Bill & Mary
Towson

[JMU DJ]

[Col Hogan]

Way....WAY too early for predictions...

[danefan]

any way you slice it, it sucks to be Towson.


But I think a lot of people are underestimating UNH in all of this preseason speculation. I think UNH will be much better than Maine or UMass this year.

[wideright82]

Alright this is my prediction for the 2009 CAA Conference standings. Note i do believe that the southern conference will be alot tougher then the North.

NORTH

1st-Maine (With 15 starters returning on a gritty Black Bear team i see the Bears competeing with New Hampshire for the top Spot in the North)

1st-New Hampshire (With a several starters returning along with a veteran defense the game versus Maine will be the game of the year in the North)

3rd-Umass (The loss of starting QB Liam Coen will force the minutemen to rely heavily on the running game this year)

4th- Rhode Island (The following twoi could see end either way, i put the rams here just because i think the transfer qb from rutgers will have a big impact)

5th-Hofstra (Lots of young players will allow the pride to get better, but nothing else)

6th-Northeastern (The loss of a ton of seniors will see the huskies once again as the cellar dwellers of the CAA)

SOUTH

1st-James Madison (Last year showed that the Dukes QB problems were erased when their backup against montana did better then landers, along with a ton of talent will see JMU atop the south again)

2nd-Delaware (After a rough last year i see the Blue Hens rebounding strongly and surprising alot of people in 09)

**ANYTHING BELOW THIS POINT COULD END UP IN A DIFFERENT WAY, LOTS OF TEAMS THAT COULD WIN/LOSE**

3rd-Richmond (Second year head coach will keep the Spiders succses going but not as much as their national championship year in 08)

4th-Villnova (The cats will finish in the middle of the pack this year)

5th-W&M (The tribe will be breaking in a new QB and i see that as the one factor keeping them from being better)

6th-Towson (The tigers are rebuliding but they will need another year to get any good after losing their record setting QB)

Not saying you are wrong. But why does a Maine team with 15 starters returning garnish a first in the north, but a team with 19 starters returning, and who was a bounce pass away from winning the south last year drop to 4th?

[JMU DJ]

Not saying you are wrong. But why does a Maine team with 15 starters returning garnish a first in the north, but a team with 19 starters returning, and who was a bounce pass away from winning the south last year drop to 4th?

WR, no need to take this personally... but I believe SUU was saying Villnova will be 4th, he didn't rank where Villanova would end up...

[wideright82]

Not saying you are wrong. But why does a Maine team with 15 starters returning garnish a first in the north, but a team with 19 starters returning, and who was a bounce pass away from winning the south last year drop to 4th?

WR, no need to take this personally... but I believe SUU was saying Villnova will be 4th, he didn't rank where Villanova would end up...

Huh?

[JMU DJ]

WR, no need to take this personally... but I believe SUU was saying Villnova will be 4th, he didn't rank where Villanova would end up...

Huh?

To subtle... was implying there was a school called "Villnova"... misspelling and a bad joke

[93henfan]

Preseason Polls hold up about as well as election year promises, but here goes:

CAA North:
UNH
UMass
Maine
Hofstra
URI
Northeastern


CAA South:
Villanova
Delaware
W&M
JMU
Richmond
Towson

I think 'Nova will be the CAA autobid. Positions 2-5 in the CAA South could be anywhere from 8-3 to 6-5 in this meat grinder of a conference. I mean no disrespect to JMU or Richmond listing them where I did.

[BlueHen86]

Preseason Polls hold up about as well as election year promises, but here goes:

CAA North:
UNH
UMass
Maine
Hofstra
URI
Northeastern


CAA South:
Villanova
Delaware
W&M
JMU
Richmond
Towson

I think 'Nova will be the CAA autobid. Positions 2-5 in the CAA South could be anywhere from 8-3 to 6-5 in this meat grinder of a conference. I mean no disrespect to JMU or Richmond listing them where I did.

Disrespect for Towson noted.

[wideright82]

Huh?

To subtle... was implying there was a school called "Villnova"... misspelling and a bad joke

Valiant effort though.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

I can only comment on Delaware with any degree of knowledge...

The defense will be good, the QB position will be much improved, the other skill positions are at least adequate, but the offensive line is a huge question mark. The first string is questionable and the depth appears to be next to nil. The Hen's success will depend 100% on the starting o-line group gelling and becoming competent and then staying healthy. That looks to be a sizeable "if" at this point. We'll see...

[andy7171]

CAA North -
1a- Maine
1b- UNH
3- UMASS
4- Northeastern
5- Hofstra
6- URI

CAA South -
1- Richmond
1- Villanova
1- JMU
1- W&M
5- Delaware
6- Towson

When ODU comes online, I will be lobbying heavily for Towson, not Delaware or Villanova, to move to the North. New coach, new attitude, but this is not the place to rebuild a program. DF is spot on.

[danefan]

CAA North -
1a- Maine
1b- UNH
3- UMASS
4- Northeastern
5- Hofstra
6- URI

CAA South -
1- Richmond
1- Villanova
1- JMU
1- W&M
5- Delaware
6- Towson

When ODU comes online, I will be lobbying heavily for Towson, not Delaware or Villanova, to move to the North. New coach, new attitude, but this is not the place to rebuild a program. DF is spot on.

CAA South -
Richmond
Villanova
JMU
W&M
Delaware
ODU

And BTW - the above conference would be the best conference in FCS, even without the North teams.

[Tribe4SF]

Alright this is my prediction for the 2009 CAA Conference standings. Note i do believe that the southern conference will be alot tougher then the North.

NORTH

1st-Maine (With 15 starters returning on a gritty Black Bear team i see the Bears competeing with New Hampshire for the top Spot in the North)

1st-New Hampshire (With a several starters returning along with a veteran defense the game versus Maine will be the game of the year in the North)

3rd-Umass (The loss of starting QB Liam Coen will force the minutemen to rely heavily on the running game this year)

4th- Rhode Island (The following twoi could see end either way, i put the rams here just because i think the transfer qb from rutgers will have a big impact)

5th-Hofstra (Lots of young players will allow the pride to get better, but nothing else)

6th-Northeastern (The loss of a ton of seniors will see the huskies once again as the cellar dwellers of the CAA)

SOUTH

1st-James Madison (Last year showed that the Dukes QB problems were erased when their backup against montana did better then landers, along with a ton of talent will see JMU atop the south again)

2nd-Delaware (After a rough last year i see the Blue Hens rebounding strongly and surprising alot of people in 09)

**ANYTHING BELOW THIS POINT COULD END UP IN A DIFFERENT WAY, LOTS OF TEAMS THAT COULD WIN/LOSE**

3rd-Richmond (Second year head coach will keep the Spiders succses going but not as much as their national championship year in 08)

4th-Villnova (The cats will finish in the middle of the pack this year)

5th-W&M (The tribe will be breaking in a new QB and i see that as the one factor keeping them from being better)

6th-Towson (The tigers are rebuliding but they will need another year to get any good after losing their record setting QB)

UNH should be the class of the north. On the southside, if Dudzik showed he can play for JMU, Archer more than showed that for W&M. Tribe fans have some concern for the o-line, and at WR, but not at the QB spot. The Tribe D should turn some heads this year. For those in the CAA know, Villanova is the pick in the south, but any one of JMU, UR, UD or W&M could win it. There may well be five playoff worthy teams in the division this year.