CAA FOOTBALL BOASTS FOUR TEAMS AMONG THE PRESEASON TOP 10

CAA FOOTBALL BOASTS FOUR TEAMS AMONG THE PRESEASON TOP 10

Bookmark and Share

RICHMOND, Va. (August 19, 2008) -- CAA Football placed a total of six teams in the 2008 Sports Network Preseason Football Championship Subdivision Poll, released Aug. 19, as four squads were ranked among the Top-10. Richmond, one of two defending CAA Football champions, leads the way at No. 4. Massachusetts, picked to win the 2008 CAA Football Championship and defend its 2007 league title, comes in at No. 5.

James Madison earned three of the 101 total first-place votes and will begin the season ranked No. 6 in the Sports Network Top-25. Delaware, which last year became the fourth CAA Football team in five years to play in the National Championship game, earned a No. 9 ranking in the preseason poll.

Outside of the poll’s Top-10, but also among CAA Football’s six ranked squads were New Hampshire at No. 16 and Villanova at No. 21. Both Hofstra and Maine appeared in the preseason poll release, but fell just outside the Top-25. The Pride notched 61 votes, while the Black Bears were one of two teams to log one vote.

CAA Football’s six ranked squads mark the first time since 2005 the league has had as many ranked in a preseason poll. Only the Missouri Valley equals the number of CAA Football teams (6) in the poll, but CAA Football’s four among the Top-10 is two more than both the Valley and Big Sky can boast. CAA Football teams among the 2008 Preseason Sports Network rankings continue a weekly string of at least three league squads ranked among the Top 25 since the poll’s inception. CAA Football also extends its string of at least two teams in the Sports Network Top-10 to 41-straight weeks. The league can now boast having at least two teams in the Sports Network Top 10 in 67 of the last 71 weeks. The last time CAA Football placed six among the Top-25 was in Week 11 of the 2007 season which included Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Richmond.

CAA Football’s 2008 regular season is set to kick off Aug. 28 when Northeastern travels to Ball State for a 7 p.m., kickoff and Hofstra takes on Connecticut at 7:30 p.m., on ESPN Regional Television and SNY. The first CAA Football league contests of 2008 will take place Sept. 13 when New Hampshire visits Rhode Island for a noon kickoff on CN8 and Comcast Sports Southeast, Towson travels to Richmond at 3 p.m., and Massachusetts heads south to take on James Madison at 3:30 p.m., also on CN8 and Comcast Sports Southeast. CAASports.com is your place to stay abreast of all the action leading up to another exciting season of CAA Football in 2008.

2008 Sports Network Preseason FCS Top 25

1. Appalachian State (97)
2. North Dakota State (1)
3. Northern Iowa
4. Richmond
5. Massachusetts
6. James Madison (3)
7. Eastern Washington
8. Montana
9. Delaware
10. McNeese State
11. Southern Illinois
12. Youngstown State
13. Wofford
14. Cal Poly
15. Elon
16. New Hampshire
17. Georgia Southern
18. Eastern Illinois
19. South Dakota State
20. Eastern Kentucky
21. Villanova
22. Central Arkansas
23. The Citadel
24. Harvard
25. Western Illinois

Others receiving votes: Northern Arizona 249, Fordham 212, Delaware State 198, Jacksonville State 195, Yale 170, Sam Houston State 166, Montana State 146, Furman 120, Liberty 115, Jackson State 79, South Carolina State 76, Holy Cross 74, Hofstra 61, Colgate 56, Grambling 55, Norfolk State 48, Coastal Carolina 44, Hampton 41, Southern 32, Northwestern State 30, Tennessee-Martin 30, UC Davis 22, Weber State 17, Lafayette 16, Alabama A&M 10, Texas Southern 9, Brown 9, Nicholls State 9, Dayton 6, Tennessee State 5, San Diego 4, Albany 4, Maine 1, Prairie View 1.