Coastal Athletic Association (CAA Sports)

CAA FOOTBALL ENDS SEASON WITH RECORD SIX IN TOP-25; RICHMOND WINS FIRST-EVER LAMBERT CUP

1/6/2009 5:00:00 AM

RICHMOND, Va. (January 6, 2009) -- Following Richmond’s first-ever NCAA Championship and CAA Football’s third championship in the last six seasons, the league closed the 2008 season with six squads among the final Top-25 polls.  Richmond, ranked No. 1 in both polls after its 24-7 win over Montana in the Division I National Championship game, also earned its first-ever Lambert Cup and the league’s 19th ECAC top-team honor.

CAA Football, in its second season administering what once was the Atlantic 10 and Yankee Conferences, placed a record five squads in postseason play for the second-straight season.  Four of the five postseason squads won at least one game in the 2008 NCAA Division I Championships, while two teams advanced to the semifinal round for the second-straight season.

Both the Sports Network Top-25 and FCS Coaches Top-25 include six of CAA Football’s 12 member programs.  League schools in the final 2008 polls include Richmond (No. 1 in both), James Madison (No. 3 in both), Villanova (No. 6 in both), New Hampshire (No. 8 in Sports Network, No. 7 in FCS Coaches Poll), Maine (No. 18 in Sports Network, No. 16 in FCS Coaches Poll) and William and Mary (No. 20 in both).  Massachusetts also logged votes in both rankings.

No. 1 Richmond carries on what is now an 11-week span CAA Football has owned the top-spot in the Sports Network poll.  The Spiders’ No. 1 ranking also marks the second time this season they have been in the poll’s top spot -- Richmond was ranked No. 1 in the Sept. 22 edition of the poll following a 44-17 win over Maine.

Having the Spiders at No. 1 and James Madison at No. 3 in the final poll marks the first time since 2004 CAA Football has closed a season with two of the Top-3 teams in the country, a feat no other conference has ever accomplished since the inception of the Sports Network poll.

On Sept. 22 both Richmond (No. 1) and James Madison (No. 2) became the first duo from a single-league to hold the Top-2 spots in The Sports Network Poll since 1991.  It also marked the first time in CAA Football’s 62-year history (Atlantic 10 and Yankee Conference) it has ever held the Top-2 spots in any National Top-25.

CAA Football’s six ranked squads in the Sports Network’s Top-25 mark the 14th time in the last 15 weeks the league has had at least six in the poll.  From the 2008 Preseason poll until Oct. 6, Delaware, James Madison, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Richmond and Villanova represented the CAA -- William and Mary replaced Delaware in that same group Oct. 20, while Maine replaced Massachusetts in the group Nov. 17.

CAA Football’s six ranked squads in the Sports Network’s Top-25 are three more than any other conference can boast in the season’s final poll -- the Southern and Southland Conferences each have three teams in the Top-25.  The CAA alone has four of its six among the Top-10, and all six among the Top-20.  No conference can equal the CAA’s mark of three schools in the Top-10.

CAA Football teams among the 2008 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 55-straight weeks.  The league can now boast having at least two teams in the Sports Network Top-10 in 81 of the last 85 weeks.

Richmond’s No. 1 ranking in this week’s FCS Coaches poll continues the first-time accomplishment of CAA Football owning the top spot in the FCS Coaches Poll in consecutive weeks (now 11-straight weeks).  James Madison began the top-ranked streak for CAA Football Sept. 22 following a come-from-behind, 35-32, win over then-ranked No. 1 Appalachian State.  Prior to that edition of the FCS Coaches Poll, no team from the league had ever been ranked No. 1 by the Coaches during what is now the poll’s two-year existence.

In the final edition of the FCS Coaches Poll, Richmond sits at No. 1, while James Madison finished the season at No. 3 which marks the first time in the poll’s two-year existence that one league has held two of the Top-3 rankings at the end of the season.

On Sept. 22 both James Madison (No. 1) and Richmond (No. 2) held the Top-2 spots in the poll, marking another first-ever for CAA Football in the FCS Coaches Poll.  Since the poll debuted in 2007 no league has held the Top-2 spots in the same week.

Since the FCS Coaches Poll debuted, CAA Football has had at least four squads ranked every week (29 weeks).  The league’s total of six in this week’s poll marks the 26th-straight edition CAA Football has had five-or-more squads listed.  CAA Football has had four-or-more teams among the Coaches Top-15 each of the last 28 weeks of the Top-25 -- the poll has been released a total of 28 weeks dating back to the 2007 Preseason edition.

Below is a comparison showing both Final National Polls.

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced tis final weekly ECAC® Lambert Meadowlands Football Poll presented by FieldTurf Tarkett. Richmond (13-3), a 24-7 winner over Montana in the Football Championship Subdivision National Championship game, claimed its first-ever Lambert Cup.

Richmond which earned CAA Football’s 19th Lambert Cup in conference history, will be presented with their Lambert Meadowlands Award during the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet, which will be held in the Pegasus Restaurant at the Meadowlands Sports Complex on Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

Established in 1936 as the Lambert Trophy to recognize supremacy in Eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in the Bowl Subdivision. In 1957, the Lambert Cup was created to recognize non-Division I-A teams, and in 1966 a Division III award was added. In 1983, the Lambert family decided the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be the best organization with a sincere and involved interest in college athletics to sponsor and manage the award, and since that time, the awards have been known as the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.

To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the East or play half of its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania, while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if half of their schedule features eligible teams.

The ECAC is the nation’s largest athletic and the only multi-divisional conference in the country with 321 Division I, II, and III colleges and universities. The ECAC stretches from Maine to North Carolina and westerly to Illinois. Established in 1938, the ECAC, a non-profit service organization, sponsors more than 100 championships in 37 men’s and women’s sports and assigns more than 4,400 officials in 12 sports. The ECAC also administers nine affiliate sports organizations and six playing leagues, and through the public relations arm of the conference, more than 2,500 student-athletes in 23 sports are recognized annually. Finally, the ECAC serves as the primary conference for select members in the sports of men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, and men’s lacrosse.

Below is the Final ECAC Lambert Cup Football Championship Subdivision Poll.