Coastal Athletic Association (CAA Sports)

CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM/ORDER OF FINISH

BALTIMORE – CAA Football’s annual Media Day kicked off Tuesday morning with the release of the league’s 2015 preseason All-Conference Team and predicted order of finish.
 
Headlining the announcement are Villanova quarterback John Robertson and linebacker Don Cherry, CAA Football’s preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year.
 
Robertson became the eighth player in CAA Football history to win the Walter Payton Award last fall, in addition to being named the CAA Football Offensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. Robertson threw for 2,846 yards and 35 touchdowns in 2014, and added 1,078 yards and 11 scores on the ground.

 
Cherry was an All-America selection by The Sports Network, AP, Walter Camp Foundation and College Sports News in 2014, along with finishing second in Buck Buchanan Award voting. He ended the season with 134 tackles, 10 sacks, 21.5 tackles-for-loss and five forced fumbles.

 
Richmond and William & Mary lead the preseason All-Conference Team with four selections apiece, followed by New Hampshire, Maine and Delaware with three each.
 
Villanova has also landed the top spot in CAA Football’s preseason predicted order of finish. The Wildcats - who went 11-3 overall and 7-1 in conference play last season - received 14 of a possible 24 first-place votes in the poll.
 
Villanova earned the No. 6 national seed in last season’s FCS Championship – eventually reaching the quarterfinal round - and finished the season ranked seventh in both national polls.
 
Fellow 2014 playoff participant James Madison was voted second in the preseason poll. The Dukes went 9-4 overall and 6-2 in the conference last fall.
 
Defending CAA Football champion New Hampshire is third in the poll. The Wildcats went unbeaten in conference games in 2014, ultimately landing the No. 1 overall seed in the FCS Championship. Including last season’s run to the national semifinals, UNH has reached the postseason an FCS-best 11-straight years.
 
James Madison and New Hampshire each received five first-place votes in the predicted order of finish.
 
Rounding out the poll’s top five are William & Mary at No. 4, and 2014 playoff selection Richmond at No. 5.
 
CAA Football’s preseason All-Conference Team and predicted order of finish were voted on by the league’s head coaches and media relations directors.