National-Best Six Represent CAA Football in FCS Preseason Coaches Poll
RICHMOND, Va. (August 22, 2011) -- More than half of CAA Football's roster of 11 squads were listed among the 2011 Preseason FCS Coaches Top 25 when it was released Monday. Since the poll began in 2007, CAA Football has had at least four teams ranked every week including both the preseason and final polls. The next closest league to the CAA Football total of six ranked is the Southern Conference's four ranked teams led by No. 2 Appalachian State and No. 3 Georgia Southern.
William and Mary earned one first-place vote and logged 614 total points in the poll to come in at No. 4. The Tribe, ranked No. 3 in last week's Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25, is just three points out of the No. 2 spot held by the Mountaineers. Delaware, which ended last year with a tough one-point loss to current-No. 1 Eastern Washington in the National Championship game, logged 559 points and is ranked No. 5. New Hampshire gives the league three teams among the Top 10 as it comes in at No. 10. Villanova, a 9-5 squad from 2010, is ranked 13th. James Madison is the highest ranked squad among those which did not appear in the final 2010 poll as the Dukes rank 16th. Richmond rounds out the league's representation in the poll at No. 19. Massachusetts finished just outside the preseason Top 25 polling after logging 73 points.
The FCS Coaches Poll is based exclusively on a voting panel of head coaches in the FCS under the cooperation of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA) and the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and is administered by the Southern Conference.
CAA Football is poised for yet another run at the NCAA Division I National Championship in 2011. The league, which will welcome Old Dominion to its fold in in 2011, returns six All-Americans and 12 First Team All-CAA Football award winners from 2010. CAA Football has seen one of its league members advance to the Division I National Championship game seven of the last eight seasons and each of the last five years. Delaware and James Madison (2003-04) and Richmond and Villanova (2008-09) twice earned consecutive National Championships for the league in its championship appearance span dating back to 2003. CAA Football will again add to its full-time member roster in 2012 when Georgia State joins the fold.
You can share your CAA football thoughts, ideas and photos with us now at facebook.com/CAAFootball. CAA Football is blogging at caafootballblog.com...be sure to checkout the official blog of CAA Football to find all sorts of information that might not be at CAAFootball.com. CAA Football is also on Twitter...Fans from all 11 schools can get up-to-date information by following the league at twitter.com/The_CAAFootball. The league also encourages fans to visit us on YouTube: youtube.com/CAAFootball. Logon now and subscribe to see the latest video productions from CAA Football.
| Team
(First-Place votes) |
Record |
Points |
| 1. Eastern Washington (23) |
13-2 |
687 |
| 2. Appalachian State (1) |
10-3 |
617 |
| 3. Georgia Southern (3) |
10-5 |
615 |
| 4. William and Mary (1) |
8-4 |
614 |
| 5. Delaware |
12-3 |
559 |
| 6. Montana State |
9-3 |
540 |
| 7. Northern Iowa |
7-5 |
448 |
| 8. Wofford |
10-3 |
431 |
| 9. Jacksonville State |
9-3 |
425 |
| 10. New Hampshire |
8-5 |
415 |
| 11. North Dakota State |
9-5 |
392 |
| 12. Montana |
7-4 |
318 |
| 13. Villanova |
9-5 |
276 |
| 14. Stephen F. Austin |
9-3 |
265 |
| 15. Lehigh |
10-3 |
259 |
| 16. James Madison |
6-5 |
226 |
| 17. Southern Illinois |
5-6 |
181 |
| 18. Liberty |
8-3 |
179 |
| 19. Richmond |
6-5 |
177 |
| 20. McNeese State |
6-5 |
170 |
| 21. South Carolina State |
9-3 |
131 |
| 22. Central Arkansas |
7-4 |
130 |
| 23. Chattanooga |
6-5 |
113 |
| 24. Bethune-Cookman |
10-2 |
84 |
| 24. Penn |
9-1 |
84 |
Others receiving votes: Massachusetts (73); Western Illinois (72); Cal Poly (71); Southeast Missouri State (68); Southern Utah (67); Sacramento State (66); Murray State (50); Jacksonville (46); Eastern Kentucky (41); UC Davis (22); Colgate (21); Central Connecticut State (19); Stony Brook (18); Indiana State (15); Harvard (14); Dayton (13); Jackson State (13); Illinois State (11); South Dakota State (10); Florida A&M (9); Coastal Carolina (9); Sam Houston State (9); Elon (8); Grambling State (8); Northern Arizona (3); Weber State (3); Northwestern State (2).