In the first-ever Pick-Em this past week, I hit on three of seven predictions bringing my record to 3-4. Without further ado here is my take and predictions on week two of CAA football.
In our first preview of week two, The Rhode Island Rams take on the Maine Black Bears in an FCS Top 25 matchup that is sure to be entertaining. URI is sitting at 4-1 on the year and is also coming off an absolute evisceration of in-state rival Brown in the battle for the Governor’s Cup, winning 48-0. Rhody was without senior Quarterback JaJuan Lawson in the game but redshirt sophomore Vito Priore stepped up in a big way. Priore threw for 310 yards and had four touchdown passes on the day. On the other side of the coin, Maine is 3-2 and coming off a 13-10 win against conference rival Villanova. The Black Bears will need another defensive showing like that at Meade Stadium this Saturday if they want to upset the Rams in Kingston.
Official Prediction: URI:31, Maine:17
In the next matchup, we have James Madison University traveling to Philadelphia to take on the Villanova Wildcats. JMU will be coming into this one angry as they are coming off a surprise home loss to Elon last week. Going into the Elon game JMU was a 28 point favorite against Elon. James Madison now sits at 4-2 on the year and is ranked in a tie for sixth in the FCS top 25. Villanova, on the other hand, is coming off a loss to the University of Maine, and sits at 3-3 on the year, with all three losses coming in conference play. Villanova also dropped out of the FCS top 25 this past week and is on a two-game losing streak. Don’t expect that to change either.
Official Prediction: JMU:35, Villanova:7
Moving on in the predictions, we have a matchup of the Elon Phoenix and the Delaware Blue Hens. As said above Elon is coming off a huge win against James Madison on the road in which they were 28 point underdogs. Elon sits at 4-1 on the year and is 2-0 in conference play, good enough to be tied atop the CAA conference standings, Elon also moved up five spots in the FCS top 25, going from tenth to fifth. Delaware, however, is currently in the middle of the conference. The Blue Hens sit at 3-2 on the year and are 1-1 in conference play. They are coming off their first conference win of the year last week when they beat the Richmond Spiders 43-28. Look for Elon to continue their success this year and get to five wins.
Official Prediction: Elon:24, Delaware:13
The next matchup of the week is the Stony Brook Seawolves taking on the New Hampshire Wildcats. Stony Brook currently sits at 4-2 on the year and is 2-1 in conference play. After losing to Towson 52-28 last week the Seawolves dropped from No.13 in the FCS STATS top 25, to No.19. UNH has had a surprisingly tough go of it this year, as they were ranked number seven in the top 25 to start the year. The Wildcats currently sit at 1-4 for the year and are 0-2 in conference. UNH just picked up its first win of the year this past week beating the Holy Cross Crusaders 28-0. Look for Stony Brook to get a bounce back and New Hampshire to stay winless in the CAA.
Official Prediction: Stony Brook:27, UNH:14
In the second to last matchup of the week, the William and Mary Tribe travel to Towson University to take on the Tigers. William and Mary currently is 2-3 on the year, and 1-1 in conference. The Tribe are coming off of a win, as last week they beat the Albany Great Danes 25-22. Offense has been an issue for William and Mary this year, as they have already been shut out twice, once against Colgate, and also against James Madison. On the other side, Towson has had a great year to date. The Tigers are 4-1 on the year, and 2-1 in conference, with their lone loss coming by way of FBS opponent Wake Forest. The Tigers are currently ranked at 17th in the country in the FCS top 25 and have won their last three games. Look for the Tigers to continue their hot play against the Tribe.
Official Prediction: Towson:45, William and Mary:10
In the last matchup of the week, the Richmond Spiders travel to the capital region of New York State, to take on the University of Albany Great Danes in a battle of CAA cellar dwellers. Richmond currently sits at dead last in the CAA standings and is 2-4 on the year, going 0-3 in conference. The Spiders are also on a three-game losing streak. On the other side the Great Danes are also towards the bottom of the conference, sitting at 2-3 on the year, and 0-2 in conference play. With one of these schools in line to get their first conference win, look for the Danes to get it done in front of their home crowd.
Official Prediction: Albany: 27, Richmond:21