As we head into the final month of the regular season, teams throughout the Coastal Athletic Association continue to jockey for playoff position and a chance at a conference title.
Every week, the Good Five Cent Cigar sports staff will come up with a ranking for all 16 teams in the conference. Here’s where everyone stands following week eight:
16th Place: North Carolina A&T University Aggies (1-7, 0-4) (-)
The same old story of double-digit losses continued for NC A&T on Saturday when it dropped its sixth-straight game to Campbell University. Following the 21-7 loss, six of the seven Aggies’ losses this year have come by at least 14 points.
With both the worst-scoring offense and defense in the conference, it’s hard to envision a magical turnaround happening in 2024. At the very least, they will hope to keep things competitive in front of their home crowd against the College of William and Mary this week.
15th Place: Bryant University Bulldogs (2-6, 0-4) (-)
It’s safe to say that allowing 41 points in the first half of a game is not often a recipe that leads to success. To make matters worse, the Bulldogs did this in front of a home crowd in their 41-14 loss to the University of Richmond this week.
The first season in the CAA has not gone to plan for Bryant, as it is still searching for its first conference win. That quest will continue when it takes on red-hot Stony Brook University, who are winners of six of its last seven, at home this week.
14th Place: Elon University Phoenix (2-6, 1-3) (-2)
Just when it seemed Elon might’ve been finding its footing with its win against the University at Albany, it followed it up this week with a 41-21 loss to Hampton University.
The only silver lining for the Phoenix is it seems to be starting to find a little bit of a groove on offense with two of their three highest outputs of the season coming in the last two games.
13th Place: University at Albany Great Danes (3-5, 1-3) (-)
An underwhelming season continued for the reigning co-CAA champions when it dropped its second-straight game to the University of Delaware, 28-14, this week.
Offense continues to be the issue for the Great Danes this season as they have dropped to 14th in the conference in points scored per game. Starting with the University of New Hampshire this week, Albany will play teams .500 or better in each of their final four games of the season.
12th Place: Campbell University Fighting Camels (3-5, 1-3) (+2)
The Camels finally got on the board with their first conference win of the season over NC A&T this week. Despite its poor record, Campbell could be a team to watch out for to pull off some upsets with two of its three conference losses being one-possession games.
As The Camels travel to play Elon this week, they will hold out hope that the first conference win sparks something for them down the stretch.
11th Place: University of New Hampshire Wildcats (4-4, 2-2) (-3)
A couple weeks ago, the Wildcats were sitting inside the FCS top-25 and had their eyes on making the playoffs. Now, after back-to-back losses to the University of Rhode Island and Villanova University, they are just hoping to be able to get back over .500.
The offense has really struggled for New Hampshire over these two losses with 15 combined points and just one combined touchdown. It will look to solve these woes on the road against Albany this week.
10th Place: University of Maine Black Bears (4-4, 2-3) (-1)
After its 24-14 loss to Rhode Island this week, Maine continues to search for any semblance of consistency this season. The Black Bears have not been able to string together a winning streak of more than two games all year.
It would now take a massive upset to avoid a two-game losing streak this week as they travel to play a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, the University of Oklahoma.
9th Place: Towson University Tigers (4-4, 2-2) (+2)
Holding the best offense in the conference, Monmouth University, to just 14 points in a 26-14 win came as a shock to many this week. The result is even more shocking when you consider the fact that Towson allowed 52 points to Stony Brook the week prior.
The Tigers will hope they can pull off another surprise this week, seeking to hand the University of Richmond its first conference loss of the season.
8th Place: Hampton University Pirates (5-3, 2-2) (+2)
The Pirates are slowly turning into an offensive juggernaut with 41 or more points in their past three games after a 41-21 win over Elon this week. With this stretch, Hampton has now jumped into the top three in the conference in points scored per game.
Its offense will be put to the test this week when it takes on Villanova, who have been the second-best defense in the conference.
7th Place: Monmouth University Hawks (4-4, 2-2) (-3)
Considering it hadn’t scored less than 35 points since August, Monmouth’s 14-point performance against Towson this week was nothing short of stunning. Despite their potent offense throughout the season, the Hawks now find themselves back at .500 after the 26-14 loss.
It’s worth noting that they are still averaging over 40 points per game, which ranks best in the conference, but they begin a gauntlet of four straight teams that are .500 or better with conference-leading Rhode Island this week.
6th Place: #24 College of William and Mary Tribe (5-3, 2-2) (-)
In a game that could have important playoff implications, the Tribe were unable to live up to the challenge in a 35-13 loss on the road to Stony Brook this week. They couldn’t get out of their own way on Saturday with five turnovers, including an interception that got taken back for a touchdown.
William and Mary should have a good opportunity to get back to winning ways this week when they face lowly NC A&T.
5th Place: #20 Stony Brook University Seawolves (6-2, 3-1) (+2)
With their first ranked win since 2021 on Saturday, the Seawolves are proving themselves as legit contenders to compete both for an FCS playoff spot and the conference title. They have now won six of their last seven games, the latest of which being a convincing 35-13 victory over #16 William and Mary.
You would be hard pressed to find a much better story than the turnaround of Stony Brook this year, now ranked in the top-25 after winning two combined games in the past two previous seasons. It will look to keep the good times rolling when it travels to Bryant this week.
4th Place: #13 Villanova University Wildcats (6-2, 3-1) (+1)
It may not have been the prettiest of wins, but Villanova was able to bounce back from its loss to Maine with a 14-6 victory over New Hampshire this week. There has to be some cause for concern for the Wildcats on the offensive side, as they’ve been held to 14 or less points in each of the past two weeks.
Villanova hasn’t had much of a passing attack throughout the season with a conference-worst 147.5 passing yards per game. This could result in a tough matchup this week against Hampton, who have been the best pass defense in the conference.
3rd Place: University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens (7-1, 4-1) (-1)
Delaware had no issues responding from their first loss of the year with a 28-14 win over Albany this week. Despite not being able to qualify for the conference title, this is still a team no one in the CAA wants to face down the stretch with their offense and defense ranking top three in the conference.
The Blue Hens will enjoy their bye week and prepare for their final three games as an FCS program.
2nd Place: #16 University of Richmond Spiders (6-2, 4-0) (+1)
It’s tough to draw up a better response to an 0-2 start than Richmond has had this season, now winners of six straight contests following their 41-14 win over Bryant this week.
To make things even more promising, the Spiders have no current top-five teams in the conference left on their schedule. With some of their toughest matchups behind them and a top-ranked defense, an undefeated season in conference play seems to be a legitimate possibility.
1st Place: #14 University of Rhode Island Rams (7-1, 4-0) (-)
Rhode Island followed a familiar path to victory as they started slow and came on strong late in their 24-14 win over Maine in front of a homecoming crowd this week. Over the course of their six-game win streak, the Rams have outscored opponents 66-33 in the final quarter.
The Rams stay atop our rankings and are now one of just eight FCS teams without a loss to non-FBS competition. They will try to keep it that way when they welcome in Monmouth and their high-powered offense this week.