CAA Power Rankings
1. Monmouth University —
2. University at Albany ↑1
3. Campbell University ↓1
4. North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University —
5. Sacred Heart University ↑2
6. University of Rhode Island ↑1
7. Stony Brook University ↓2
8. Bryant University ↓2
9. Towson University ↑1
10. University of New Hampshire ↓1
11. Elon University —
12. University of Maine —
13. Hampton University —
Four of the six games between Coastal Athletic Association teams were decided by 10 points or fewer in a week with a lot of movement in the middle of our power rankings.
Each week, The Good Five Cent Cigar Sports Staff compiles a consensus ranking of all 13 CAA teams. Here is the breakdown of those rankings:
Hampton
Hampton is far and away the worst team in the CAA, and it feels disrespectful to group them with any other team.
The Pirates have yet to pick up a win against a Division I opponent, and all eight of the Pirates’ losses have been by 14 or more points.
Bottom Feeders
Four teams make up this tier: Maine, Elon, UNH and Towson.
The Black Bears were an extra point away from upsetting URI and snapping a seven-game losing streak. Instead, Maine’s offense continued to disappoint, scoring less than 20 points for the seventh straight game.
It’s hard to imagine Maine picking up another win this season with two games remaining, as the Black Bears will take their bye week to reset and make some late-season adjustments.
Elon blew a 10-point third-quarter lead against an NC A&T team that continues to surprise us. It’s a fourth-straight loss for the Phoenix, but a resurgence could be on the way as they face Hampton and Towson in two of their final three games.
Even though the Wildcats had a bye week, they still moved down one spot after Towson picked up its first victory of the season. Four out of UNH’s last five games have been decided by seven or fewer points, with the Wildcats coming out victorious in one of them.
Towson finally picked up its first win of the season with a 44-13 blowout against Hampton. It felt all but inevitable the Tigers were going to pick up their first win sooner rather than later, as each of their last five games had been decided by seven or fewer points. The Tigers will try to carry that momentum into a road matchup against Sacred Heart on Saturday.
Mid.
Despite all four teams moving in this week’s rankings, none were able to break free from the middle tier.
Bryant and Stony Brook were the two biggest fallers of the week after Stony Brook had a late fourth-quarter meltdown to lose 32-31 against Sacred Heart, while Bryant was unable to stop the buzzsaw that is Monmouth’s offense.
Stony Brook led 31-13 with 5:46 left in the fourth quarter and surrendered 19 unanswered points to SHU for a crushing home defeat. Bryant never found an answer for Monmouth on Saturday, with two garbage-time touchdowns in the fourth quarter making the 34-21 final score look closer than it actually was.
Rhody escaped a second-straight loss by the skin of their teeth as fifth-year wide receiver Marquis Buchanan caught the game-winning and record-breaking 25-yard touchdown in overtime for a 14-13 win.
Sacred Heart picked up the biggest win of its first year in the CAA with a 32-31 comeback win as third-year quarterback Poochie Snyder threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns.
Cream of the Crop
The Aggies picked up their third straight victory on Saturday against Elon, and their fourth in five games after starting the season 0-4. NC A&T is having its best season by far since joining the CAA and could play spoiler to the top dogs in the conference with games against Monmouth and UAlbany remaining.
Campbell and UAlbany switch places in this week’s ranking after UAlbany picked up a wire-to-wire win over the Camels on Saturday. The win now puts the Great Danes right in the middle of the CAA’s championship race while knocking Campbell’s chances down after its first conference loss of the season.
Once again, Monmouth sits atop our rankings and the conference standings following a 34-21 drubbing of Bryant on Saturday. The Hawks are the last CAA team undefeated in conference play, with their regular-season finale against Campbell likely to decide who receives the CAA’s automatic bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
