SIX CAA FOOTBALL SQUADS AMONG NATION’S TOP-25
From: CAA Media Relations
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RICHMOND, Va. (October 22, 2009) -- Six CAA Football squads appeared in each of this week’s two national Top-25 polls, while Villanova’s Fred Maldonado earned national defensive recognition by the College Sporting News. Maldonado’s honor was the sixth such award handed out to a CAA Football athlete this season, and the second to a Wildcat player. Richmond remained at the top of both polls, while Villanova, William and Mary and New Hampshire helped extend the league’s string of four teams among the Top-10 to eight-straight weeks. Below are some notes on CAA Football among both of the nation’s Top-25 polls.
Maldonado earned the College Sporting News Defensive All-Star honor after helping lead Villanova to a 27-0 shutout-win on the road over defending league champion James Madison. Maldonado, who was named the CAA Football Defensive Player of the Week Monday, was the leading tackler for the Villanova defense by racking up 11 total tackles, including six solo stops. The West Chester, Pa., native also logged 1.5 tackles for a loss of seven yards and picked up one of James Madison’s two fumbles on the day. The Wildcats’ defense recorded its first shutout since 2002, while the shutout at Bridgeforth Stadium was the first since Appalachian State blanked the Dukes at home in 1990.
Richmond’s No. 1 ranking, Villanova and William and Mary at No. 4 and 5, respectively, and New Hampshire’s spot in the Top-10 are among the nation’s longest active streaks for Top-10 rankings. The Spiders have been part of the Sports Network’s Top-10 for 26-straight weeks which trails only Appalachian State’s 56 consecutive weeks and Northern Iowa’s mark of 37-straight weeks. Villanova’s 17-straight weeks in the Top-10 is right behind Richmond, while New Hampshire’s string of 10 weeks and William and Mary’s mark of seven-straight ranks seventh and eighth-longest, respectively.
Richmond held the top-spot in this week’s Sports Network Top-25 after its second road-win in two weeks. Villanova jumped two spots to No. 4 after a shutout win on the road over James Madison. William and Mary also advanced two spots to No. 5 following its bye week. New Hampshire fell to No. 9 after its loss at Massachusetts, while the Minutemen used the win to jump to No. 14. Delaware, which won big at Towson, moved up to No. 19. James Madison fell out of the Top-25 for the first time in 50 weeks, but still received votes as did both Hofstra and Maine.
The Sports Network Top-25 Notes...
-- CAA Football shows six ranked teams in this week’s poll.
-- Four of the eight editions of this year’s poll have included six league squads, including three-straight weeks from Sept. 21-Oct. 5.
-- The league’s six ranked teams are three more than any other league in the country has this week.
-- Richmond’s No. 1 ranking helps place the league atop the poll for the seventh-straight week in 2009.
-- CAA Football’s strength in this week’s poll continues to show by making up four of the Top-9 spots, two more than any other league has in the Top-10.
-- CAA Football also boasts three of the Top-5 in this week’s poll, while the remaining two teams are from the Big Sky (Montana) and Missouri Valley (Southern Illinois).
-- CAA Football has now had at least six teams ranked in 22 of the last 23 editions of the Sports Network poll.
-- The league has had at least three teams ranked every week since the poll’s inception and two teams among the poll’s Top-10 in 63-straight weeks and 89 of the last 93 editions.
Richmond again was the No. 1 team on this week’s FCS Coaches’ Poll, marking now seven-straight weeks at the top. Villanova jumped up to No. 4 after its shutout of James Madison on the road. William and Mary, which will welcome James Madison to Zable Stadium this weekend, jumped to No. 5 after having last weekend off. New Hampshire dropped to No. 8 after suffering its first loss of the season, while Massachusetts moved up four spots to No. 16 with its win over New Hampshire. Delaware, ranked at No. 23, showed up in the Coaches’ poll for the first time this season. James Madison fell out of the Coaches’ Top-25, but still received 31 points in the polling.
FCS Coaches’ Top-25 Notes...
-- CAA Football shows six in this week’s edition of the Top-25 for the fifth-straight week.
-- The league opened the 2009 campaign with eight among the Top-25, then had seven in the poll each of the first two regular season weeks (Sept. 7-14).
-- Richmond’s No. 1 ranking gives the league seven-straight weeks atop the 2009 rankings, after it owned No. 1 for 11-straight weeks in 2008.
-- The league holds four of the Top-8 spots in this week’s poll, marking eight-straight editions the league has had at least four in the Top-10.
-- Since the FCS Coaches Poll debuted in 2007 CAA Football has had at least four squads ranked in every edition (36 weeks).
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Below is a comparison showing both National Polls released Oct. 19.
Sports Network Top 25 Ranking FCS Coaches’ Top 25
Richmond (131)_____________ No. 1____________ Richmond (28)
Montana (5)________________ No. 2_________________ Montana
Southern Illinois (1)__________ No. 3___________ Southern Illinois
Villanova___________________ No. 4________________ Villanova
William and Mary___________ No. 5_________ William and Mary
Northern Iowa______________ No. 6____________ Northern Iowa
Elon_______________________ No. 7_____________________ Elon
Appalachian State___________ No. 8___________ New Hampshire
New Hampshire_____________ No. 9_________ Appalachian State
South Carolina State_________ No. 10______ South Carolina State
South Dakota State__________ No. 11___________ McNeese State
McNeese State_____________ No. 12_________ Jacksonville State
Jacksonville State___________ No. 13________ South Dakota State
Massachusetts_____________ No. 14_________ Central Arkansas
Stephen F. Austin___________ No. 15_____________ Weber State
Weber State_______________ No. 16___________ Massachusetts
Colgate____________________ No. 17__________________ Colgate
Central Arkansas____________ No. 18_________ Stephen F. Austin
Delaware__________________ No. 19_________________ Cal Poly
Cal Poly____________________ No. 20_________ Eastern Kentucky
Eastern Kentucky___________ No. 21_______ Eastern Washington
Holy Cross_________________ No. 22_______________ Holy Cross
Liberty____________________ No. 23________________ Delaware
Northern Arizona___________ No. 24____________ Eastern Illinois
Eastern Illinois______________ No. 25_________ Northern Arizona
The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has announced its second weekly ECAC® Lambert Meadowlands Football Poll presented by FieldTurf Tarkett of the 2009 season. Defending national champion Richmond (6-0) grabs the top spot in the Championship Subdivision poll with Villanova (6-1) second and William and Mary (5-1) third.
The ECAC will release the weekly poll in each of the four divisions (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), Division II and Division III) and the final poll in January will determine the trophy winners. The first place teams in the final poll will be presented with their Lambert Meadowlands Awards during the Eastern College Football Awards Banquet, held at the Meadowlands Sports Complex.
Established in 1936 as the Lambert Trophy to recognize supremacy in Eastern college football, the award has since grown to recognize the best team in the East in the Bowl Subdivision. In 1957, the Lambert Cup was created to recognize non-Division I-A teams, and in 1966 a Division III award was added. In 1983, the Lambert family decided the Meadowlands Sports Complex would be the best organization with a sincere and involved interest in college athletics to sponsor and manage the award, and since that time, the awards have been known as the Lambert Meadowlands Awards.
To be eligible for the Lambert Meadowlands Award, a school must be located in the East or play at least half of its schedule against eligible Lambert teams. The territory includes New York, New Jersey, New England and Pennsylvania, while teams in the bordering states of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia and the District of Columbia qualify if at least half of their schedule features eligible teams. Teams in Eastern-based football conferences, regardless of location, qualify if at least half their schedule is against Lambert eligible teams.
Below is the ECAC Lambert Cup Football Championship Subdivision Poll released Oct. 19.
Rank Team Record Points
No. 1 Richmond 6-0 220
No. 2 Villanova 6-1 196
No. 3 William and Mary 5-1 164
No. 4 New Hampshire 5-1 136
No. 5 Colgate 7-0 122
No. 6 Massachusetts 4-2 114
No. 7 Delaware 5-2 98
No. 8 Holy Cross 5-1 72
No. 9 Lafayette 5-1 46
No. 10 Penn 3-2 14
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