Can Richmond give CAA another title?

[smallcollegefbfan]

Around FCS: Can Richmond give CAA another title?
By David Coulson, FCS Executive Director

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - In some people's minds, defending national champion Richmond is one of the favorites to win the 2009 title. But the reality of the Colonial Athletic Association is that the Spiders might not even survive their own division, let alone the NCAA playoffs.

A year ago, Richmond tied New Hampshire for the third-best record in the CAA regular season, but roared through the postseason for its first NCAA title. In 2007, Delaware tied for the fourth-best mark in the league before falling to Appalachian State in the title contest.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/news/news.aspx?id=4248889

[CentDukesFan]

hahah william and mary ahead of jmu???

hahahhaa

[93henfan]

But any one of a half-dozen teams from the league could end up making their way to Chattanooga for this year's national title game.

Yep, it's a run through the gauntlet every year.

[93henfan]

hahah william and mary ahead of jmu???

hahahhaa

Do we know you? ;)

[CentDukesFan]

Do we know you? ;)

can i carry over my 5k posting experience from the zone :D

[Pitz]

Poor Towson. Any of the other five teams in the CAA south could legitimately compete for a conference title.

And they have to play all of them.

[WMTribe90]

The CAA has earned a record five playoff berths in each of its first two seasons. But with UMass athletic director John McCutcheon no longer chairing the NCAA Division I football committee, such a feat could be tougher to duplicate in 2009.

Coulson is incapable of checking his bias at the door. A real journalist doesn't make an open-ended claim like this without providing some proof or argument that McCutcheon's presence led to the selection of more CAA teams than would have occurred otherwise. If you're going to make a serious claim like this you best back it up with an argument explaining which CAA team wouldn't have made it without McCuthcheon on the commitee, what non-CAA team was more deserving and why, and how McCutheon coerced the committee to select the less deserving CAA team? He spends the first coupel paragraph talking up the CAA's strength and recent playof prowess and then turns around and insinuates the selection of five teams was political. I miss Dougherty and Moss.

[Pitz]

Coulson is incapable of checking his bias at the door. A real journalist doesn't make an open-ended claim like this without offering some proof or argument that McCutcheon's presence led to the selection of more CAA teams. If you're going to make a serious claim like this you best back it up with an argument of which CAA team wouldn't have made it without McCuthcheon on the commitee, what team was more deserving and why? He spends the first coupel paragraph talking up the CAA's strength and recent playof prowess and then turns around and insinuates the selection of five teams was political.

While we're on the Coulson-critic train, someone needs to needs to give the man a lesson in typography. Line spacing. Sub-headings. SOMETHING, Dave, please.

[ChickenMan]

Accurately predicting the final results in the CAA is like herding cats.. a futile effort.

[NHwildEcat]

The North is pretty predictable...the South is where things can get very crazy!!

[WMTribe90]

So as not to be too harsh, Coulson did nail his WM critique. This team will likely go as far as the OL takes it and we do need to find a reliable third receiver from a promising group of underclassmen. I appreciate the third place vote, but IMO the 3 through 5 spots are a toss-up going into the season with JMU, UD and WM having tons of potential, but some questions to answer.

[Duke Dawg]

Coulson just can't stand the fact that the CAA has become the best conference in the land, ahead of his precious SoCon.

Bottom line is, this is what cost the SoCon a spot in the playoffs and put Maine in:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=283272335

the SoCon really has no one to blame but themselves for the CAA getting 5.

[WMTribe90]

The North is pretty predictable...the South is where things can get very crazy!!

I agree the north is more predictable. Pretty safe bet that UNH will win the north and NU and URI will finish at the bottom. Battle for second place and a possible playoff spot between Hofstra, UMass and Maine will be interesting. I'd put my money on Hofstra.

[NHwildEcat]

I agree the north is more predictable. Pretty safe bet that UNH will win the north and NU and URI will finish at the bottom. Battle for second place and a possible playoff spot between Hofstra, UMass and Maine will be interesting. I'd put my money on Hofstra.

I am thinking Maine...but you are correct, it is ineed a tossup!

[GannonFan]

Coulson is incapable of checking his bias at the door. A real journalist doesn't make an open-ended claim like this without providing some proof or argument that McCutcheon's presence led to the selection of more CAA teams than would have occurred otherwise. If you're going to make a serious claim like this you best back it up with an argument explaining which CAA team wouldn't have made it without McCuthcheon on the commitee, what non-CAA team was more deserving and why, and how McCutheon coerced the committee to select the less deserving CAA team? He spends the first coupel paragraph talking up the CAA's strength and recent playof prowess and then turns around and insinuates the selection of five teams was political. I miss Dougherty and Moss.


Wow, I had actually missed that comment. That is extremely brazen and reckless to just throw that comment out there - it maligns the reputation of both McCutheon as well as the selection committee, saying that the makeup of the selection committee directly leads to biases. And all of that without any proof or evidence. And as others have said, if it wasn't Maine last year it was very likely the next team up would have been W&M - it's just how everything shook out last year. Terrible to include that swipe at the CAA like that.

I've got no problem with Coulson, but yes, Moss is severly missed over there. I was never a big Dougherty guy but he did improve immensely over his tenure there. My other biggest gripe with Coulson was when Flacco was not even listed on the ballot for the Payton Award his senior year. All those gaudy numbers, takes his team to the championship game, and he couldn't even make the list. He wouldn't have won, but it was made even odder when the NFL was so impressed with his accomplishments and potential that he was a mid 1st round pick in spite of not even cracking the Payton ballot.

[DunkandDukin]

Wow, I had actually missed that comment. That is extremely brazen and reckless to just throw that comment out there - it maligns the reputation of both McCutheon as well as the selection committee, saying that the makeup of the selection committee directly leads to biases. And all of that without any proof or evidence. And as others have said, if it wasn't Maine last year it was very likely the next team up would have been W&M - it's just how everything shook out last year. Terrible to include that swipe at the CAA like that.

I've got no problem with Coulson, but yes, Moss is severly missed over there. I was never a big Dougherty guy but he did improve immensely over his tenure there. My other biggest gripe with Coulson was when Flacco was not even listed on the ballot for the Payton Award his senior year. All those gaudy numbers, takes his team to the championship game, and he couldn't even make the list. He wouldn't have won, but it was made even odder when the NFL was so impressed with his accomplishments and potential that he was a mid 1st round pick in spite of not even cracking the Payton ballot.

geez. I feel dirty just now. first thing I picked out and copied was this idiocy by the appy boot licker about the fixing of the selection committee. And what do you know an Ebirt and Gannon have already made the same comments I had ready to go. What else could bring this trio together on an opinion other than the ravings of this "journalist". I guess he and this review serve some useful purpose...

[Uncle Buck]

I agree the north is more predictable. Pretty safe bet that UNH will win the north and NU and URI will finish at the bottom. Battle for second place and a possible playoff spot between Hofstra, UMass and Maine will be interesting. I'd put my money on Hofstra.

Not sure if HU will do it this year, but i think we are capable of a solid 3rd and maybe second if we get some good bounces.

[BDKJMU]

hahah william and mary ahead of jmu???

hahahhaa

Heck, I'm surprised Coulson didn't pick JMU 5th. In big JMU games (vs Duke and ranked at the time top 8) was 1-7 picking JMU last year.
-Picked JMU to beat Duke & Montana, wrong on both.
-Picked JMU to lose to UMass, ASU, Nova, Wofford, Nova II. Was wrong on all 5.
-The only one he got right was the UR game.

[WMTribe90]

Coulson does seem t ohave it in for JMU (he's really good at hiding his biases). That said, picking WM ahead of JMU is hardly out of the realm of possibility. Like I said, I think 2 through 4 in the south is gonna be a real tight competition.

[DunkandDukin]

Coulson does seem t ohave it in for JMU (he's really good at hiding his biases). That said, picking WM ahead of JMU is hardly out of the realm of possibility. Like I said, I think 2 through 4 in the south is gonna be a real tight competition.

Realm of possibility? Well of course not. It's also possible I find a big bag of cash on my way to football practice this afternoon. Now if we're talking probability, yea it's out side that realm. xwhistlex

So if 2- 4 are real tight, why not 1-5? Who do you see walking away with the 1 spot already?

[CSN Log]

08-20-2009 07:17 AM

Can Richmond give CAA another title?

In some people’s minds, defending national champion Richmond is one of the favorites to win the 2009 title. But the reality of the Colonial Athletic Association is that the Spiders might not even survive their own division, let alone the NCAA playoffs.

Read more ... (http://www.championshipsubdivisionnews.com/index.php/2009/08/20/can-richmond-give-caa-another-title?blog=2#more5424)

[GannonFan]

Realm of possibility? Well of course not. It's also possible I find a big bag of cash on my way to football practice this afternoon. Now if we're talking probability, yea it's out side that realm. xwhistlex

So if 2- 4 are real tight, why not 1-5? Who do you see walking away with the 1 spot already?

I agree with Dunk on this one - although I certainly think nova is and should be the favorite going into the season, it is very possible that any of the 5 teams in the South who aren't named Towson could win the division this year. Nothing, except Towson coming in last, is a sure thing. xthumbsupx

[WMTribe90]

The 2-5 was a mis-type. I meant 3 -5. I see UR and VU as the top two contenders for the CAA South title given what they have coming back. I think WM, JMU and UD all could end up in the playoffs or possibly even win the division, but I think these three teams have more questions to answer in the affirmative for that to happen than either UR or VU.

I would put WM chances of finishing ahead of JMU in the standings at 50-50. Notice I didn't say the chances of WM beating JMU head to head. JMU is a historically a tough match-up for WM. WM played well against VU, UR and UNH last year and showed very poorly against JMU.

Dunk, as much as I'm really enjoying having your "insights" on AGS, I really hope the Zone is back up and running real soon xsmiley_wix

[GannonFan]

Hey - why was this thread moved to the FCS News Feeds forum???? It was started in the FCS Discussion forum and went for about 3 pages there before being moved. I actually had trouble finding this again. Why the move????

[HensRock]

Heck, I'm surprised Coulson didn't pick JMU 5th.

I'm surprised he didn't pick ASU first!
Face it, the man has proven once again, he simply cannot write an article without using the word "Appalachian". He has not improved at all in this regard during his tenure at TSN.
I know it's just a mention in this article, but it's there. It's ALWAYS there.

[WMTribe90]

Please don't move threads for no apparent reason. This thread was doing just fine in the main forum and will now die a quick death here. Mods, less is more, unless there is some compelling reason to delete or move threads.

[BDKJMU]

Hey - why was this thread moved to the FCS News Feeds forum???? It was started in the FCS Discussion forum and went for about 3 pages there before being moved. I actually had trouble finding this again. Why the move????

Yeah, that was retarded. xrolleyesx

[BDKJMU]

Please don't move threads for no apparent reason. This thread was doing just fine in the main forum and will now die a quick death here. Mods, less is more, unless there is some compelling reason to delete or move threads.

Ditto. 1st they delete the thread about the CAAZone being down for no good reason, then they move this thread over here where it will be dead within 24 hrs.

[DunkandDukin]

Dunk, as much as I'm really enjoying having your "insights" on AGS, I really hope the Zone is back up and running real soon

Hunph, have I done something to offend? I'm trying to be gentle. I was actually axin you a legit question, how to know you can't type? But,yea, at least we can agree on something.

Why am I reading and typing in friggin Siberia right now?!?

[Hoyadestroya85]

Geez.. Coulson really likes Villanova.. a lot.

[WMTribe90]

Hunph, have I done something to offend?

I thought the wink emoticon would give away the fact that my post was tongue and cheek. Lighten up Dunk.