Interesting read on the CAA and playoff chances for our team. sounds bleak, even if we win out. we may be surging too late...
In the FCS Huddle: CAA may be too good for itself
By Craig Haley, FCS Executive Director/Senior Editor
Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - On the surface, CAA Football appears to be in terrific shape for having FCS playoff teams next month.
Four of the teams have at least five wins and another four have at least four wins, making it the strongest conference outside the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
But too much of a good thing can catch up to a top FCS conference. The Missouri Valley learned the hard way last season when only two of its teams qualified for the playoffs (although North Dakota State went on to capture its third straight national title). Too many possible playoff squads had their resumes collapse in November.
Over the final five weekends of this year's regular season, the CAA must hope its teams don't do the same as the Missouri Valley did last year, when they knocked each other off in the wrong combination of results. If it happens in the deep CAA, the conference could go from having four or five qualifiers (if the playoffs began today) to only two come Nov. 23.
Fifth-ranked Villanova (6-1, 4-0) and third-ranked New Hampshire (5-1, 3-0) have been the most outstanding of the CAA teams and are the surest bets for playoff berths.
From there, it's anybody guess.
Two results on Saturday were particularly damaging to the CAA's playoff cause. Delaware (4-3, 2-1) and William & Mary (4-3, 1-2) both let a fourth-quarter lead slip away at home and lost a conference game. Delaware's defeat was worse considering it occurred against a Towson team that was 2-5 and already out of the playoff picture.
Delaware visits William & Mary next weekend so the loser will sink even further.
There's also five-win teams in Richmond and Albany, and high-scoring James Madison and defensive-dominant Stony Brook are surging but come from far off the pace. Any analysis of these teams' remaining schedules creates great pause because of their toughness.
Anything short of eight wins may not be enough for an at-large bid. It won't be easy for most of the teams to get there, and only one will receive the CAA's automatic bid to the playoffs