Welcome back a day late, sports fans. I’ve been fortunate to have traveled all over the world and I’ve seen a lot of weird things at airports. Last night, after weather delays taking off, our plane was held up just 6 feet from the gate due to a sinkhole. Yes, a sinkhole at the Atlanta airport required us to wait an additional 45 minutes or so before we could head home. Because of that, I got home too late, tired, and a bit frustrated to post yesterday.
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But no worries, because the 16-team Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is next up in 16th place, 5th in the FCS. They only had one change this year as Bryant shifted from the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference over the off season. Next year, long time CAA member, Delaware, will promote to Conference USA. The most difficult schedule in this conference belongs to the Maine Black Bears whose opponents won 96 games last season giving them a top-5 FCS schedule (they won just 2 games last year, so it may be a long season).
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In the table below, (D) indicates a game against a non-Division I team, (4) indicates a Core 4 (used to be Power 5) opponent, (G) indicates a Group of 5 opponent, (F) indicates a non-conference FCS opponent, and (N) indicates a neutral site game. Allow me to present the CAA:
| Team | 2023 Record (Rank) | 2024 PS SOS (Rank) | Home Games | Away/Neutral Games | Opp 2023 Rec |
| Maine Black Bears (1) | 2-9 (239) | 4.23 (137) | (42-25/.627) Colgate (F), Monmouth, Villanova, Bryant, New Hampshire | (54-31/.635) Oklahoma (4), Montana St (F), Merrimack (F), Albany, Delaware, Rhode Island, Elon | 96-56 (.632) |
| Campbell Camels (2) | 5-6 (204) | 3.47 (149) | (25-43/.368) Delaware St (F), NC Central (F), Stony Brook, North Carolina A&T, Richmond, Towson | (47-24/.653) Liberty (G), W Carolina (F), Rhode Island, William & Mary, Elon, Delaware | 72-67 (.518) |
| Elon Phoenix (3) | 6-5 (179) | 3.20 (160) | (32-37/.464) W Carolina (F), E Tennessee St (F), Richmond, New Hampshire, Campbell, Maine | (40-33/.548) Duke (4), NC Central (F), Albany, Hampton, William & Mary, North Carolina A&T | 72-70 (.507) |
| New Hampshire Wildcats (4) | 6-5 (196) | 3.14 (164) | (21-32/.396) Stonehill (F), Bryant, Rhode Island, Monmouth, Stony Brook | (50-34/.595) UCF (4), Holy Cross (F), Harvard (F), Elon, Villanova, Albany, Maine | 71-66 (.518) |
| Albany Great Danes (5) | 11-4 (141) | 3.12 (166) | (23-32/.418) Long Island (F), Maine, Elon, New Hampshire, Hampton | (42-39/.519) West Virginia (4), Idaho (F), Cornell (F), Bryant, Delaware, Stony Brook, Rhode Island | 65-71 (.478) |
| North Carolina A&T Aggies (6) | 1-10 (225) | 3.01 (174) | (30-26/.536) Winston Salem St (D), Delaware, Hampton, William & Mary, Elon | (47-26/.644) Wake Forest (4), NC Central (F), South Carolina St (F), Richmond, Campbell, Villanova, Towson | 77-52 (.597) |
| Rhode Island Rams (7) | 6-5 (189) | 2.92 (180) | (34-35/.493) Holy Cross (F), Brown (F), Campbell, Maine, Monmouth, Albany | (36-34/.514) Minnesota (4), Long Island (F), Hampton, New Hampshire, Delaware, Bryant | 70-69 (.525) |
| Stony Brook Seawolves (8) | 0-10 (216) | 2.89 (181) | (40-30/.571) Stonehill (F), Morgan St (F), Villanova, William & Mary, Albany, Monmouth | (34-34/.500) Marshall (G), Fordham (F), Campbell, Towson, Bryant, New Hampshire | 74-64 (.536) |
| Villanova Wildcats (9) | 10-3 (137) | 2.61 (197) | (33-37/.471) Youngstown St (F), Long Island (F), Towson, New Hampshire, North Carolina A&T, Delaware | (25-42/.373) Maryland (4), Colgate (F), Stony Brook, Maine, Hampton, Monmouth | 58-79 (.423) |
| William & Mary Tribe (10) | 6-5 (187) | 2.57 (201) | (37-31/.544) VMI (F), Furman (F), Hampton, Campbell, Elon, Bryant | (25-45/.357) Coastal Carolina (G), Wofford (F), Towson, Stony Brook, North Carolina A&T, Richmond | 62-76 (.449) |
| Towson Tigers (11) | 5-6 (198) | 2.55 (203) | (16-37/.302) Morgan St (F), William & Mary, Stony Brook, Hampton, North Carolina A&T | (45-41/.523) Cincinnati (4), North Dakota St (F), Norfolk St (F), Villanova, Monmouth, Richmond, Campbell | 61-78 (.439) |
| Monmouth Hawks (12) | 4-7 (242) | 2.41 (211) | (45-26/.634) Lafayette (F), Fordham (F), Delaware, Bryant, Towson, Villanova | (22-44/.333) FIU (G), E Washington (F), Maine, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Stony Brook | 67-70 (.489) |
| Bryant Bulldogs (13) | 6-5 (176) | 2.27 (226) | (37-33/.529) Franklin Pierce (D), Holy Cross (F), Albany, Richmond, Stony Brook, Rhode Island | (32-35/.478) Brown (F), Delaware, New Hampshire, Monmouth, Maine, William & Mary | 69-68 (.504) |
| Hampton Pirates (14) | 5-6 (220) | 2.24 (228) | (45-25/.643) Virginia Union (D), Morgan St (F), Rhode Island, Elon, Villanova, Richmond | (32-39/.451) Howard (FN), Norfolk St (F), William & Mary, North Carolina A&T, Towson, Albany | 77-64 (.546) |
| Delaware Blue Hens (15) | 9-4 (147) | 2.22 (230) | (38-42/.475) Penn (F), Sacred Heart (F), Bryant, Maine, Albany, Rhode Island, Campbell | (24-24/.500) Villanova, North Carolina A&T, Monmouth, Richmond | 62-66 (.484) |
| Richmond Spiders (16) | 9-4 (154) | 2.07 (239) | (27-41/.397) Wofford (F), Charleston (F), North Carolina A&T, Delaware, Towson, William & Mary | (26-41/.388) Virginia (4), Delaware St (F), Elon, Bryant, Campbell, Hampton | 53-82 (.393) |
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That’s it for this episode. Tune in next time as we continue to countdown the FCS conferences. Thank you for reading and especially for sharing with others, G
