A look at the CAA North after half of the 2008 season

The 2008 season is half over for most CAA teams. While the meat of the conference schedule is still to come for the majority of CAA teams, it's possible to get picture of who's hot and who's not in the CAA North so far.

In the CAA North:

• UMass--- Unchanged. The Minutemen were expected to be on the top of the CAA North----- and so far they are. UMass leads the North Division at 2-1 in the league and 4-2 overall. It would be hard to find another FCS team that would have had different results from two games @ JMU and @ Texas Tech. I'll have a more detailed look at UMass later.
• New Hampshire--- UP. Everybody was expecting the Wildcats to decline after the Santos/Ball era. It has not happened. UNH is 1-1 in the CAA and 4-1 overall. Note that the Wildcats have FCS' best win in their 28-10 win over Army . The Wildcat lead the CAA in Total offense and are #2 in scoring offense. They've been doing it with their top running back Chad Kackert hurt. The Wildcats should be favored over Northeastern, Towson, Hofstra and Maine. A UNH win over either Villanova or UMass should put them in the playoffs.
• Northeastern----Unchanged. The Huskies are 1-1 in the league and 2-4 overall. Every year it seems as if Northeastern has one big CAA upset. They'll get their chance with UNH and Villanova at home and William & Mary on the road.
• Maine---- Down. The Black Bears may have lost starting QB Adam Farkes during their big win over Delaware. Maine is last in scoring offense and last in total offense in the CAA. That does not bode well for the remaining 2008 season. The Black Bears should be competitive with Hofstra, Northeastern, Rhode Island and Iona. They have a chance to influence the CAA as they play UNH on the frozen tundra of Orono on November 25th.
• Hofstra--- Down. The Pride is 1-1 in the CAA and 3-3 overall. Hofstra lost starting QB Bryan Savage at the beginning of the season. The Pride lost to Albany and were pounded by James Madison . They still have to play UNH, UMass, @Maine and Richmond. Hard to see more than one or two additional wins for the Pride.
• Rhode Island---UP. It usually takes about three years for an option team to transition to a different offense. The Rams are 0-3 in the CAA and 2-5 overall. However, their offense has shown signs of life with a win over Brown and close loss to UNH . The Rams are leading the CAA in pass offense with 280 yards/game. Rhode Island should at least match their 2007 total of three wins. They seem farther along than most people believed at the start of the season and I'll say they are on the upswing.

UMass and UNH are the only two CAA North teams still in the playoff hunt. As usual, the November 18th game between UMass and UNH in Durham should decide the CAA North Championship.