Wednesday--May 25, 2011

The CAA's Season Preview is out.

Last year at the preseason Media Day, the assembled CAA brain trust picked UMass 8th in their preseason poll. The Minutemen returned only eight starters in 2010, second lowest in the league.

Lets see how things look this year. Blogger does not do columns, which would make the following easier to read.

The CAA sorted by number of returning starters for 2011.

1. Old Dominion---returns all 22 starters from 2010. Record in 2010 8-3. This year will be the first year playing a full CAA schedule
2. James Madison--returning 8 on offense and 10 defense. Total 18. Record 6-5 in 2010
3. Maine--Returning 8 on both offense and defense. Total 16. Record in 2010 4-7.
4. Rhode Island--Returning 10 on offense and 6 on defense. Total 16. Record in 2010 5-6.
5. UMass--Returning 7 on offense and 9 on defense. Total 16. Record in 2010 6-5
6. Towson--Returning 7 on offense and defense. Total 14. Record in 2010 1-10
7. Willian & Mary--Returning 7 on offense and defense. Total 14. Record in 2010 8-4.
8. Richmond--Returning 8 on offense and 5 on defense. Total 13. Record in 2010 6-5.
9. Delaware--Returning 7 on offense and 3 on defense. Total 10. Record in 2010 12-2.
10. Villanova--Returning 5 on both offense and defense. Total 10. Record in 2010 9-5.

 No CAA team will have as few starters returning as did UMass in 2010. However, two of the stronger CAA programs, Delaware and Villanova have significant rebuilding tasks in 2011.

William & Mary with 14 returning starters probably will be the top vote getter in this year's Media Day.

UMass, Richmond and JMU look like the teams who could make a jump up in league standings.

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Off topic: Philly.com says Bruiser Flint would be a good fit for Penn State basketball.

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BC blog "BC Interruption" says the Eagles could be 6-0 by Judgement Day.

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Three FCS teams will be banned from post season play in 2011 because of low APR scores and ten more will lose scholarships.

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I'll be back tomorrow with some recruiting news as UMass has offered to a big OL from Florida.