Rhode Island start where they finished
Rhode Island went 8-0 in CAA play last season and tied the program record with 11 wins overall. Opta’s model expects them to lead again, projecting 8.4 wins from 12 games and ranking them first in the conference on TRACR.
The pieces that produced that season are still in place. Devin Farrell threw for 3,745 yards, second in the FCS, and carries the conference’s preseason offensive player of the year award into the campaign. Marquis Buchanan led the entire division with 1,337 receiving yards. Moses Meus and Rohan Davy each cleared 100 tackles from linebacker.
One complication sits off the field. Renovations at Meade Stadium push the Rams to Centreville Stadium in Pawtucket, and they play only five home games all year.
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Monmouth close the gap
Monmouth trail by three tenths of a win in the projections, 8.1 against 8.4, after finishing 9-3. They also open a new era. Kevin Callahan retired after 33 seasons, handing the program to only its second head coach, Jeff Gallo, who has worked on the staff since 2005.
Frankie Weaver runs the offence with Gavin Nelson and Tra Neal outside him and Elijah Jennings primed to break out at running back. The defence leans on safety Jaeden Jones, the conference’s preseason defensive player of the year, and needs the players around him to catch up.
New Hampshire and Stony Brook both project at 7.2 wins, which leaves four teams inside a win and a half of each other at the top of the table.
The newer members still trail
The CAA looks nothing like it did at the start of the decade. Villanova and William & Mary walked out, Sacred Heart walked in as the 13th program, and the recent arrivals have struggled to make the standings respectable.
Monmouth’s 16-16 record across four CAA seasons stands out because nobody else is close to it. Campbell sit at 7-17, Hampton at 6-26, Bryant at 1-15 across two years, North Carolina A&T at 2-22 in three. The Aggies also carry a 16-game road losing streak dating to 2023 and conceded an FCS-high 43.6 points per game last season.
Sacred Heart arrive better equipped than most. They went 8-4 as an independent and reached four playoffs in the NEC under Mark Nofri, though the model still puts them at 3.6 wins from 11 games.
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