The James Madison University football squad is ranked 15th in The Sports Network/Fathead.com Top 25 Preseason Poll, announced on Monday by the news service. The poll is voted on by national media members and Football Championship Subdivision sports information directors.
JMU ended its 2009 season with a four-game winning streak that pushed the Dukes’ final record to 6-5. Madison is one of six CAA teams in the Top 25. Villanova was picked to defend its national title from a year ago, having received 104 of the 126 first-place votes. William & Mary was picked fourth, followed by Richmond in sixth, New Hampshire in 10th, JMU in 15th and Delaware in 16th. Maine and Massachusetts also were within the next 15 vote getters outside the top 25, giving the league eight of the top 40 teams in the country.
CAA Football has had a national finalist in each of the past four seasons and six of the last seven, including national champions Delaware (2003), James Madison (2004) and Richmond (2008) to go along with Villanova last season.
In addition to those five games scheduled against ranked CAA opponents, the Dukes will also take on Preseason-Big South Conference favorite and three-time defending league champion Liberty at Bridgeforth Stadium on Sept. 25. JMU will also take on the Football Bowl Subdivision’s Virginia Tech, who is ranked sixth in the USA Today’s top-25 poll and eighth in ESPN.com’s power rankings. That will give the Dukes nine of its 11 games against opponents ranked in the top 25 or receiving votes nationally in their respective polls.
Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].
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