Preseason Rankings 2023

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Drew Adames
Football 6/1/2023 12:01:00 PM

Rhode Island Ranked in Preseason Top 25 Polls
KINGSTON, R.I. - For the second-straight season, Rhode Island Football has received national attention in the preseason polls as the team was slotted 18th in the Athlon Sports Top 25 and 25th in the HERO Sports Top 25.

The Rams, who just missed the 2022 FCS playoffs after going 7-4 a year ago, are one of five CAA Football programs to be tapped by Athlon Sports, joining No. 4 William & Mary, No. 8 New Hampshire, No. 21 Richmond and No. 25 Delaware. Villanova also received votes. On the HERO Sports list, Rhody came in at No. 21 to fall in behind No. 7 William & Mary and No. 14 New Hampshire but ahead of No. 23 Richmond. Both Delaware and Elon were listed as teams that received votes.

Rhody's recognition comes on the heels of a No. 14 preseason ranking by Athlon in 2022 and is a reflection of the momentum that the program has gained over the last few years. Rhode Island has finished four of its past five campaigns over .500 and will return a slew of CAA All-Conference picks on both sides of the ball in right guard Nick Correia, left tackle Lorenzo Thompson and linebacker Evan Stewart.

In 2022, the Rams spent nine weeks ranked within the Top 25, reaching as high as No. 14 in the AFCA Coaches Top 25.

The team will begin the 2023 season with a game at Georgia State on Thursday, Aug. 31. Kickoff against the FBS foe is scheduled for 7 p.m.

For season ticket information, visit GoRhody.com.

2023 Athlon Sports Preseason Top 25
1. South Dakota State
2. North Dakota State
3. Montana State
4. William & Mary
5. Holy Cross
6. Furman
7. Idaho
8. New Hampshire
9. Southeast Missouri
10. Montana
11. Southeastern Louisiana
12. UIW
13. Samford
14. UC Davis
15. Sacramento State
16. North Dakota
17. Mercer
18. Rhode Island
19. Weber State
20. Southern Illinois
21. Richmond
22. Central Arkansas
23. UT Martin
24. North Carolina Central
25. Delaware
Receiving Votes: Austin Peay, Florida A&M, Northern Iowa, Villanova, Yale

2023 HERO Sports FCS Preseason Top 25
1. South Dakota State
2. North Dakota State
3. Montana State
4. Holy Cross
T-5. Furman
T-5. Idaho
7. William & Mary
8. Samford
9. Incarnate Word
10. Sacramento State
T-11. Southeastern Missouri
T-11. Weber State
13. North Carolina Central
14. New Hampshire
15. Southeastern Louisiana University
16. Montana
17. North Dakota
18. UC Davis
19. Mercer
20. Jackson State
21. Eastern Kentucky
22. Gardner-Webb
T-23. Richmond
T-23. Youngstown State
25. Rhode Island
Receiving Votes (ordered from most voting points to least): Northern Iowa, Chattanooga, Delaware, Southern Illinois, Austin Peay, Elon, Florida A&M


https://gorhody.com/news/2023/6/1/footb ... op-25.aspx

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[Rhody15]

The STATS poll is the most referred to FCS poll though right? Equal to the AP Poll in FBS.

Regardless, still cool to have national recognition in multiple preseason polls.

[RhowdyRam02]

The STATS poll is the most referred to FCS poll though right? Equal to the AP Poll in FBS.

Regardless, still cool to have national recognition in multiple preseason polls.

Correct, the NCAA recognizes the Stats poll and coaches poll on their FCS website

[RhowdyRam02]

The STATS poll is the most referred to FCS poll though right? Equal to the AP Poll in FBS.

Regardless, still cool to have national recognition in multiple preseason polls.

Correct, the NCAA recognizes the Stats poll and coaches poll on their FCS website

The STATS poll came out today and we're ranked #21. William & Mary is 4th, New Hampshire is 11th, Richmond is 18th, Delaware is 22nd, Elon is 33rd, and Villanova is 37th.

We're at Villanova 9/23, host Richmond 10/14, and host New Hampshire 10/28

[RhowdyRam02]

We opened at #22 in the STATS poll last year for reference

[jcru]

So, two of those polls only have W&M, New Hampshire, and Richmond ranked higher than URI, and on one of those polls, only W&M and New Hampshire ranked higher. And URI does not play W&M this year.

So, the standard to go to the playoffs is you have to win 6 out 8 CAA games. By all means, unless URI underperforms by just about everyone's expectations this year, they should be going to the playoffs.

Call it being the victim of your own success, but those are the expectations, and recall that both W&M and New Hampshire were both very winnable games on the road last year, that most people agree, they should have won. This year, they play New Hampshire at home, Richmond at home, W&M not at all, and both Maine and Villanova away, back to back at the beginning of the season.

We will know, very early on, if this team is going to live up to its potential.

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PreSeason FCS AFCA Coaches Poll August 14
1. South Dakota State
2. North Dakota State
3. Montana State
4. William & Mary
5. Holy Cross
6. Furman
7. UIW
8. Sacramento State
9. Samford
10. Weber State
11. Southeast Missouri State
12. New Hampshire
13. Idaho
14. Montana
15. Southeastern Louisiana
16. Richmond
17. UC Davis
18. North Dakota
19. North Carolina Central
20. Northern Iowa
21. Delaware
22. Mercer
23. Rhode Island
24. Gardner Webb
25. Florida A&M

Others with votes:
Yale 64
Eastern Kentucky 59
Fordham 58
Jackson State 37
Elon 30
St Thomas Minnesota 30
Youngstown State 28
Princeton 26
Southern Illinois 26
Martin 23
Central Arkansas 23
Chattanooga 13
North Carolina A&T 13
Illinois State 12
Northern Arizona 12
Southern 9
Davidson 7
St Francis (PA) 7
Tennessee Tech 6
Howard 6
Pennsylvania 4
Abilene Christian 4
Austin Peay 3
Campbell 2
Villanova 1