Five CAA Football teams are ranked in the 2019 AFCA FCS Preseason Top 25 poll that was released on Monday afternoon.

Preseason CAA favorite James Madison received one first-place vote and is ranked No. 2 in the preseason Top 25. Defending CAA champion Maine was voted No. 7 in the poll, followed by No. 12 Towson, No. 21 Elon and No. 23 Delaware. Stony Brook and New Hampshire were among other teams receiving votes.

JMU welcomes back 19 of 22 starters from last year’s 9-4 team that earned an FCS playoff berth for the fifth consecutive year. Third-team All-CAA quarterback Ben DiNucci is among nine regulars back from an offense that averaged 33.9 points per game a season ago. Ten starters return from a defense that ranked sixth nationally in points (14.6 ppg) and yards (289.5 ypg) allowed. First-team All-CAA standouts Ron’Dell Carter and Adam Smith are joined by leading tackler Dimitri Holloway. JMU also adds All-America cornerback Rashad Robinson, who missed all of 2018 due to an injury.

Maine is coming off the best season in school history, posting a 10-4 overall record, capturing its first CAA championship since 2013 and advancing to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs for the first time ever. Eight starters return from a defense that was No. 1 in the nation against the run (79.2 ypg), including all-conference standouts Manny Patterson, Kayon Whitaker, Charles Mitchell and Deshawn Stevens. Quarterback Chris Ferguson and receiver Earnest Edwards top a group of seven offensive starters back.

Towson returns 15 starters from a 7-5 squad that returned to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2013. Senior quarterback Tom Flacco, the 2018 CAA Offensive Player of the Year, is back to lead a Tigers’ offense that averaged a league-best 365.0 yards and 34.5 points per game. He’s joined by All-America running back/returner Shane Simpson and first-team All-CAA wide receiver Shane Leatherbury. Senior All-CAA linebacker Robert Heyward tops a group of seven regulars back defensively.

Elon has seven starters returning on both sides of the ball from a 6-5 squad that made its second consecutive FCS playoff appearance. Quarterback Davis Cheek is back to lead a Phoenix offense that includes top rusher Jaylan Thomas, the 2018 CAA Offensive Rookie of the Year, and leading receiver Kortez Weeks. Cornerback Greg Liggs, Jr. and defensive end Marcus Willoughby earned All-CAA recognition defensively in 2018.

Delaware went 7-5 last season and returned to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2010. Quarterback Pat Kehoe and top rusher DeJoun Lee lead a Blue Hens’ offense that features four returning starters on the offensive line. Defensively, all four starters are back up front, topped by defensive end Cam Kitchen.

CAA Football and the Missouri Valley Football Conference led all leagues with five teams ranked in the preseason Top 25. The Big Sky Conference was next with four ranked teams.

2019 AFCA FCS Preseason Top 25 Poll

1.       North Dakota State (23 first-place votes)

2.       James Madison (1 first-place vote)

3.       Eastern Washington (2 first-place votes)

4.       South Dakota State

5.       UC Davis

6.       Jacksonville State

7.       Maine

8.       Wofford

9.       Weber State

10.   Kennesaw State

11.   Nicholls

12.   Towson

13.   Illinois State

14.   Colgate

15.   Montana State

16.   Indiana State

17.   Furman

18.   Southeast Missouri St.

19.   North Carolina A&T

20.   Northern Iowa

21.   Elon

22.   Sam Houston St.

23.   Delaware

24.   Princeton

25.   Central Arkansas

RV: Stony Brook, New Hampshire