JMU coach Mike Houston stands up for the CAA
JOHN O'CONNOR·14 minutes ago
The CAA has six teams in the Athlon preseason FCS poll. No other league has that many, and James Madison coach Mike Houston noticed.
"The CAA is the strongest FCS conference in the entire country," Houston, whose Dukes are ranked No. 2 in that preseason poll, told the ESPN radio affiliate in Harrisonburg. "Everybody in the Missouri Valley will be pissed off hearing me say that, but you look at the depth of this conference, not just those six that are ranked.
"Richmond's not ranked, but I promise you, they're going to be a factor. There are other teams that aren't ranked that are going to be a factor."
North Dakota State, which has won six of the last seven FCS titles (JMU won the 2016 championship), Youngstown State and Northern Iowa are among the traditional powers in the Missouri Valley Football Conference.