Commonwealth Collegiate Power Rankings Week 10 (10-30-24)

By: Joe Dillard Jr.

Headline Photo Credit: Darrell Owens -LMS Network 

Conference championships are starting to be in sight for some teams and we take a look at the new rankings as things are shaking up yet another week. 

HM Norfolk State- (2-6) Coming off a bye week, the Spartans find themselves on the outside looking in as a bye week always proves costly when teams behind you are winning.  They will have Howard University coming into town for their homecoming.  With a win will they move back into the top 10? Must win to find out.

10. Virginia State University (5-3) 45-6 win against Bluefield State and the Trojans continue to roll. They look to get their fourth win in a row against Lincoln traveling to Pennsylvania before hosting Virginia Union at home for what could be the chance to play in the conference championship. Both teams win and that will be the must-watch game next week in the state.

9. Virginia Union (6-2) 56-28 win against Bowie State shows that the Panthers are one of the best teams in the state as they continue to show their dominance winners of 5 straight. Although Division II, teams know how well this Panthers football team is and will look to continue their dominance against Bluefield State and with a win could be playing in what would be a semi-final for the CIAA Championship against VSU.  That’s if both teams win. 

8. Hampton- (5-3) 41-21 win against Elon shows that the Pirates are rolling and looking to extend the winning streak as they host #12 FCS Ranked Villanova in what will be a huge statement for the Pirates if they can sink the wildcats by the sea.  If they can pull this off, then the loss to William and Mary will be minimized by the competitive games they have had against FCS-ranked opponents.  A win will move the Pirates up in the rankings. 

7. William and Mary – (5-3) dropping another spot after taking a tough road loss to 24th Ranked FCS RV Stony Brook Seawolves on the road 13-35, the Tribe still has a chance to make a splash as they have three winnable games coming up starting with North Carolina A&T on the road.  They look to gain some traction as teams are shaping up for the possible playoff run.  

6. Virginia – (4-4) Losing a third straight game is one thing but losing to North Carolina 14-41 has the Hoos in trouble for a bowl opportunity needing 2 of the 4 remaining games with undefeated Pittsburgh up next.  Since they are huge underdogs, I would look out for the Hoos to upset the Panthers just to shake things up in the ACC.  That would be huge, but we will just have to wait and see. 

5. Old Dominion– (4-4) is back at .500 with an impressive 47-19 win against Georgia Southern.  They gave Southern their first conference loss and moved the Monarchs into first place in the Sunbelt Conference. The Monarchs are playing good football winners of three straight and are well within a shot of competing for the Sun Belt Conference Championship.  They will be traveling to Boone North Carolina as they take on Appalachian State looking to improve to 4-1 in the conference. 

4.           Liberty– (5-2) dropping fast in the rankings is the Flames who lost at home to Jacksonville State 21-31 and that makes two in a row.  With a little bit of extra time off since they played back-to-back Wednesdays, they look to take advantage of that time against Middle Tennessee State on the road but will need this win to stay inside the top 5. They have had a weird schedule and I’m sure all teams have obstacles, but consistency was hard to keep with a unique game schedule. 

3. .   JMU-(6-2).  Homecoming was what the Dukes needed as they beat Southern Miss 32-15 and look to focus on a conference championship as they have Georgia State up next. They have some work to do in the conference but will play two of the three top teams to possibly hold the tiebreaker over them as Georgia Southern, the third team has the tiebreaker over them.  For any of it to matter, a W is the first step and that is what the Dukes can control.      

2. Virginia Tech- (5-3)-coming off a third straight win beating Georgia Tech 21-6 the Hokies are poised for a run at the ACC title as they improve to 3-1 in the conference. They will have to travel to Syracuse before they host Clemson so hopefully, they prepare and not be caught in the traditional trap game situation.  Three teams in the ACC are undefeated in conference play but the Hokies with only one loss will look to continue stacking W’s and watching to see who is still standing from the unbeaten. 

1. Richmond-(6-2), with a 41-14 win against Bryant, Richmond moves into the number one spot for the first time.  This comes off a 6-game winning streak and after going 0-2 to start the season.  The Spiders are looking like the team to beat as they are at the top of the CAA conference with Rhode Island.  Next up the Spiders will host Towson as they look to make it 7 in a row.  They are in a “control your own destiny” type space with all W’s they should stay number 1.