Commonwealth Collegiate Power Rankings Week 13 (11-20-24)

By: Joe Dillard Jr.

Headline Photo Credit: Jada Nicholas -LMS Network 

With newly crowned conference champs and teams still fighting for a chance we look at what has been an interesting and fun season here in Virginia for collegiate football.  We have some teams finishing up while others are looking for multiple games with a deep playoff push.  Let’s look and see who is trending up. 

HM Hampton- (5-6) Losing to Richmond 21-24 was the story for this Pirates program as they played to the level of their competition but did not get enough upsets to make a splash this season as one of the top 10 teams in the state.  Looking to go .500 they will travel to Albany and look to secure the sixth win of the season.  They will need to learn the opponents in the CAA if they are looking to grow only going 2-5 in conference with one game left. 

10. Virginia State University (7-4) Coming off a 17-13 loss to Virginia Union after securing a chance to play for the championship is what we anticipated all season for the Trojans.  They have a great team and will look to build off a CIAA regular season title and championship appearance.  They will most likely stay in the rankings due to the championship appearance.  Where will they end?? Well, that is out of their hands now.  

9. Old Dominion- (4-6) Coming off a 32-35 loss to James Madison in what seems to have been their best shot to shoot up the rankings leaves the Monarchs with 2 games left to play looking to go .500 for the year.  They host Marshall this week and will need both games to avoid sliding in the rankings.  Hopefully, the Monarch finish strong and stay above .500 but will need two more performances to achieve this goal. 

8. Randolph-Macon (9-1) Coming off an impressive 27-6 win against Hampton-Sydney College clinched the ODAC championship and allowed the number 15 ranked division III team a first-round bye and will host Washington and JeffersonCollege November 30, which could have them as one of the few teams left playing December football.  In only 5 games the Yellow Jackets have given up double figures in points.  They also went 7-0 in conference play and look poised to make a run.  

7. Virginia Union (8-3) your back-to-back CIAA Champions looked the part holding off a determined Virginia State 17-13 only solidifies why we had them in the rankings from week one.  They can make a deep run in the postseason but needed a good rivalry game that was closely contested to send them into the postseason the right way versus a 91-0 win.  They will travel to Wingate and will look to pull off the upset as they seem to be battle-tested and ready for the opportunity.  

6. Virginia Tech- (5-5)- Losing 14-24 to Clemson was a hard-fought game however they are in the same position as UVA and will have a more favorable opponent in Duke to become bowl eligible.  Ultimately, we are waiting for the Commonwealth Cup as we will know who earned bowl-eligible status the right way.      

5. Virginia – (5-5) The Cavs went to South Bend and lost 14-35 to Notre Dame and will look to rebound against SMU at home but will also be looking to become bowl eligible. The main reason they are ahead of the Hokies and not tied is due to the Pittsburgh win and could have another impressive win if they handle SMU.  Of course, the Commonwealth Cup will ultimately determine who is better. 

4 William and Mary – (7-4) The Tribe still avoided back-to-back losses by beating Bryant University 22-12 which sends the Tribe into the spoiler role as they will travel to (#7/10)ranked Richmond Spiders for the last game of the regular season.  Hopefully, the Tribe has focus for this one as it would be the biggest win of the season and solidifying another good season under Mike London. 

3. Liberty- (7-2) Liberty looks to have found their swagger back after losing two straight they have won two in a row edging UMass 35-34 in overtime.  With the next two games coming up both teams post a 5-1 conference record and with wins, the Flames would jump above them and look to win a C-USA championship.  This is also how the Flames jump back into the number one spot with huge games essentially playoff games now as both Sam Houston and Western Kentucky will be in the same position.  Up first is Western Kentucky but will travel to Liberty before the Flames have to go to Texas.  

2. JMU-(8-2) Winners of three straight as they beat Old Dominion 35-32 and will travel to Boone, North Carolina, and face App State in a must-win game that will keep them in the hunt for the East division championship which will grant them a conference championship game appearance.  A lot of football left but if they handle App State it will give them a chance to beat Marshall who is ahead of them in the standings.  

1. Richmond-(9-2) (FCS #7/10) The hottest team in the state only continues as they took Hamptons best and prevailed 24-21 which positions the Spiders to go 8-0 in the final season of the CAA and would be the outright conference champs.  The only thing is, that William and Mary will be looking for blood as they will be playing the spoiler role and will try to prevent the Spiders from winning 10 games in a row.  If they win, I am sure they will have home-field advantage for a while seeing they have propelled into the top 10 FCS rankings.