Commonwealth Collegiate Rankings Week 10 (11-5-2025)
By: Joe Dillard Jr.
Headline Photo Credit: Brynne Smith-LMS Network
Dominoes are falling, and we have scenarios where teams would love to play spoilers and see their rivals fall short of this season’s success. It’s got a different vibe this year, as we again have multiple teams fighting for a conference championship. But each week the conference makeup changes, and we will see how that affects our teams in the Commonwealth. With a couple of weeks left before we definitively know who will raise a trophy, we take a look at some possible trap games as well. This week we have no honorable mentions as we have either good teams this year or teams that are struggling to remain competitive.
#10. Virginia State University (6-3) Winners of four straight with a victory against Lincoln 35-14, the Trojans continue to produce a good football team with opportunities. The Trojans appear to be in good hands with redshirt freshman RahsaanMatthews Jr. who has posted over 2ooo passing yards with a 20-6 TD-INT ratio and completing over 62 percent of his passes. In this case, they will try to play the role of the spoiler as they travel to Virginia Union. With two other teams with one loss, Union should automatically have their seat at the CIAA championship however VSU would love to send them limping with an L. This is the first trap game listed as Union might still have to bring their A game to secure momentum going into the postseason. The Trojans have been on a roll and look to make this season end with a bang!
#9. Hampton Sydney #25 (7-1) A 61-8 win over Gallaudet propelled Hampton Sydney into the top ten for the first timealong with cracking the top 25 Division III poll. With Randolph Macon left on the schedule, they will have a great chance to move up even more if they can get there first by avoiding the second trap game with Bridgewater coming to Lewis Everett Stadium where they can’t overlook this team anticipating the big matchup against Randolph Macon. As long as they continue doing what they do best, which is a balanced attack averaging 250 yards for rushing and passing. Yes, that’s 500 yards of offense and they will need to continue producing the week before the huge matchup with Macon.
#8. Richmond (5-4) Back in the win column with a 17-14 win against Fordham, the Spiders look to finish respectably in the Patriot League with this being their first season. They have two more conference games with Georgetown up first in the Nation’s Capital and will host Lafayette at home. Both teams are tough conference opponents, and we will see if the Spiders come out above .500 in conference play after these two weeks before a showdown for Capital Cup against William and Mary. It appears as if the defense will have to keep the Spiders in most games with a struggling offense only averaging 314 total yards for rushing and passing.
#7. Liberty University (4-4) Quiet as kept Liberty despite the rough start finds themselves in position to compete for a C-USA title as they are winners of three in a row and had a party in the endzone beating Delaware 59-30 with 561 yards of total offense. Evan Dickens accounted for 217 rushing yards and four touchdowns for the Flames as they look to start a stretch of good complementary football. Huge matchup against Missouri State as both teams are 3-1 in conference play, and the winner will have a legit shot at a championship. Every game matters and is essentially playoff mode for the Flames and we will see how they handle this huge matchup. To have a turnaround like this from the beginning of the season is a testament to what the culture looks like out there in Lynchburg.
#6. College of William and Mary (5-4) Winners of their last three of four, William and Mary will need to finish strong in areas where they have struggled in which are road wins and in-state rivalry games. Handling UAlbany 37-7 might indicate that the Tribe is ready for the challenge and will compete and fight for respect as they are 4-2 in the CAA and the way the dominoes may fall who knows they could have a chance. However, it all continues with them playing complementary football, which is always the theme yet so hard to accomplish on a consistent basis. Games where the Tribe will be the favorite but yet on the road make one wonder if they can handle business to position themselves with a shot at a three-game winning straight heading into a battle for the Capital Cup against Richmond.
#5. Randolph Macon College #18 (8-1) When you think about it Randolph Macon has a unique situation where they have back-to-back tough games however this next one against #25 Hampton Sydney is 14 days between a tough battle against Shenandoah, and this will have the YellowJackets in prime position to win the ODAC and compete for a Division III national championship. With a bye week, they will look to fine-tune an engine that only gives up 12 points per game and less than 250 total yards so if you are a big believer of defense winning you titles then this might be the team. Complimentary football has been the theme for the whole year and with the competition it has shown in the results. A dominant win against Hampton Sydney might improve the number of home playoff games they may have.
#4. Christopher Newport University #12 (8-0) You hate to be very specific on how a team wins however when we are talking football rankings and you only get 10-12 games, well then you better make everyone count while you can. Escaping or playing around with their food with a 49-42 win against Montclair State University, who has a losing record is our last trap game of the week as they looked ahead for #4 Salisbury and barely came out with a win. Which is why I believe they are still swimming behind four teams with one loss. Of course, a win against number 4 will propel them into the top ten however if they had beaten up Montclair this could have been a top ten matchup already but nonetheless, the Captains are in control of their destiny. Just a win and then a blowout in the finale would make one think they are a top 5 team in Division III. Key for the playoff games and making sure you stay at home as long as possible.
#3. Virginia Union University #10 (8-1) Winning 70-14 against Bluefield State University says they are more than enough to move the Panthers up a spot as they have obtained a top 10 spot in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll and looking to handle their rival team up the street in a final tune up before the CIAA conference Championship however this season is different where Union can not afford to lose right now as they have the opportunity to obtain multiple home playoff games with two games left they should not leave any meat on the bone and look to dominate to set themselves up for a national championship run. Hence how they were mentioned earlier as having a trap game against your rival who would want nothing more than to make it harder (pause) on the Panthers to claim a national championship.
#2. James Madison University (7-1) With a trip to Marshall this week gives JMU has a chance to be in the top 25 team along with watching teams stumble the past 10 days, the Dukes mustered up 53 AP votes and were technically 27th in the nation only trailing Iowa in votes for a top 25 standing. The Dukes in the big picture could be undefeated in the conference and could beat up on Washington State to compete with UVA come time for the 12-team playoff. But back to Marshall where they will need to receive every team’s best shot to dethrone the Dukes from a program-changing opportunity. One win at a time will have them in the top 25 and again the dominoes will fall.
#1. University of Virginia #12 (8-1) After four straight weeks of one-possession games and three of them needing extra football, WaHoo nation finally was able to enjoy the end of a game and celebrate their seventh straight win handling California 31-21 continuing to roll and with the College Football Playoff list coming up they find themselves right in the mix. There are no trap games in this scenario if you look at the remaining three games of Wake Forest and Duke who are playing good football and a season finale where it’s been way overdue for UVA to take out rival Tech who has owned the matchup the past decade. With Georgia Tech losing they lead the ACC as the only unbeaten team and will be placed in the college playoffs and will remain each week with a win. The theme of the week shall be one game at a time as it has been all season long.
