Commonwealth Collegiate Power Rankings Week 9 (10-23-24)

By: Joe Dillard Jr.

Headline Photo Credit: Brynne Smith-LMS Network 

We are talking all Virginia Football! This has been exciting to cover so let’s just get right into it!!!

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 (4-3) With an impressive 36-7 road win against Elizabeth City State University, the Trojans move into the top 10 for the first time and will look to take this momentum on the road to Bluefield State University in the second of three straight road games.  If the Trojans pull all three off, then it will lead to a packed Rodgers Stadium as they host Virginia Union in the last game of the regular season. 

9. Virginia Union (5-2) Just absolutely dominating their opponents as the Panthers are on the prowl beating Lincoln 63-12 at Lincoln.  I sure do hope that was not their homecoming.  The Panthers totaled 646 offensive yards and were just flying everywhere on defense and only allowed 11 first downs.  They are starting to get comfortable in the top 10 and looking to see who else might slip as they continue to roll. 

8. Hampton- (4-3) This is how you come off a close loss to a ranked FCS team in Rhode Island and directly make a statement in the CAA that Hampton is no longer an easy out.  59-17 was the damage down in Greensboro as Hampton beat North Carolina A&T for their homecoming. What is known as GHOE (greatest homecoming on earth), looks like Hampton enjoyed every bit of that trip. They host Elon next with a chance to get to .500 in the conference as they look to make a late surge. 

7. Old Dominion– (3-4) Huge win for the Monarchs as they are starting to get things right winning 24-14 against Texas State for homecoming as that seems to be the theme during this time of the year.  ODU has a sneaky hard schedule and will continue to receive credit for every win.  With Georgia Southern coming into town this will give them a chance to get to .500 but more importantly 3-1 in the conference.  Quiet as kept ODU is looking at the Sub Belt Conference championship if they can improve to 3-1 this week.  Again, they will be looking to play leapfrog in the countdown if they win three in a row. 

6. William and Mary – (5-2) Dropping in the rankings despite a win is not normal however the Tribe escaped with a 35-28 win on homecoming against Campbell. A win is a win however the Tribe will need to get back on a winning streak as other teams are getting hot and that is very important on the rankings.  They travel to 24-ranked RV Stony Brook, which could be a huge win for the Tribe. A win will give them a strong power win in FCS and look to move back up in all rankings. 

5. Virginia – (4-3) a swing game in which they would have gone up two spots or down two spots and the Hoos took an L from Clemson 31-48 and looks to refocus on team goals as they are looking to become bowl eligible with 2 more wins.  Hosting North Carolina should heal some of those wounds but will need to come out with purpose if they want to regain traction.  

4.  Virginia Tech– (4-3)-Playing in Blacksburg in late October or early November can be problematic for the opponent as this environment is electric with “Enter Sandman” and over 70,000 rocking to the beat.  Ask Boston College as they are a good football team, however, the Hokies doubled them up with a 42-21 victory and improved to 2-1 with that one loss to Miami which is nothing to lower their credibility so the Hokies could still achieve all their goals with a bunch of ACC football left to play.   

3. JMU-(5-2).  The Dukes fell to Georgia Southern 28-14 which will hurt their national chances to play in the playoff however they are still on track to be conference champs.  Two losses in a row have moved them down to 3, however, they will need an impressive win with other teams getting hot in late October. They will host Southern Mississippi after losing their last 2 road games.  They could drop if they do not look like themselves this week. 

2. Richmond-(5-2), The Spiders have been just as hot as the number one team, and with 5 straight they put on a dominant performance against a good Delaware team 28-9.  Moving up two spots Richmond has a favorable schedule and you can bet that they want to leave the CAA conference in fashion. Looking to go 4-0 in the conference against Bryant while playing a great brand of football. 

1. Liberty– (5-0) looking to stay undefeated as they host Kennesaw State and improve to 6-0.  The Flames are gaining traction to being mentioned in the playoff hunt and this would be monumental for the program as they look to be the first Virginia team in the new college playoff.  They will have a target on their back each week moving forward.