It was a quiet week in the Coastal Athletic Association. With four teams on a bye, only two teams have moved up in this week’s power rankings as we enter the home stretch of the season.

Each week, The Good 5 Cent Cigar Sports Staff comes up with its cumulative ranking of CAA football teams.

Here is how the CAA stands after week eight:

14th Place: University at Albany Great Danes (1-6, 0-3) (-)

UAlbany’s week off did them no favors. The University of Rhode Island took to the road and dominated the Great Danes in a 58-17 blowout.

The Danes travel to Villanova University this weekend, where they’re likely to once again be well out of their depth.

13th Place: North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University Aggies (1-6, 1-2) (-)

NC A&T had its bye week and will stay put in this week’s ranking.

The Aggies will have their hands full this weekend against a Campbell University team that is hungry for a win to get back over .500.

12th Place: Hampton University Pirates (2-6, 0-4) (-)

Allowing 49 unanswered points in the first half is sure to lose you nearly every game you play, and that’s exactly what the Pirates did against Villanova. We knew the Wildcats were a strong team, but they were on another level on Saturday.

Hampton’s gauntlet continues next week in its search for a first conference win against Monmouth University. The CAA’s top offense, against the Pirates’ bottom three defense, has a real hydrogen bomb vs. coughing baby feel.

11th Place: Bryant University Bulldogs (2-5, 0-3) (-)

The Bulldogs haven’t played a game since Oct. 10 in a 29-19 loss to Brown University. Bryant holds a four-game losing streak, but could the long week of rest be the difference against URI on Saturday?

Probably not. Still, Bryant has played entertaining football this season and should hope to feed off the in-state energy to keep things close.

10th Place: Stony Brook University Seawolves (3-4, 1-2) (-1)

Stony Brook simply couldn’t keep up with Monmouth’s offense last week, something no team in the conference has been able to do.

Four turnovers for the Seawolves didn’t help things and will need to be cleaned up ahead of their winnable matchup against Towson University this week.

9th Place: Towson University Tigers (3-4, 1-2) (-1)

Towson didn’t play this week, but fell a spot due to the inactivity. The Tigers have been masters of none this season and have yet to get a solid running game going.

Hopefully a strong day in the backfield can get Towson over 100 rushing yards per game and over the hump in a tough test against Stony Brook.

8th Place: Campbell University Camels (2-6, 2-2) (-1)

Campbell couldn’t close it out after a tight three quarters of football against the University of New Hampshire. A 15-point fourth quarter brought the Wildcats ahead as the Camels were held scoreless when it mattered most.

The Camels have had a thing for close results, but facing NC A&T this weekend should be a good time for a statement win.

7th Place: University of New Hampshire Wildcats (4-4, 2-2) (+3)

Second-year quarterback Matt Vezza worked through the air and on the ground to take a late lead and down Campbell on the road.

His dual-threat ability returns home to take on a hot College of William & Mary team riding a two-game winning streak.

6th Place: Elon University Phoenix (4-4, 2-2) (-2)

In a week with little movement, Elon is the furthest faller. The Phoenix dropped two spots after turning a 14-10 halftime lead into a 26-21 loss against William & Mary.

Taking on the University of Maine on Saturday will be a tough task, as the Black Bears are well rested and hoping to build on a three-game winning streak.

5th Place: University of Maine Black Bears (3-4, 2-1) (-)

Black Bears typically hibernate for six months of the year, but Maine only gets one week to rest in the CAA.

Maine will have to shake off any drowsiness quickly to defend its top-five position in our rankings. While 2-1 in conference, William & Mary was the team’s toughest test so far and ended up as a one-point defeat. Elon should be right in line with that level of competition on Saturday.

4th Place: College of William and Mary Tribe (4-3, 3-1) (+2)

William & Mary made its Homecoming crowd happy with a 16-point third quarter to take its third conference victory on Saturday.

Now into the top four, the gap to move up to third is wide but closeable if the Tribe continues to string together wins.

3rd Place: No. 13 University of Rhode Island Rams (6-2, 4-0) (-)

It’s hard to score 58 points, take home both CAA Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors and still not move a spot. Unfortunately for the Rams, they picked the wrong week to demolish their opponent, with the two teams ahead of them matching the pace.

Fourth-year quarterback Devin Farrell has hit his stride after a career day, along with a defense that’s been there every step of the way this season. Bryant should provide more resistance, but not enough to keep URI from remaining undefeated in conference play.

2nd Place: No. 11/12 Villanova University Wildcats (5-2, 4-1) (-)

Villanova took a resounding 56-14 win over Hampton behind fifth-year quarterback Pat McQuaide throwing five touchdowns on just 10 completions for 166 yards.

The Wildcats should be shooting for 60 against UAlbany, who are familiar with being boat-raced by their opponents. There’s really no reason to believe that number is out of the question for this Villanova offense either.

1st Place: No. 10/9 Monmouth University Hawks (6-1, 3-0) (-)

What defense in the Football Championship Subdivision can stop Monmouth? We haven’t found the answer yet this season, and we won’t find the answer on Saturday either.

Hampton is not a competitive matchup for the Hawks. If Villanova should shoot for 60, then Monmouth should be shooting for 70. Looking at the remaining schedule, it should be the expectation for this team to win out and continue to score 40+ points per game.

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