JMU football picked to finish third in CAA

BALTIMORE — James Madison's football team was projected to finish third in the 2016 Colonial Athletic Association standings on Tuesday during the conference's media day at M&T Bank Stadium.

Also, five Dukes voted to the Preseason All-CAA Team, as announced at CAA Football Media Day on Tuesday morning at M&T Bank Stadium.

Both the order of finish and preseason team were selected in a vote by the league's 12 head coaches and sports information directors.

Richmond and William & Mary were picked to finish 1-2 in the conference ahead of JMU. The Spiders got 19 of the 24 first-place votes. The rest of the predicted order of finish is Villanova, New Hampshire, Towson, Delaware, Stony Brook, Maine, Elon, Albany and Rhode Island.

Two Dukes were named to the Preseason All-CAA Offensive team: redshirt senior offensive lineman Mitchell Kirsch and senior wide receiver Brandon Ravenel. Named to the defensive team were redshirt junior defensive lineman Andrew Ankrah, redshirt senior cornerback Taylor Reynolds and senior safety Raven Greene.

Both Kirsch and Ankrah were selected to the STATS FCS All-America second team last year.

The five preseason all-conference selections were the most since 2007 when four Dukes were awarded across five positions. It is also the first time since 2006 that five different players received the preseason accolade.

JMU opens the season Sept. 3 at home against Morehead State.