Random Aces

There has been a bevy of news of interest to this blogger, too many to not share in a random post.  I excel at randomness.

On Tuesday night, Daniel Hudson pitched eight strong innings in a 6-1 victory over two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum.  It looks like Justin Verlander has some competition for the best former ODU baseball player in the Majors.  They have 26 wins between them this season.  While Verlander is obviously the more dominant pitcher, Hudson is in his first season in the Majors and has plenty of time to improve.




I got to see Verlander take on the Orioles earlier this season.  I'll give you one guess who won that contest.


Tickets for the second annual Colonial Clash went on sale Tuesday.  The University of Massachusettes takes on the University of New Hampshire at Gillette Stadium.  This may be the first and only time I post a link to the New England Patriots' website with no malice.  Last season almost 33K people saw the Wildcats defeat the Minutemen 39-13.  I can't find word on whether the Colonial Clash will continue once UMass leaves CAA Football for the MAC.

Towson football announced officially today that it will take on the Tigers of LSU in September 2012.  On another Towson note, their football media guide from their official website is worth a look.  New Towson basketball coach Pat Skerry was interviewed on WBAL this evening.  It's hard to not like this guy, from everything I've heard and read from and about him. 

Old Dominion basketball got a verbal commitment from Aaron Bacote of Bethel High School.  The rising senior averaged 15-5-3 as a junior last season and more importantly has a 4.1 GPA.  On more of a downer note, the Monarchs learned that star Kent Bazemore may miss games into December with an injured foot.  George Mason, the Virginia basketball rival of ODU that has respectable fans (I'm 100% genuine here), also picked up a verbal commitment from a solid prospect. 




This photo is sponsored by Jerry Beach to counteract my compliment to GMU fans.

The Virginian-Pilot had an amazing story on the new tennis coach, Aljosa Piric.  It was also announced today that the Monarchs men's soccer team is ranked 26th in the College Soccer News preseason poll. 

Lastly, Saturdayblitz.com is really coming through with quality information in its FCS Roundtable.  This week's topics include key conference matchups and potential FCS wins over FBS programs. 

We'll take a look at Hampton University's football program in the next post.  Look for it by the end of the week. 

Georgia State Football Preview

Once upon a time there was a collection of collegiate athletic programs called The Sun Belt Conference.  ("Once upon a time" includes "now.")  The Georgia State University Panthers were part of this conference from 1976-1981.  Following the Panthers' departure, Old Dominion was a member of the Sun Belt from 1982-1991, and then joined the CAA the following season.  In 2005 Georgia State joined the CAA along with Northeastern University, securing the Colonial's footprint from Atlanta to New England.

While Northeastern dropped its football program following the 2009 season, Georgia State began football the subsequent season.  The Panthers drew an impressive 30K fans to their opening game against Shorter College in the Georgia Dome, and averaged more than 15K the rest of the season.  In today's post we'll take a look at whether Georgia State can expect to improve on their 6-5 record from a year ago.

Playboy model Amy Leigh Andrews is by far the most impressive product of Georgia State University.  (Photo credited to something called BittenAndBound.Com)

Football History
As mentioned above, the Panthers have only had one season.  Through interacting with their fans on message boards (thank you, World Wide Web!) it sounds like there were too many political road blocks for Georgia State football to materialize before now.  Eventually they got the right mixture of president and athletic director; in the late 2000's football was announced and their first season was 2010.

Their only season was a bit of a roller coaster ride.  After trouncing Shorter in front of 30K fans, the following week the team lost to NAIA's Lambuth University in front of an announced crowd of 12K.  Lambuth University no longer exists as a stand-alone school, and their 2011 rematch was thus cancelled.  But that loss was followed with a gritty OT loss to FCS power Jacksonville State.  They won six of their eleven games as the see-saw season eventually ended with a nationally-televised game against Alabama.

Not many FCS teams have made the cover of ESPN the magazine over the years, let alone a start-up FCS program.  When ESPN gives you that much free press there's no doubt that people pay attention.  The long-term question is, will that attention lead to winning?  Only time will tell.


This is not as cute as Amy Leigh Andrews.  (Photo credited to ESPN the Magazine)


2010 Highlights
The Panthers finished 2010 with a winning record, which in and of itself is a highlight.  With teams like Alabama, Jacksonville State and Old Dominion among their opponents, a winning record is an accomplishment.  Redshirt freshman QB Drew Little threw for more than 2,100 yards with 18 TD's.  Their punter, who's lining up to be the starter at QB for 2011, was cited several times for strong performances by the College Football Performance Awards last season.  Also, did I mention they played Alabama on national television to end their season?  

History with Old Dominion
As 2010 was Georgia State's only season to date, they've had one lone game against ODU: a loss of 34-20.  The Panthers took a 6-0 lead early but saw the Monarchs score 34 unanswered points, with Georgia State scoring two touchdowns in garbage time. 

Led by running back Mario Crawford, the Monarchs rushed for 229 yards against the Panthers in 2010.

2011 Outlook
The 2011 offseason has been so fluid for the Panthers, it's difficult to establish reasonable expectations.  We'll list what has happened and try to figure it out at the end.

Star Jackson, a gifted QB who transferred from Alabama before the 2010 season, left the program in the winter after playing in only four games.  In March it was announced that Drew Little would be suspended the first four games of 2011 for a violation of team rules.  Three others were suspended (one of whom would subsequently leave the team) and another was dismissed from the team. 

Now for some good offseason news - there will be three new BCS transfers on the Panthers' roster this year.  AJ Portee, a defensive end who previously played at UConn, announced in May that he was transferring.  Subsequently Donald Russell and Alex Smith, former Kentucky Wildcat offensive players, officially transferred in July.  Georgia State fans hope these three BCS transfers provide better results than Star Jackson.

And now back to the not-as-good offseason news.  Kelton Hill, the Panthers' leading rusher from 2010 who was expected to start in place of the suspended Little, was arrested and charged with forcible entry in relation to a burglary.  Hill's player bio has been pulled from the Georgia State Athletics web site and he is currently not with the team.  We'll let the court system settle this one. 

The two remaining quarterbacks on the roster are Bo Schlecter, their punter from last season, and Ben McLane, an incoming freshman.  However, Coach Bill Curry announced recently that Little's suspension may be reduced, even though it has nothing to do with the lack of depth at the position.  In related news, I have a skyscraper in Atlanta to sell Georgia State.

How soon will Drew Little be taking snaps as the Panthers' QB?

So what does it all mean?  Hell if I know.  Their defense gave up more than 183 yards per game on the ground last season.  How much improved will they be with Portee's arrival coupled with improvement of their returning players? 

Regardless of how improved the defense can be, how good will the offense be?  Forget that their projected starting QB was their punter last year; for what we know he's a decent athlete who could do well at the position.  How much practice time will Drew Little get with the first team offfense throughout camp and into the season?  Won't rotating reps with the first team between quarterbacks be more disruptive than helpful, especially if we don't know the timetable for Little's return? 

Side note - the Panthers' quandry reminds me of the 1991 Philadelphia Eagles.  That team had a defense that rivaled the '85 Bears and the '00 Ravens.  However, they couldn't even make the playoffs because of the quarterback situation.  Randall Cunningham was injured that year and the offense simply didn't score enough, negating superior results from Reggie White and Company.

Unfortunately for Bill Curry, his defense is not the 1991 Eagles.  They should absolutely improve this season simply because they have a full season under their belts, as well as an influx of talent.  I doubt that talent will be enough for them to win more than one game that Little misses - the season-opener against Clark Atlanta University.

CAU is one of three sub-FCS teams Georgia State faces, which I find odd since ODU didn't schedule sub-FCS teams after its first two games of its first season, but you should expect the Panthers to win those games.  Other winnable games include a game against start-up University of Texas - San Antonio, as well as their season finale against Campbell.  All bets are off beyond that - it's not a matter of talent on Georgia State, it's a matter of continuity of the offense.

Summary
There is no doubt that Georgia State has some talented players on its roster - five players (including Little) were named to the CFPA Watchlist.  Six players were named to Phil Steele's 2011 Preseason All-Independent Team.  The team won six games last year and other than Little and his four-game suspension, they are returning much of that talent from last year.  But at this time I cannot pick a team with a punter at quarterback to defeat an ODU team that now has four years of scholarship athletes cycled through the defense.  There are more than five weeks before the game is played and a lot can happen, but things are shaping up well for ODU remain undefeated against the Panthers.

Campbell University Preview

At the end of my last post, I mentioned that my next post would take a look at the CAA members' chances of defeating their FBS opponents in 2011.  After all, in the past two seasons we've had Villanova, William and Mary, Richmond and James Madison all defeat FBS teams, three of which were ACC teams.  However, David Teel beat me to that conept and posted his own article.  Thankfully I hadn't done any research so I don't have to worry about time spent wasted.  Moving on...

The Old Dominion University football team reports to camp on August 8.  It'll take some time to research all eleven opponents so I figured I should start now and reference the research later in the season.  So first up we have the Campbell University Camels of the Pioneer Football League.

Football History
Located in Buies Creek, North Carolina, Campbell University fielded a football team from 1925 through 1950.  There was a six-year hiatus during World War II from 1940-1945.  Due to international conflicts in Korea, their administration dropped the program after the 1950 season.  In 2006 Campbell announced that foootball would return for the 2008 season.  Playing their home games in Barker-Lane Stadium, the Camels have amassed a record of 7-26 since re-starting football. 




The home Campbell University football, Barker-Lane Stadium seats 5,000 Camels. 
Think of how much water is stored in that place!


2010 Highlights
In 2010 the Camels repeated their 2009 record of 3-8.  Their best game of the season was a 56-14 win over Valparaiso.  Tight end Mike Stryffeler was named to the 2010 All-Pioneer Football League First Team, while three other Camels were named to the All-PFL Second Team.  Redshirt senior quarterback Daniel Polk led the team in passing yards (1,263) as well as rushing yards (708), accounting for 20 total touchdowns.  It will be difficult for the 2011 Camels to replace that kind of production.

History with ODU
Campbell has played Old Dominion in football twice since the Monarchs started football.  In 2009 Old Dominion won 28-17 and demolished Campbell 44-13 in 2010.  Both Campell and Old Dominion announced their return to football in 2006, and Campbell started a season ahead of the Monarchs.  However, ODU has the advantage of being a program that offers scholarships, unlike the Camels of the PFL.  It follows that the Monarchs could recruit better talent.

2011 Outlook
After searching online for previews of Campbell University football's 2011 season, I couldn't find anything.  This team may have the least fan support and media coverage of ODU's 2011 opponents.  Their athletic department has yet to produce a 2011 media guide so I'm going off last year's guide. 

Randel Herring returns to lead the Camels on defense.  (Photo credited to AstroTurf USA)

On offense the Camels lose both Polk and Stryfeller to graduation - their most productive player (Polk) and their only first-team conference player (Stryfeller).  The defense also loses only two players to graduation and returns two 2010 All-PFL Second Teamers in DL Randel Herring and DB Jared Hart, both rising RS Seniors.  The team loses four of 22 starters and you might expect to see some players show significant progression.  However, these are the same players who have consecutive 3-8 seasons, so how much better will they get? 

It deserves its own paragraph to point out that OL Branden Burt was named to the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

Although there were no Camels named to the 2011 College Football Performance Awards Watchlist, they had two players named to the Phil Steele 2011 PFL Preseason Team - Hart and senior RB Rashaun Brown.  Brown ran for 673 yards at 5.7 yards/attempt in only nine games last season.  They'll rely on him more with the graduation of Polk.

Summary
Winning at a rate of 21% over three years, the Camels are the perfect team for the Monarchs to work out kinks in their game to start the season.  Campbell had an extra year of games to get a leg up on Old Dominion between the two start-up programs, but it should suffice to say that ODU has better program to date.  Discounting overall records, Old Dominion is 2-0 head-to-head against the Camels.  Unless Campbell has a bevy of five-star recruits joining the program to instantly turn things around, the reader can expect the Monarchs to begin their season 1-0 with a victory over the Camels.

CAA Media Day on the World Wide Web

For reasons that will be spared from the reader, yesterday's post was somewhat rushed.  It was awesome seeing an ODU football alum signing with an NFL team, even if it's just as an undrafted rookie free agent.  Basketball has been Old Dominion's dominant sport for most of its existence, and while I'm proud of the team and support it, my passion is football.  I needed to post just to share the excitement of that.

Beyond Mayo's signing, I briefly discussed the CAA Football Media Day.  I'm using this post to share online articles from a wide range of media who are paid to write.  (Might yours truly be included in such a group some day soon?  Stay tuned...)

There is an official CAA Football YouTube account.  They have a slew of video interviews with the head coaches posted.  Of course I'll share the direct link to the interview with the head coach of Old Dominion, Bobby Wilder. 

Coach Wilder instructs the special teams unit during last season's finale.

Starting with the news outlets local to Hampton Roads, Rich Radford provides a report from the CAA Media Day.  Another local paper, The Daily Press, had separate stories on William and Mary, Old Dominion and James Madison. 

A bit further north of Hampton Roads, the Richmond Times-Dispatch had an article examining the fluidity of CAA Football as a conference.  They also had an analysis of the Richmond Spiders.  There is probably a story on James Madison at DNROnline but there's a subscription fee.  What local, online newspaper charges for access to news?  Honestly?

The Baltimore Sun took a look at the rebuilding project that Coach Rob Ambrose undertook two years ago, and how far they've come to this point.  They should triple their win output from last year of one victory.  As a Baltimore resident, I'm just happy there's a CAA team 15 minutes down the road.




Will Coach Ambrose's program turn it around in Year Three? (Photo credited to Jed Kirschbam of the Baltimore Sun)

One online Delaware news source discusses the respect that conference foes have for Delaware's program, voting them third in the preseason poll.  The Hens bring back proven talent at all positions except the starting QB and the secondary.  The Hens' long-time football rival Villanova Wildcats were picked to finish seventh in the conference this season.  Head Coach Andy Talley was more than a little surprised by this.

I couldn't find local coverage of Rhode Island's experience at the media day.  The Rams have already announced they're leaving the CAA following the 2012 season.  The Sports Network put up a solid post about the program's prospects for the season.

UMass is beating Rhode Island out the door by leaving at the end of this season.  I'll focus on them as we lead up to the game at the end of October, but I won't spend time on them for now.  There was no local coverage for Maine, but I found a release from their official sports web page.  Lastly, The Union Leader took a look at New Hampshire, who was picked to finish fourth in the CAA.  If the Wildcats do finish fourth with at least seven wins, you can expect to see them in the FCS playoffs once again.

So what does it all mean?  The CAA Football Conference is pretty bad ass for being the first FCS conference to get its media day broadcast on ESPN(3).  A lot of local newspapers are taking notice and expressing interest in providing substantial coverage.  In the next post, we'll take a look at which CAA teams have the best chances to defeat their 2011 FBS opponents.

Mecklenburg...Jackson...Mayo?

It's been a busy week on this side of the world.  There's been a lot of football news this week and I haven't had a chance to review it all, until now.  First and most importantly for this blog, Old Dominion University had a football alum sign an NFL contract for the first time.  It was announced Tuesday that Deron Mayo signed a contract with the Denver Broncos as an undrafted rookie free agent. 

Deron, the younger brother of New England's Jerod Mayo, is already behind the eight ball - he's an undrafted rookie free agent who must learn a playbook in the shortest NFL training camp in a long time.  He's also listed at 5-11 and 220 pounds, which is on the lighter side for NFL linebacker standards.  His best bet is to earn a roster spot as a special teams contributer.  But no matter how he performs in camp, we're proud of Deron's accomplishments!

A former standout at Hofstra, Mayo (#5) was a captain for Old Dominion in his one season with the Monarchs.

There were several other CAA players who signed contracts as undrafted free agents when the signings began on Tuesday.  You can read a list of the players from FCS and lower-division schools here.  The other CAA player I wanted to specifically mention was Pat Devlin of Delaware.  I got to watch the Blue Hens play GSU in the FCS semifinals last season in person (and a few other games on TV), and this guy impressed me with his decision-making.  You can see him read through his progressions on passing plays.  There are questions about his arm strength but he shouldn't have issues with inclement weather in Miami.

Pat Devlin can read defenses, but does he have the arm strength for the NFL?

Wednesday was the CAA Football Media Day for the upcoming season.  The event was covered on ESPN3.com, a first for an FCS conference.  The CAA Football Blog had a live chat during the event whereby fans were given the chance to interact with each other and the blog's administrators.  William and Mary was tabbed as the preseason favorite to win the conference; Old Dominion was picked tenth out of eleven teams, beating out Towson for last place. 

During Media Day, the conference announced that 28 games involving CAA teams will be broadcast on television.  This represents the best television package among FCS conferences.  You'll get to watch Old Dominion at Georgia State (9/10), at Delaware (9/24) and home against James Madison (10/29) at the Oyster Bowl. 

Lastly, the FCS Roundtable on SaturdayBlitz.com discussed the topic of the favorites to win the national title this season.  If you're a fan of Georgia Southern, William and Mary or James Madison, you'll enjoy my post.  You can expect to see me write more as our busy season winds down, plus I may soon be writing for a favorite fan forum in an official capacity.  For which forum would that be?  Stay tuned to find out!

ODU and CAA Football Updates

This was somewhat of an historic week for this blog.  A contribution I made to the FCS Roundtable on Saturday Blitz was published.  We'll get to that in a second.  But beyond my own blog, it has been a pretty significant week for ODU football and the CAA Football conference in general.

Old Dominion University sold out is allotment of 14,000 football season tickets.  There remain more than 1,700 people on the waiting list.  I have my two seats ten rows back at the 50 behind the visitors' bench.



VBR Production's season tickets were renewed!  You can expect more high-quality pictures for each game.

There were two CAA First Team players each on offense and defense on The Sports Network/Fathead.com All-American FCS team.  There was a slew of second-and-third team CAA players on the list well.  Old Dominion's Jonathan Plisco was named second-team punter.

It was announced this week that the CAA Football Media Day will be broadcast on ESPN3.com on Wednesday, July 27.  I have a regular job and I don't think the CAA would allow a random blogger to attend this event, so I'll have to check the highlights.  This is the first time that an FCS conference's media day will be broadcast on ESPN3.  Rising RS Seniors Thomas DeMarco and Ronnie Cameron will represent Old Dominion as student-athletes at the event. 

I responded to a request from SaturdayBlitz.com for FCS bloggers to establish a roundtable discussion throughout the season.  Our first question surrounded our conference's best options to win the Payton and Buchanan Awards, as well as the most important players on offense and defense on the teams we follow.  Click here to see my responses to these requests.  Not surprisingly, Thomas DeMarco and Ronnie Cameron were the two most important players I identified for the Monarhcs.

Lasty, on another personal note, I ordered tickets to Old Dominion's first conference game at Delaware on 9/24/2011.  I'm going with a couple friends who graduated from Delaware so it'll be insufferable if ODU loses.  But I'll be able to blog about the experience! 

2011 Old Dominion Football Schedule

On September 3, 2011, Old Dominion will host the Campbell University Camels to kick off their inaugural season as a member of CAA football.  We'll take a high-level look at the Monarchs' schedule in this post.  Leading up to the first weekend in September, I'll get more in depth with the team's opponents as I do more research. 

The full schedule can be found at ODUSports.com's website here.  Home games will be in all caps.

9/3/2011 - CAMPBELL
Campbell University started FCS football a couple years ago at the same time as Old Dominion.  2011 will mark the third consecutive season the two start-up programs face each other.  The Monarchs won 28-17 in 2009 and crushed the Camels 44-17 in North Carolina last season.

9/10/2011 - at Georgia State
Future conference mate Georgia State scheduled a home-and-home with Old Dominion for 2010 and 2011 before joining CAA Football in 2012.  Last season the Monarchs were up 34-6 in the fourth quarter at home before taking their foot off the pedal and winning 34-20.  This season they were lining up to be more of a challenge, but in the spring the team's first-string QB was suspended for their first four games.  This week it was announced their second-string QB was arrested and charged with forcible entry in connection with a burglary.  The Panthers' projected starting QB now is their punter from last season, to be backed up by a true freshman. 

9/17/2011 - HAMPTON
The Monarchs will conclude a home-and-home with Hampton Roads' rival Hampton University this season.  Last season the Monarchs blocked two punts in a 28-14 win.  The Pirates' defense was surprisingly stout in the game, but when the defensive line is anchored by an NFL-quality DT, maybe it wasn't as surprising as it initially thought.  There's no word on whether this rivalry is scheduled beyond this season.

9/24/2011 - at Delaware
And now, for something completely different.  The CAA offices did the Monarchs no favors by scheduling their first conference game against the FCS national runners-up, the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens.  This team is legitimate, even if they have lost star QB Pat Devlin to graduation.  Delaware opens its season against Navy; a Blue Hen victory should not be considered an upset.  We'll examine this team as we get closer to the game.  Tickets to this game have been ordered so I'll be able to provide a personal game report.

VBR Productions saw Delaware up close in person in the FCS playoffs against GSU.  This team will be the biggest challenge for the Monarchs to date.

10/1/2011 - UMASS
Minutemen, we hardly knew thee.  The University of Massachusettes announced its plans to join the MAC conference in 2012 for football.  The administration and the MAC felt it was in the best interests for the Minutemen to join, and it's hard to fault a team that's not a full member of the CAA to jump at the FBS opportunity.  This will be the Monarchs' only conference game against the team, so I won't spend further time now on them.

10/8/2011 - at Rhode Island
One of the teams from the old Yankee Conference that UMass is deserting is Rhode Island.  I'm seriously debating traveling up to see this game, but the more sensible alternative is to stay local and see Towson at Johnny Unitas Stadium.  We'll see how adventurous VBR Productions is feeling as we get closer.  The Rams finished 5-6 (4-4) last season.  Head coach Joe Trainer is excited at the level of talent his team displayed in the Rams' spring game this season.

10/15/2011 - TOWSON
This game represents what may be Old Dominion's best chance at its first conference victory.  The Tigers have gone winless in the CAA since beating Rhode Island on October 10, 2009, and their only victory in 2010 was a five-OT game against Coastal Carolina.  Coach Rob Ambrose begins his third season as the helm of Towson's football program.  He seems to be going about recruiting the right kids and coaching them to turn around the struggling program.

10/22/2011 - at Villanova
Have you noticed a lack of a bye week yet?  Don't hold your breath waiting for it.  After taking on the weakest conference foe based on last year's records, ODU travels to Philadelphia for a showdown with Villanova.  The 2009 FCS national champions made a great run in the 2010 playoffs but couldn't get past recurring injuries to standout Matt Szczur.  But who cares about that right now?  Two words, 'Nova - PETEY SESSOMS!

10/29/2011 - JAMES MADISON
When I attended Old Dominion, I hated James Madison way more than I hated Virginia Commonwealth.  I remember Kent Culuko draining a three-pointers as the buzzer sounded in the CAA tournament final in 1994, and the hatred grew from there.  Then I encountered numerous JMU fans and they seem decent enough in person.  (Conversely over time, I encountered numerous VCU fans who threw food and beer at me and mine when we simply walked by.  But I'll save that for basketball season.) 

The game against James Madison should re-ignite the "hatred" between fans of the two schools.  The ODU administration wisely resurrected the Oyster Bowl for this game.  For more on the history of the Oyster Bowl, click here - it's quite fascinating.  As for the game itself, James Madison returns a top-two CAA defense from last season.  This is the defense that defeated Virginia Tech last season, so the talent is unquestionable.  It'll be a tough game for Thomas DeMarco and Company. 

Hokie fans found out how talented the JMU Dukes are.

11/5/2011 - RICHMOND
The Spiders return USC-transfer Aaron Corp to the lineup in 2011 after he missed six games due to a knee injury.  At least one draft analyst has Corp as the tenth-best quarterback prospect for the 2012 NFL draft.  Regardless, we must never forget that the University of Richmond almost single-handedly destroyed the CAA more than ten years ago.  Infinite thanks go out to Delaware, Hofstra, Towson and Drexel for jumping the America East conference to save what we now know to be the CAA.

11/12/2011 - at William and Mary
Anyone who attended the game last season between the Tribe and the Monarchs can attest to the electricity in the air.  Foreman Field was rocking before, during and after the game.  Old Dominion held a lead late into the fourth quarter before falling 21-17.  There's no question that the Tribe were the better team last year but it was good to see the Monarchs give them an extremely tough test.  This season, William and Mary represents the eleventh consecutive opponent for the Monarchs without a bye week. 

As if playing in the best FCS conference weren't tough enough, they scheduled us to play eight straight CAA opponents in a row.  Hopefully attrition will be minimal and we can give the Tribe another effort to end our regular season.

The Monarchs got their first taste of CAA action last season and held up well against the Tribe, ultimately losing 21-17.

As the season approaches I will have more in-depth analysis of the Monarchs' opponents.  Some teams (James Madison) are more vocal on the web than others (Campbell), so it'll be easier to research some teams more than others.  Kickoff is less than two months away!