D1AA in the polls

I don't know if anyone saw the AP Top 25 this week but Richmond had one vote. What a great thing to see. Richmond is the first D1AA team to get a vote either major poll since 2007. It was two years ago that the rules were changed to allow D1AA teams be eligible after Appalacian St beat then #5 Michigan in the Big House. The week after the rule change App St got 19 votes, then 5 votes, then fell off. Northern Iowa then popped up in week 13 with one vote, and after winning the D1AA championship App St got 5 more at the end of the season. In 2008 we basically forgot about D1AA teams being in the AP poll and it seemed like the massive upset was a blip on the college football landscape. Seeing Richmond pop up in early November shows that the CAA is getting some very serious respect. Make no mistake, it's well earned. Richmond beat a 5-3 Duke team that's 3-1 in the ACC and is in the driver's seat for the ACC title. Villanova, Richmond, and William and Mary (All CAA teams) are in the top 60 of the Sagarin rankings, and the CAA is neck and neck with the Sun Belt for conference rankings. If a Sun Belt team had a road win over the ACC and was undefeated in conference they would be getting votes. In fact, Troy does have a vote in the Coaches Poll despite having a weaker resume than Richmond. Hopefully they will continue to rise as they prove more and more that they are top notch team.