Siena senior Clarence Jackson talks about Saturday's exhibition game against Adelphi.

ALBANY - Siena scored the game's final 11 points to hold off a stingy Adelphi team in downtown Albany on Saturday afternoon.

Clarence Jackson scored a team-high 15 points, including the final eight points of the game as Siena rallied from 59-55 with 4:08 remaining.

Senior forward Ryan Rossiter scored four straight points to tie the game at 59-59, and then Jackson took over.

"They (Adelphi) played well enough to win," said Rossiter, who finished with 11 point and eight rebounds.

Richard Byrd scored a game-high 22 points and David Akinyooye finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds for Adelphi.

Thanks to our sister paper The Trentonian and colleague Ben Doody for this video.

Siena senior froward Ryan Rossiter talks about being named MAAC preseason Player of the Year.

It's been a long day, filled with MAAC basketball.

At the end, there is some good news for Siena fans. Blair Academy's 6-foot-9 big man Lionel Gomis has verbally committed to come to Loudonville, according to a source.

Gomis would join Robert Poole (Haddonfield, NJ) as players who have committed for the 2011-12 season.

Here's more on Gomis

New Jersey Herald story

Here is what ESPN says on Gomis

Strengths:
Gomis is a long and athletic big man who plays the game with a great motor. He is active on both ends of the floor, has good feet, gets his hands on a lot of balls, and blocks shots. He is a high volume rebounder who snatches boards in traffic as well as outside of his area. He runs the floor pretty well and finishes plays around the rim. He can make a 15 footer and is also skilled enough to catch and run dribble handoffs away from the basket as well. Physically, he has a strong body with additional room on his frame to support more muscle.

Weaknesses:
Gomis is still pretty raw offensively and can disappear at times on that end of the floor. He isn't much of a threat to score with his back to the basket and can't create his own shot facing up with any type of consistency. While his offensive skills have improved and are likely to keep improving he projects as someone who will always be limited on that end of the floor and so he'll have to play next to a scoring big man.

Bottom Line:
Gomis is a well built big man who makes his biggest impact on the defensive end of the floor. While he has improved his offense enough to be respected his value is likely to always be as a long and active athlete who blocks shots and rebounds the ball.

Quick programming note.

There will be a chat here at 11 am with myself and Ben Doody of The Trentonian to talk about MAAC Media Day.

If you can break away from work or are off or either or both, feel free to swing by and talk about the upcoming 2010-11 season.

Here are my ECAC polls.

The numbers in the (x) is if my rank is different from the actual poll.

FCS (UAlbany's division)
1. William & Mary
2. Delaware (T2)
3. Villanova (T2)
4. New Hampshire
5. Richmond (7)
6. Massachusetts (9)
7. James Madison (6)
8. Penn (5)
9. Robert Morris (8)
10. Lehigh

Division III (RPI & Union's division)
1. Wesley
2. Thomas More
3. Delaware Valley
4. Montclair State
5. Rowan
6. Alfred (T7)
7. Cortland State (9)
8. Salisbury (NR)
9. Ursinus (6)
10. Ithaca (NR)

The University at Albany had a tough outcome on Friday night. The Great Danes nearly defeated Central Connecticut, but the Blue Devils prevailed in overtime.

My lone team from the NEC that's ranked is Robert Morris, who was off this week.

Four of my bottom five teams are just on the outside looking in, along with Western Illinois.

Here is the poll. The number in (x) is if it's different on the actual Sports Network Top 25 poll.

1. Appalachian State
2. Jacksonville State
3. William & Mary
4. Stephen F. Austin
5. Delaware (6)
6. Villanova (5)
7. Montana
8. Eastern Washington
9. New Hampshire (10)
10. Liberty (16)
11. Wofford (9)
12. Bethune-Cookman
13. Southeast Missouri State (11)
14. Richmond
15. Northern Iowa (19)
16. Montana State (13)
17. Massachusetts (18)
18. James Madison (15)
19. South Carolina State
20. Penn (21)
21. North Dakota State (NR)
22. Chattanooga (20)
23. Georgia Southern (NR)
24. Robert Morris (NR)
25. Furman (NR)

Luke Devlin had some extra motivation to shoot the ball on Friday night at the Purple/Gold scrimmage.

University at Albany coach Will Brown told his freshman from Australia that if he didn't shoot, Brown would make the whole team run laps.

"Our expectations for him a very high," Brown said. "The problem with Luke is he's unselfish to a fault."

Playing for Team Purple, Devlin finished with seven points and five rebounds (from my count - see below) and one missed halfcourt shot at the buzzer of the first "half."

I was very impressed with Devlin, although the 6-foot-8 forward did tweak his elbow in the second "half" of the scrimmage.

When Logan Aronhalt missed a last-second shot, Purple escaped with a 38-36 victory.

I tweeted (@AndrewSantillo) that Purple was my 3-point favorite, once I saw the rosters and in my defense, I was pretty close to hitting it on the head.

Anyway, I was impressed with Devlin, Aronhalt's shooting and the long-distance shooting (the two teams combined for 10 three's).

I wasn't as impressed with Derrek Tartt, who seems to have slid down the depth chart after coming on towards the midseason point last season. He only took two shots, making one.

Sophomore Mike Black and Aronhalt each scored 14 points.

"I'm just going to play my game," Black said. "Every day, I'm going to try to make a name for myself and improve every day."

Black is one of six sophomores, who got a lot of playing time last year and are looking to make experience turn into wins this year.

"Last year was a tough season, but we got a lot of experience," Black said. "That can only help us this year."

The team did have a two-hour practice, earlier in the morning and Brown said he could see that his team was tired.

"When you get tired, I think it's easy to settle for jump shots," Brown said. "I think we did a little too much of that today."

I was also impressed with Jacob Iati's play.

At 5-10, he may not be the biggest kid, but he played pretty well, opposite Black at the point.

"Jacob makes open shots," Brown said. "He's tough as nails and every time we walk into the gym, I know what type of effort I'm going to get from him. He never ever wavers on his effort and he's a gym rat."

Iati canned two 3's early in the game, bringing back not so far away images of older brother Jon doing the same thing for the Great Danes.

"His brother was a tough cookie, who had a great career for us," Brown said.

On the injury front, Brown said that Ralph Watts had missed 5 1/2 weeks, but somehow between rushing all over the place, I neglected to ask what for.

Senior Tim Ambrose looked pretty good, scoring 10 points, considering he didn't do anything in the weeks leading up to the start of practice because of a groin injury.

UNOFFICIAL STATS (so unofficial that I somehow have purple scoring 39 points)
Purple
Billy Allen, 11 pts, 4-9 FG, 1 reb.
Mike Black, 14 pts, 5-11 FG, 2-3 FT, 2 reb.
Luke Devlin, 7 pts. 2-5 FG, 2-2 FT, 4 reb.
Blake Metcalf, 1 pt. 0-5 FG, 1-4 FT, 6 reb.
Russell Moore, 4 pts, 2-7 FG, 0-2 FT, 1 reb.
Ralph Watts, 2 pts, 1-4 FG, 2 reb.

Gold
Tim Ambrose 10 pts, 2-6 FG, 5-5 FT, 6 reb.
Logan Aronhalt, 14 pts, 5-10 FG, 2-2 FT
Theo Hatcher, 0-3 FG, 2 reb.
Jacob Iati, 6 pts, 2-3, 2 reb.
Jake Lindfors, 0-3 FG, 3 reb.
John Puk, 4 pts, 1-4 FG, 2-2 FT, 3 reb.
Derrek Tartt, 2 pts, 1-2 FG, 1 reb.

Senior guard Tim Ambrose talks about Friday's Purple/Gold scrimmage.

I'll have more thoughts on the game and the players Saturday night, but it's been a long night tonight.

ALBANY - Joe Izzo kicked a 32-yard field goal in overtime to lift Central Connecticut to a 30-27 victory over UAlbany at University Field on Friday night.

It's a tough result for the Great Danes to swallow, especially because they led 24-6 at halftime.

Even more difficult is the fact the UAlbany would have been off of the field, had it not been for a fourth down penalty that kept the final drive alive.

ALBANY - Unbelievable first half for UAlbany, as freshman quarterback Buddy Leathley did just about everything for the Great Danes on a chilly Friday night at University Field.

Leathley threw a touchdown, ran for a touchdown, made big runs and even faked out the officials, who blew dead a 24-yard run because they thought he had handed off and the running back had been tackled.

The Great Danes played without Zach Gallo, Kyle O'Keefe, Eddie Delaney and Marc Wargo.

Now, UAlbany must just keep it up.

ALBANY - The purple squad won tonight's Purple/Gold scrimmage 38-36 at SEFCU Arena.

Leading scorers for the purple team were Mike Black (14) and Billy Allen (11). Leading for the gold was Logan Aronhalt (14) and Tim Ambrose (10).

I was really impressed with freshman Luke Devlin, who finished with seven points and five rebounds, but injured his elbow in the second half of the game.

I'll have more on the game later, including video of Ambrose.

Redshirt freshman Buddy Leathley will start at quarterback for UAlbany in Friday's game against Central Connecticut.

Eddie Delaney, Marc Wargo, Kyle O'Keefe and Zach Gallo will not play in the first half according to coach Bob Ford for breaking a team rule.

The game is on MSG Plus in the Capital District and starts at 7 p.m.

Here are my ECAC Lambert football polls.

The number in (x) is the actual ranking, if different from my poll.

FCS (UAlbany's division)
1. Delaware
2. William & Mary
3. Villanova
4. New Hampshire
5. Massachusetts
6. James Madison (7)
7. Richmond (8)
8. Penn (6)
9. Robert Morris
10. Lehigh (NR)

Division III (RPI & Union division)
1. Wesley
2. Thomas More
3. Delaware Valley
4. St. John Fisher
5. Montclair State
6. Rowan
7. Cortland State (9)
8. Springfield (NR)
9. Ursinus (7)
10. Salisbury (NR)

UAlbany got thoroughly defeated on Saturday, 38-0. Robert Morris was so impressive that I moved them into the Top 25.

Robert Morris was in my poll a few weeks ago, after beating Liberty. Now, the Colonials are back.

Here is my ballot, with the number in (x) if it's different.

1. Appalachian State
2. Delaware
3. Jacksonville State
4. William & Mary
5. Stephen F. Austin
6. Villanova
7. Montana
8. Eastern Washington
9. Liberty (17)
10. New Hampshire
11. Furman (25)
12. Massachusetts
13. James Madison (11)
14. Wofford (9)
15. Richmond (16)
16. Northern Iowa (19)
17. Montana State (15)
18. Bethune-Cookman (14)
19. South Carolina State (18)
20. Southeast Missouri State (13)
21. Penn (20)
22. Northern Arizona
23. North Dakota State (NR)
24. Georgia Southern (NR)
25. Robert Morris (NR)

Word from Adam Zagoria is that Vaughn Gray, who was very high on Siena after visiting the school last week, has committed to George Mason.

Zagoria talked to Gray's mother, which I would say is a pretty credible source.

Gray, who is a prepster from St. Benedict's in New Jersey, visited George Mason this week for Midnight Madness.

RPI senior placekicker Peter Nilson drilled a 37-yard field goal with six seconds remaining as the Engineers knocked off No. 21 Alfred 27-24 on Saturday at East Campus Stadium.

Here are two videos from the first day of practice at UAlbany.

Will Brown ran his players through a tough first day of practice.

Here are stories from the first day of college basketball practice.

Saints hold first practice under Buonaguro

Danes go hard on opening day

Here are another story from Siena's conference rival MAAC.

Rider men's basketball team opens practice eager to move on from last year's struggle - Trentonian

I have plenty of stuff from today's Siena men's basketball media day.

I'll have a story in the paper tomorrow about practice starting.

"I've been anticipating this day for six months, since I got the job," said coach Mitch Buongauro.

I'm sure many Saints fans feel the same way.

Senior Clarence Jackson is still waiting for orthotics, as is freshman Trenity Burdine. Both of them will be limited in practice tonight.

Junior Brandon Walters is being slowed by a knee injury, but he's expected to give it a go tonight.

Here's Walters talking about getting the chance to play this season. The Seton Hall transfer sat out last year.

Sophomore wide receiver Ryan Kirchner talks about the team's big conference matchup against Robert Morris.

ALBANY - Junior linebacker Chris Wilk sat out last week's home football game against St. Francis (Pa.)

The news doesn't get much better for the Philadelphia native, who will have surgery on his right knee and is done for the season.

Wilk injured himself on the onside kick against Yale, two weeks ago, and will have surgery on Oct. 27.

Also on the injury front, freshman receiver Jameel Gay didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday but did practice on Tuesday.

Freshman running back Dillon Romain practiced on Tuesday and Wednesday, but didn't practice on Thursday because of an ankle sprain. Romain should be good for Saturday's game.

Drew Smith is at about 90 percent. He's been dealing with leg and knee injuries most of the year and even back before the season started.

"We're as healthy as you can get this time of year," said UAlbany coach Bob Ford.

Check out our America East Conference preseason slideshow, created by our digital specialist Tom Caprood with a little help from me.

Also, thanks to the SIDs around the America East, who sent in pictures for the slideshow.

You can link here

Boston University is the team to beat according to the coaches on both the men's and women's sides of the America East Conference.

The Terriers picked up six of nine first place votes on the men's side and all but one vote on the women's side.

The University at Albany men were selected to finish eighth and the women's team was chosen seventh.

Here are the polls.


2010-11 Men's Preseason Poll
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Total Points
1. Boston U. (6) 62
2. Stony Brook (2) 57
3. Maine (1) 51
4. New Hampshire 41
5. Vermont 35
6 Hartford 24
7. Binghamton 23
8. Albany 22
9. UMBC 9


2010-11 Women's Preseason Poll
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Boston University (8) 64
2. Hartford (1) 56
3. Binghamton 50
4. Stony Brook 39
5. UMBC 37
6. Vermont 30
7. Albany 18
8. Maine 17
9. New Hampshire 13

Here is the full schedule for the 2010-11 University at Albany men's basketball team.

The America East released their schedule today and so now the dates are complete. Some times are still TBA.

Nov. 12 (Fri.) CORNELL, 7: 30 p.m.
Nov. 15 (Mon.) AMERICAN, 7 p.m.
Nov. 17 (Wed.) @ Georgia Tech, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 20 (Sat.) @ Fairleigh Dickinson, 7 p.m.
Nov. 23 (Tue.) IONA, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 26 (Fri.) @ Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 27 (Sat.) vs. Niagara (in Detroit), 5 p.m.
Nov. 28 (Sun.) vs. Bowling Green (in Detroit), 3 p.m.
Dec. 4 (Sat.) @ Siena, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 6 (Mon.) @ Yale, 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 11 (Sat.) CENTRAL CONNECTICUT, 7 p.m.
Dec. 18 (Sat.) MOUNT ST. MARY'S, 7 p.m.
Dec. 22 (Wed.) @ Colgate, 7 p.m.
Dec. 28 (Tue.) @ Xavier, TBA
Dec. 30 (Thu.) @ Wagner, 7 p.m.
Jan. 2 (Sun.) NEW HAMPSHIRE, TBA
Jan. 6 (Thu.) @ Vermont, TBA
Jan. 9 (Sun.) @ Hartford, TBA
Jan. 11 (Tue.) MAINE, 7 p.m.
Jan. 15 (Sat.) BOSTON U., TBA
Jan. 17 (Mon.) @ Stony Brook, TBA
Jan. 20 (Thu.) BINGHAMTON, 7 p.m.
Jan. 26 (Wed.) @ UMBC, TBA
Jan. 29 (Sat.) VERMONT, TBA
Feb. 2 (Wed.) @ New Hampshire, TBA
Feb. 5 (Sat.) HARTFORD, 7 p.m. (BIG PURPLE GROWL)
Feb. 10 (Thu.) vs. Boston U. at Madison Square Garden, 9:35 p.m.
Feb. 14 (Mon.) STONY BROOK, 7 p.m.
Feb. 20 (Sun.) @ Binghamton, TBA
Feb. 23 (Wed.) UMBC, 7 p.m.
Feb. 27 (Sun.) @ Maine, TBA

The University at Albany men's basketball team announced Tuesday that Logan Aronhalt and Blake Metcalf have been named captains for the 2010-11 season.

Aronhalt and Metcalf are the third and fourth sophomores to be selected during the program's Division I era. Will Brand (2000) and Levi Levine (2004) were also captains during their second year.

Aronhalt averaged 6.7 points and 1.8 rebounds as a redshirt freshman.

Metcalf started 10 of 32 games as a true freshman and averaged 2.0 points and 3.9 rebounds per game.

This move seems to signal a direction in which coach Will Brown is trying to move the team.

The Great Danes only have two seniors (Tim Ambrose, Fran Urli) and three juniors (Russell Moore, Theo Hatcher, Billy Allen).

Former Siena College standout Kenny Hasbrouck scored 12 points in 20 minutes of the Miami Heat's 96-85 preseason victory over CSKA Moscow on Tuesday night.

Hasbrouck, who was 5-for-8 from the field, also had four assists and two rebounds.

Siena Saints fans won't have to wait long to see their team in action.

The Saints will play an exhibition Adelphi University on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 2 p.m. at the Times Union Center.

Seating for the even will be general admission and tickets are priced at $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.

Practice starts this Friday, Oct. 15.

Siena has grabbed the attention of St. Benedict's prep standout Vaughn Gray.

The 6-foot-5 Gray made an official visit to Siena this past weekend and is pretty high on the Saints.

Gray will also visit George Mason for their Midnight Madness event. He is also looking at Wichita State and Western Kenntucky. Also, Arizona State coach Herb Sendek is apparently flying in soon to see Gray play.

Here's a great line from ESPN:

Gray has a reputation as an efficient player who goes the extra mile to keep his team in the game, so he could be a perfect fit for the scrappy Saints.

More from ESPN on Gray:

"Gray is a very efficient player that can do everything pretty well and is the glue guy for a very talented Playaz (NJ) team. Gray attacks the rim where he can finish through contact. This strong wing also knocks down mid range pull ups and does a great job of drawing fouls. He can make scoring plays off the dribble or drive and kick to an open teammate because he can handle and pass the ball as well. Another asset of Gray's is his ability to defend. He pressures the ball and does a great job of moving his feet and keeping his hands active."

Here are my polls for the first ECAC Lambert football polls.

The number in (x) is the actual ranking, if different from my poll.

FCS (UAlbany's division)
1. Delaware
2. William & Mary
3. Villanova
4. James Madison (5)
5. Massachusetts (4)
6. New Hampshire
7. Richmond (10)
8. Penn (7)
9. Colgate
10. Robert Morris (8)

Division III (RPI & Union division)
1. Wesley
2. Thomas More (5)
3. Delaware Valley (2)
4. St. John Fisher
5. Montclair State (3)
6. Alfred (7)
7. Cortland State (6)
8. Ursinus
9. Springfield (NR)
10. Utica (NR)

Voting is something very important to do.

In an election year (albeit not presidential) it's important that everyone be heard.

Anyway, I'm in the process of changing my address for voting purposes, but just have been procrastinating.

What I have been voting on is the FCS Top 25. I also just made my first picks for the ECAC football polls that started this weekend. I'll post those results when I get them.

The most troubling news for UAlbany is they're not in the The Sports Network's Top 25, yet two teams they've beaten are receiving votes - Maine and Yale.

If the Great Danes beat Robert Morris next week and Yale and Maine continue to win, they might be able to crack my Top 25 which is listed below. The number in (x) is the team's actual ranking if there's any difference.

1. Appalachian State
2. Delaware
3. Jacksonville State
4. William & Mary
5. Stephen F. Austin
6. Villanova
7. James Madison
8. Massachusetts
9. Montana State
10. Montana (11)
11. South Carolina State (10)
12. Eastern Washington
13. Cal Poly
14. Liberty (19)
15. North Dakota State
16. Southern Illinois (17)
17. Furman (NR)
18. Wofford (14)
19. New Hampshire (16)
20. Elon (24)
21. Georgia Southern
22. Richmond (20)
23. Northern Iowa (22)
24. Southeast Missouri State (18)
25. Penn

On Friday night, former Siena star Kenny Hasbrouck got into Miami's preseason game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Hasbrouck played 17 minutes and finished with two points and two assists.

It was a beautiful day for football at University Field on Saturday afternoon.

The big crowd couldn’t have been any more pleased with the performance of their University at Albany Great Danes.

UAlbany scored early and often and cruised to a 48-0 victory over St. Francis (Pa.) on Homecoming weekend in front of a crowd of 6,624.

That crowd is the largest in UAlbany’s 11-year Division I history and the largest home attendance since a 1978 game against Ithaca College.

UAlbany outgained St. Francis 424-81 on the afternoon.

The Great Danes (1-1, 3-2) scored on their very first possession, when junior quarterback Dan Di Lella found fellow junior John Lullen for a 15-yard touchdown.

After a punt from the Red Flash (1-2, 1-4), UAlbany went right back down the field.

A 2-yard touchdown run from freshman Dillon Romain was set up by a key third down conversion.

Di Lella was able to find a wide open Ryan Kirchner for a 36-yard completion to keep the drive alive.

Five plays later, Romain made it 14-0.

The Great Danes outgained the Red Flash 209-45 in the first half.

St. Francis (Pa.), which played without sophomore running back Kyle Harbridge, only ran two plays in UAlbany territory in the first half.

Harbridge (groin) came into the game ranked third in the country in all-purpose yards (188.3/gm).

UAlbany is 12-0 against St. Francis all-time.

The University at Albany football team takes on St. Francis (Pa.) this weekend in the Homecoming game at University Field.

It is a big game for the Great Danes (0-1, 2-2).

Here is a video of senior offensive lineman Andy Sparano after Thursday's practice.

Stopped by UAlbany football practice today and talked to some of the players for Saturday's story to preview the Homecoming game against St. Francis (Pa.).

Junior LB Chris Wilk (sprained knee) is out for the game and sophomore Dave Plungas will start in his place.

Freshman Tramaine Wilson will not play again. He is practicing however.

The game can also be seen on Time Warner 3 in the Capital District.

According to Adam Zagoria, one of the MAAC's top teams has taken a hit.

Zagoria reported yesterday afternoon that Saint Peter's Wesley Jenkins has a possible ACL tear and was supposed to have a MRI on Tuesday.

Jenkins was the Peacocks leading scorer last season at 13.8 points per game.

Saint Peter's still has a number of returning players and UTEP transfer Blaise Ffrench.

Here are the standings heading into this weekend's games in the Northeast Conference.

Robert Morris 3-0, 4-1
CCSU 2-0, 3-2
Monmouth 1-0, 1-3
Duquesne 1-1, 3-2
Wagner 1-1, 2-2
St. Francis 1-1, 1-3
UAlbany 0-1, 2-2
Bryant 0-2, 3-2
Sacred Heart 0-3, 1-4

First, it's been a long time since UAlbany has seen their name so far down the conference standings.

Here's the schedule for this week.

Duquesne at CCSU, 12 p.m.
Monmouth at Robert Morris, 12 p.m.
Sacred Heart at Bryant, 1 p.m.
St. Francis (Pa.) at UAlbany, 1 p.m.
Wagner at Georgetown, 1 p.m.*
*non-conference

It's an important week for the Great Danes for a lot of reasons.

• No. 1 Robert Morris can go to 4-0 in the league. A loss for UAlbany would put them at 0-2.

• No. 2 A loss keeps the Great Danes in the bottom portion of the league standings and likely forces them to hope teams will lose two or three games for them to claim a share of the title

Robert Morris has Northeast Conference's automatic bid, according to Craig Haley, The Sports Network Executive Director. The Colonials don't get any favors as they are projected to play at Texas State and the winner plays at former No. 1, Villanova.

Here's a link to Haley's FCS bracket projection prior to Week 6.

Siena's home basketball game against MAAC opponent Manhattan has been changed from Saturday, Feb. 5 to Friday, Feb. 4.

No time was given.

The Siena Saints women's soccer team has moved into the Top 25 rankings.

The Saints are 10-0-0, the only unbeaten and untied team in the country and they become the first Siena athletics program to be ranked during the Division I era.

"It's a great accomplishment and recognition for our team to be recognized nationally," coach Steve Karbowski told the Siena athletic department. "This is something that the team can be proud of to be able to earn a great recognition such as this."

Here is a link to a story I did on the team two weeks ago.

There is a new No. 1 in the FCS.

After Villanova was defeated by William & Mary, Appalachian State (you remember them Michigan) is the new top team.

UAlbany knocked Yale out of the receiving votes category, by beating the Bulldogs 23-20.

Maine knocked off former No. 14 New Hampshire and the Black Bears, who lost to UAlbany in the first game of the year is now receiving a few votes. New Hampshire dropped to No. 22.

UAlbany's Northeast Conference foe Robert Morris is still receiving votes, but I did drop them out of my Top 25.

Stephen F. Austin received one first place vote. The Lumberjacks handed the Great Danes one of their two losses on the season.

Here is my Sports Network/Fathead.com 25 poll.

1. Appalachian State
2. Delaware
3. Jacksonville State
4. William & Mary
5. Stephen F. Austin
6. Villanova
7. James Madison
8. Massachusetts
9. Montana (12)
10. Montana State
11. South Carolina State (9)
12. Richmond (11)
13. Eastern Washington
14. Elon (19)
15. Georgia Southern (16)
16. Northern Iowa (15)
17. Liberty (24)
18. Cal Poly (14)
19. South Dakota (NR)
20. Western Illinois
21. North Dakota State (18)
22. Southern Illinois (23)
23. Furman (NR)
24. Texas State (17)
25. New Hampshire (22)

UALBANY at YALE

At Yale Bowl, New Haven, Conn., 12 p.m.

(WOFX 980-AM — www.980online.com)

Records: UAlbany (0-1 NEC, 1-2 overall) — Yale (1-0 Ivy, 2-0 overall)

Last Meeting: UAlbany and Yale have never met.

Last Week: UAlbany lost to Duquesne 28-17 — Yale defeated Cornell 21-7

About the Great Danes: UAlbany is 0-3 all-time against teams from the Ivy League. Freshman RB Tramaine Wilson won’t travel with the team for the second straight week.

About the Bulldogs: Yale is off to its best start since 2007. The Yale Bowl seats more than 61,000 fans. The Bulldogs have the second best offense in the country, averaging 493 yards pre game. Former Yale coach and Johnstown native Jack Siedlecki, who posted a 70-49 record in 12 seasons in New Haven, got his coaching start under Bob Ford in the mid 1970s.

Edge: Yale is the home team and they are undefeated. UAlbany will have to
play better than the last two weeks to win.

RPI at ROCHESTER

At Edwin Fauver Stadium, Rochester, 12 p.m.

(WRPI 91.5-FM — www.wrpi.org)

Records: RPI (0-1 LL, 1-2 overall) — Rochester (0-1 LL, 0-3 overall)

Last Meeting: Rochester 16, RPI 102 at East Campus Stadium, Troy, Oct. 3, 2009 — Rochester leads the all-time series 39-25-4

Last Week: RPI lost to WPI 24-10 — Rochester lost to Union 16-14

About the Engineers: RPI hasn’t lost three straight games since losing to Rochester, Union and Hartwick in the middle of the 2000 season. The Engineers have been outscored 34-6 in the second half this season.

About the Yellowjackets: Rochester has been outscored 24-0 in the second half of games this season. The Yellowjackets may be without leading rusher, Clarence Onyiriuka, who misses last week’s game against Union due to injury.

Edge: RPI is on the road and it’s still early in the year, but if the Engineers want to keep their season alive, a win here is necessary.

UNION at WPI

At Alumni Stadium, Worcester, Mass., 1 p.m.

(WABY 1160-AM - www.teamline.cc)

Records: WPI (1-0 LL, 3-1 overall) — Union (1-0 LL, 1-1 overall)

Last Meeting: Union 21, WPI 17 at Frank Bailey Field, Schenectady, Oct. 3, 2009 — Union leads the all-time series 29-8

Last Week: Union defeated Rochester 16-14 — WPI defeated RPI 24-10

About the Dutchmen: After last week’s victory, Union has won nine of their last 10 Liberty League games. Lansingburgh native Justin Gallo surpassed older brother Ryan on the Dutchmen’s all-time leader board in receiving yards. Gallo currently has 1,689.

About the Engineers: WPI started the 2009 season 3-0, before losing their last seven games of the season. After only scoring three points in the first game of the season, the Engineers have averaged 35.3 point per game since.

Edge: The winner of this game will likely take early control of the conference standings. I think it’s Union.