Our second D1 New England poll of the year is here.
The Ivy League teams finally get started this week, which means all 17 teams will be in action. Here’s how we see things as Week 3 for the 13 non-Ivy teams approaches:
1. UMass (2-0) – Sitting at 2-0 for the first time since 2011, the Minutemen can make a little more history and get to 3-0 for the first time since 2007 with a win over Stonehill at home.
2. Boston College (1-1) – Huge win in the Red Bandanna Game over Rutgers. Chance to build a little momentum against Maine on Saturday.
3. Rhode Island (2-1) – The Rams are still in the Top 15 nationally after having to pull away late in the Centreville Bank Stadium opening last week. Road matchup against Stony Brook this week.
4. UConn (1-1) – The Huskies crashed back to earth with a blowout loss against Maryland. Winnable but not easy road game against Southern Miss on Saturday.
5. Yale (0-0) – Bulldogs open the season at Holy Cross looking for another Ivy League title.
6. Harvard (0-0) – Crimson open the season at UNH looking for a share of a third straight Ivy League title.
7. Dartmouth (0-0) – Dartmouth has a tough road test to open its season against defending Patriot League champion Lehigh.
8. Brown (0-0) – Bears open the season against New Haven in Connecticut.
9. CCSU (0-2) – Coming off two blowout losses, it doesn’t get any easier as the Blue Devuls travel to take on perennial FCS powerhouse Montana State.
10. Sacred Heart (0-2) – Pioneers lost to UMass in ugly fashion last week after a tight loss to Monmouth in their CAA debut. Night game against a beatable Elon team on Saturday.
11. Bryant (2-1) – Blowout win over Hampton has the Bulldogs feeling good heading into a home game against Princeton this weekend.
12. Maine (1-2) – The Towson win was great, but it’s been pretty poor since, especially with the latest loss to Merrimack in the home opener. Black Bears need to turn it around in a hurry, but they’ve got to face BC on Saturday.
13. UNH (1-2) – Sean Goldrich got his first win as head coach over Stonehill in a shootout. Wildcats look to keep it going with nationally-ranked Harvard visiting.
14. Stonehill (1-2) – The offense finally came to life with Jack O’Connell having a monster day in Durham, but the Skyhawks haven’t been able to put it all together consistently. Stonehill visits red-hot UMass on Saturday.
15. Merrimack (1-2) – Mike Gennetti and the Warriors picked up their first win in impressive fashion, spoiling Maine’s home opener. Merrimack travels to Tarleton State for a night game this weekend.
16. New Haven (1-2) – The Chargers are going to continue going through growing pains in Year 2 as an FCS school. This weekend, they’ll host Brown in the season opener for the Bears.
17. Holy Cross (0-3) – Three games, three blowout losses for the Crusaders. It doesn’t get any easier with the defending Ivy League champs and nationally-ranked Yale coming to Fitton Field for their season opener.