NEC Football Power Rankings Week 11: Cardiac Connecticut State

We’re finally narrowing down the contenders in the NEC title race, and it’s looking like the two schools who started the year as the favorites are going to finish as the favorites.

Stonehill’s upset loss to Robert Morris (in a fantastic performance by the Colonials, by the way) turned the race from a presumptive three way dance into the two way sprint between Duquesne and Central Connecticut State. CCSU is at 4-0 in conference while Duquesne is at 3-1, but as long as they both win the other two games they’re still playing, it looks like the deciding contest will be on November 15th in Pittsburgh, PA. But we quote Coach Masella seemingly every week for a reason: “The NEC is a funny thing.”

Not too much goes chalk in this league, and anything can still happen. It only takes one of the two powers 60 minutes of looking ahead or looking behind to shake up everything again.

1. Central Connecticut State

   There’s no compelling argument for anyone else at this point. We had thought LIU would be a tough opponent for the Blue Devils given their recent resurgence and new health at the quarterback position, but it took a Blue Devils blocked field goal in the closing seconds for CCSU to escape overtime. Not that it would seemingly even matter- Cardiac Connecticut State is better at closing out close games then anyone, and the result would annoy any stats fan. Think close games are just variance? Think again. Coach Lechtenberg has his teem believing that they’ll win in these situations, and they play as such. Don’t ever get into a dog fight with CCSU. Stonehill will hope to do just that and come out with a win this week.

2. Duquesne

   Duquesne was idle this past week, a chance to get the taste of a close defeat at Wagner out of their mouths and to refocus as they get Long Island this week in Brookville, NY. This is a bad time to play LIU, as the Blue Devils showed. Duquesne is well equipped with athleticism on defense to stop the Shark attack, but having the athleticism and succeeding with it are two different things. I like Duquesne this week, but you can’t count out the healthy Sharks.

3. Wagner

   The Seahawks have turned around their season with a close call against CCSU, a win over Duquesne, and most recently an escape against a determined Saint Francis team. Coach Masella deserves all the credit in the world for keeping his squad believing after a difficult start to the season, and now they’re playing their best ball. They have an elimination game against RMU this week that could go either way. Andre Hines has emerged as a star at running back, but Sam Martin on the defensive side of the ball has been a one man brick wall the past two weeks. It’ll be hard for RMU to score on the rejuvenated boys from Staten Island.

4. Long Island

   The Sharks are coming off of a heartbreaking loss to CCSU. They had goal to go with seconds remaining and were unable to convert, settling for a chip shot field goal which was subsequently blocked. CCSU juju is undefeated, after all. But with health at the quarterback position, the Sharks are actually able to run their offense the way they intended to for the first time since Eastern Michigan. They might just be able to give Duquesne a scare with nothing left to play for except to be a spoiler.

5. Robert Morris

   Now riding a two game winning streak, the RMU football program was close to being at rock bottom before turning it around with consecutive wins- one against rival Saint Francis, and one against rising star Stonehill. The game against Wagner will determine how the rest of the season feels for the Colonials, who are one loss away from elimination.

6. Stonehill

   The Skyhawks took Bobby Mo to the limit but were unable to win a game that they probably should have been able to close out. Now traveling to Central Connecticut, Stonehill had to have that one and that 3 point swing is going to leave a big mark on their 2025 campaign. But a win against CCSU throws the conference right back into chaos.

7. Mercyhurst

   The Lakers were idle this past week and after climbing high in the rankings early in the season, two straight losses have put them close to the basement. The bright side is that Adam Urena and co can close out the season with momentum with some winnable games and a chance to be an ultimate spoiler in the season finale against CCSU.

8. New Haven

   The Chargers haven’t been able to match their early season high against Albany, but they’re closer than you might think. Depth is often a problem in these transition seasons, and when you look at just how competitive New Haven has been early in games, it leads you to wonder if they just need to build out their midcard a little bit. This week is their season finale on the Blue against Merrimack.

9. Saint Francis

   The Red Flash were able to take Wagner to the last play of the game, but the field goal was good and as a result they remain here at the bottom of the polls. Geno Calgaro has been as good as we expected all season long, He anchors a defense that is ferocious when they’re on their game.