Winston-Salem State surprised many observers by winning the CIAA football title in 2015, and they will be the favorites to win it all again. WSSU was picked to win the CIAA for the fifth consecutive time by the conference.
Defending CIAA Northern Division champion Bowie State was predicted to finish second, while division runner up Virginia Union was picked to finish third. Both teams made the playoffs last season.
WSSU finished 6-5 last year, winning the Southern Division title for the fifth year in a row and upsetting Bowie State 17-14 in the CIAA Championship Game.
Here’s the full predicted order of finish.
2016 Predicted Order of Finish
- Winston-Salem State University
- Bowie State University
- Virginia Union University
- Virginia State University
- Fayetteville State University
- Chowan University
- Livingstone College
- Elizabeth City State University
- Johnson C. Smith University
- Shaw University
- Lincoln (Pa.) University
- Saint Augustine’s University
Predicted Divisional Order of Finish
Northern Division
- Bowie State University
- Virginia Union University
- Virginia State University
- Chowan University
- Elizabeth City State University
- Lincoln (Pa.) University
Southern Division
- Winston-Salem State University
- Fayetteville State University
- Livingstone College
- Johnson C. Smith University
- Shaw University
- Saint Augustine’s University
The bottom of the CIAA is terrible. The team that loses in the CIAA Championship will need some key out of conference wins to make the D-II playoffs. SAU is looking at three straight blowouts in their first three games The SAU ADs should be ashamed of themselves for putting that schedule together.