RICHMOND, Va.—Defending conference champion Villanova was picked as the preseason CAA Football favorite in a poll of league head coaches and media relations directors which was announced as part of a virtual media day held on Thursday morning. Coming off a 10-3 season and an appearance in the quarterfinal round of the FCS playoffs, the Wildcats received 16 first-place votes and 270 points in the preseason predicted order of finish. Thursday's announcement also included the CAA Football Preseason All-Conference Team. Graduate offensive linemen Michael Corbi (Arnold, Md.) and Colin Gamroth (Mercer Island, Wash.) were each voted Preseason All-CAA selections along with junior wide receiver Rayjuon Pringle (Woodbridge, Va.) on offense. Senior TD Ayo-Durojaiye (Damascus, Md.) was named on special teams and senior wide receiver Jaaron Hayek (Wayne, N.J.) earned honorable mention preseason mention.
 
Villanova won its first CAA title and earned the league's automatic bid to the Division I Football Championship last year for the first time since 2012. Along the way, the Wildcats posted a 7-1 mark versus CAA opponents and notched their fifth season since 1988 with no more than one conference loss. This year's Villanova squad returns 61 letterwinners from the 2021 team, including six starters on offense and three on defense along with three specialists. Each of the five players recognized with preseason accolades are among those top returners.
 
Corbi was an All-American and a first team All-CAA pick last season as the Wildcats starting left guard. Gamroth earned second team CAA All-Conference recognition as the team's center, while Pringle (second team) and Hayek (third team) combined for 17 receiving touchdowns while each being all-conference performers. Ayo-Durojaiye emerged as one of the team's most versatile performers a year ago, leading Villanova with 10 tackles on special teams while averaging 26.0 yards per return on kickoff returns and rushing for 114 yards with one touchdown. On the defensive side of the ball, senior defensive lineman Garrett Zobel (Hatfield, Pa.) started every game last year and returns along with starting safeties Ethan Potter (Chesapeake City, Md.) and Ty Trinh (Owings Mills, Md.). Potter is the Wildcats top returning tackler and had 49 total stops last season. Potter and Trinh each recorded 39 tackles during the 2021 campaign.
 
Villanova was followed in the predicted order of finish by Delaware, which received seven first-place votes and 235 total points. Rhode Island placed third with 224 points, Richmond was fourth (219) and William & Mary garnered two first-place votes to finish fifth (206). Elon had one first-place vote and was sixth in the poll (191), followed by Stony Brook (151), Maine (134), New Hampshire (117), Monmouth (105), Towson (81), UAlbany (64) and Hampton (31).
 
CAA Football expands to 13 teams for the first time in 2022 as Hampton and Monmouth join the conference. CAA Football has had a team in the FCS championship game 11 times since 2003, a squad in the semifinals of the playoffs for the past nine seasons and a team in the quarterfinals every year since 1991. Eleven of the league's 13 current members have participated in the FCS playoffs since 2015. The conference celebrates a special milestone during the 2022 season as it reaches 75 years of history. The league began with six institutions in 1947 as the Yankee Conference and continued under that banner for 50 seasons. The Atlantic 10 assumed operation of the conference for the next decade from 1997-2006. CAA Football began in 2007 and has built on the league's legacy of success over the past 15 years.
 
Villanova opens the 2022 season at home against Lehigh on Friday, September 2 against Lehigh. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.