Three Colonial Athletic Association teams won their eighth games Saturday, likely ensuring a trip to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Villanova, William & Mary and New Hampshire all joined Richmond with 8-1 records. Eight wins typically is enough to get CAA teams into the playoffs.

All four teams also are still in the running for the CAA regular-season championship and the automatic bid that comes with it.

At 6-3, Delaware has a chance to reach eight wins as well, but it has an awfully tough road. The Blue Hens Saturday are at Navy - which beat Notre Dame last Saturday - and at Villanova Nov. 21.

In each of the past two seasons the league has gotten five teams in the playoffs, including one with just seven wins. That means the University of Massachusetts (5-4) isn't totally out of contention. The Minutemen would have to win their two remaining games (Saturday at home against James Madison and Nov. 21 at Hofstra) and have a lot of things break right in other leagues to even get considered.

"We're not at a point as a team that we can look to the future. We need to look at the present," UMass coach Kevin Morris said. "It's JMU, a really quality team. We're going to be home, we're excited about that and that's our senior afternoon so we'll try to pump up those facts.

"Hopefully we'll get a win here and then travel down to a tough Hofstra team and hopefully get a win there," he added. "If the people feel that we're worthy, then at that point we certainly should be considered. But we have a long way to go until then, we've got a whole working week ahead just to be ready for JMU."

GAME OF THE WEEK: New Hampshire at William & Mary, 1:30 p.m., Saturday - It's very possible that the CAA will get two of the four top seeds when the 16-team playoff field is announced. The winner of this game will have a chance to be one of those seeds, while the loser will likely not.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Rhode Island receiver Shawn Leonard caught 10 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns to earn him co-offensive player of the week honors in the CAA.

He shared the honor with Villanova quarterback Chris Whitney who was 21-for-34 for 277 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats' 21-20 win over No. 1 Richmond.

William & Mary linebacker Jake Trantin made eight tackles in the Tribe's 31-0 win over Towson and won the CAA's defensive player of the week award. It was William & Mary's first shutout since 2005.

New Hampshire placekicker Tom Manning made nine kicks - 42- and 47-yard field goals and seven extra points - in the Wildcats' 55-42 win over Rhode Island which earned him the special teams player of the week in the CAA.

James Madison freshman quarterback Justin Thorpe was the CAA rookie of the week after rushing for 83 yards and a touchdown and passing for 133 yards and another score in the Dukes' 22-14 win over Maine.

POLL POSITIONING - Richmond's loss to Villanova cost the Spiders their spot atop both polls. They fell to No. 4 in both The Sports Network and coaches polls.

Villanova moved up to No. 3 in both polls. William & Mary is tied for fourth with Richmond in the coaches poll and No. 5 in the media poll. New Hampshire stayed at No. 7 in the coaches poll and No. 8 in the media poll. And Delaware is No. 23 in both.

UMass is among the other schools receiving votes in both polls.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/category/sports/umass-sports.