In 2007 it was ground-breaking when New Hampshire got an at-large bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs with four losses.

Two years later James Madison coach Mickey Matthews is lobbying for his five-loss Dukes to get some consideration.

James Madison is a long shot, but his argument is not entirely without merit. Of the Dukes' five losses, one is against Football Bowl Subdivision Maryland, and three are against top-10 teams - Villanova, Richmond and William & Mary.

It's the fifth loss that's crippling to James Madison. On Oct. 3 the Dukes fell 24-17 to Hofstra, the same Pride team that lost 14-13 to Northeastern on Saturday.

A win in that game and James Madison would be in decent shape.

"When we were driving home that day, I said this loss is going to come back and haunt us," Matthews said after beating UMass 17-14 on Saturday. "We're much improved. I think we should be considered for a playoff spot.

"Our schedule is unbelievable," he added. "With this win (at UMass) and beating Delaware at Delaware and our losses, I would like to be considered. I know it's never happened, but we've rounded into a playoff team."

The Dukes finish their season at home against Towson at 3 p.m. Saturday

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Playing in place of injured starter Warren Smith, Maine sophomore quarterback Chris Treister completed 39-of-45 passes for 465 yards and five touchdowns in the Black Bears' 41-17 win over Rhode Island to earn the Colonial Athletic Association offensive player of the week award.

William & Mary defensive lineman Adrian Tracy was the league's defensive player of the week after making seven tackles, including three behind the line of scrimmage, in the Tribe's 20-17 win over New Hampshire.

Three field goals, including a 47-yarder, earned Delaware kicker Jon Striefsky the CAA special teams player of the week award.

Northeastern linebacker Kyle Hunte had four tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in the Huskies' 14-13 win over Hofstra to earn the league's rookie of the week honor.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Delaware at Villanova, Saturday, 3:30 p.m. - If the Wildcats win they would get a share of the CAA title and the league's automatic bid to the postseason.

The Blue Hens (6-4), who have a win over Division II West Chester, need a victory Saturday for any chance at the playoffs?

William & Mary at Richmond, Saturday, noon - The winner earns a share of the CAA title and could get one of the top four seeds in the playoffs.

POLL POSITIONING - Apparently beating a bad Towson team 49-7 was enough to vault Villanova (9-1) over undefeated Montana into the No. 2 spot in The Sports Network poll.

Richmond and William & Mary held steady at numbers 4 and 5, respectively. New Hampshire dropped from No. 8 to 11 after losing to the Tribe, while Delaware fell two spots to No. 25 after falling at Navy.

Information from personal interviews, newspaper articles and sports information releases was used in this report.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.