(STATS) -- The CAA Football title race is expected to travel right through, and perhaps stop at the border, of the Commonwealth of Virginia again.On Tuesday, Richmond was installed as the preseason favorite in the CAA preseason poll, with William & Mary voted second and James Madison third among the 12 teams. Those three intrastate rivals shared the conference title and qualified for the FCS playoffs last season.Richmond, which went on to reach the national semifinals in a 10-4 season, also had the most players on the CAA preseason team with seven, led by the two preseason players of the year, junior quarterback Kyle Lauletta (offense) and senior safety David Jones (defense).James Madison and William & Mary gained five selections each on the 28-member preseason team.Also notable was Villanova being selected fourth as 32nd-year coach Andy Talley heads into his final season with the Wildcats, the most recent CAA national champions in 2009.New Hampshire, which has been to the playoffs in 12 straight seasons, was picked fifth, gaining the second-most first-place votes behind Richmond.---=CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL=Head Coaches and Sports Information Directors Poll=1. Richmond (19 first-place votes), 2832. William & Mary (1), 2503. James Madison, 2094. Villanova, 1975. New Hampshire (3), 1866. Towson, 1807. Delaware, 1718. Stony Brook, 1119. Maine (1), 10710. Elon, 7211. Albany, 6912. Rhode Island, 37---=CAA FOOTBALL PRESEASON TEAM=Offensive Player of the Year -- Kyle Lauletta, QB, RichmondDefensive Player of the Year -- David Jones, S, Richmond---=Offense=QB -- Kyle Lauletta, Richmond, Jr.RB -- Kendell Anderson, William & Mary, Sr.RB -- Darius Victor, Towson, Sr.FB -- James Pavik, Richmond, Sr.WR -- Ray Bolden, Stony Brook, Jr.WR -- Brian Brown, Richmond, Sr.WR -- Brandon Ravenel, James Madison, Sr.TE -- Andrew Caskin, William & Mary, Jr.OL -- Connor Bozick, Delaware, Sr.OL -- Thomas Evans, Richmond, Sr.OL -- Mitchell Kirsch, James Madison, Sr.OL -- Timon Parris, Stony Brook, Jr.OL -- Jerry Ugokwe, William & Mary, Sr.OL -- Nicholas Vergos, Richmond, Sr.---=Defense=DL -- Andrew Ankrah, James Madison, Jr.DL -- Tanoh Kpassagnon, Villanova, Sr.DL -- Pat Ricard, Maine, Sr.DL -- Aaron Thompson, Stony Brook, Sr.LB -- Charles Bell, Delaware, Jr.LB -- Omar Howard, Richmond, Sr.LB -- Adam Parker, Rhode Island, Sr.S -- Raven Greene, James Madison, Sr.S -- David Jones, Richmond, Sr.CB -- Casey DeAndrade, New Hampshire, Sr.CB -- Taylor Reynolds, James Madison, Jr.---=Special Teams=RS -- Harold Cooper, Rhode Island, Jr.PK -- Nick Dorka, William & Mary, Jr.P -- Hunter Windmuller, William & Mary, Sr. Nike Shoes On Sale . 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Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. NEW YORK -- When the San Francisco Giants got the slimmest of leads in the race for the National Leagues final wild-card spot about 10 days ago, it turned out to be a season-ending mistake by the team they were jostling with, the St. Louis Cardinals. It may also have unleashed something devastating on every other team still competing for a World Series ring.Its October and its an even year.The Giants got a little momentum going and weve seen them do that plenty of times, Cardinals infielder Matt Carpenter said.The San Francisco Giants are at it again, trying to add a 2016 title to a 2014 title, a 2012 title and a 2010 title. Is there a pattern here? The latest wrinkle isnt even a new wrinkle. Once again, the Giants have to survive a winner-takes-all wild-card game, on the road, to get to their goal. Two Octobers ago, they went into an absolutely rollicking PNC Park in Pittsburgh and, behind Madison Bumgarners complete-game shutout, beat the Pirates 8-0.I remember just walking in from the bullpen in Pittsburgh and thinking and taking a second to look around, because even 10-15 minutes before the game, it was rocking, Buster Posey said. I expect it to be the same here tomorrow.New York Mets fans might want to consider trying something new to get Bumgarner a little rattled Wednesday in an 8 p.m. ET National League wild-card game on ESPN: eerie silence. Making a lot of noise and yelling nasty things at him doesnt seem to work. Bumgarner has a 0.60 ERA in postseason road games, the best mark of its kind in baseball history.Its not like hes bad at AT&T Park. Bumgarner is 7-3 with one save and a 2.14 ERA in 14 postseason games. Its almost as if October baseball games are his native habitat. He has been pitching in the World Series since a couple of months after he turned 21.I think, like a lot of great athletes and pitchers, he is just really good in the moment, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. Theyre such good competitors. They dont let the game itself, the magnitude of the game, bother them.In the four years of the one-game wild-card format, the team that starts the more-experienced starting pitcher has won seven of the eight games. The lone exception was the Giants in 2014, when Bumgarner, in his fourth full season, easily out-pitched veteran Edinson Volquez. If the Mets are to buck that trend, theyll at least have Noah Syndergaards 2015 October experience in their corner. He made four postseason starts and had a 3.32 ERA, including a strong outing in Game 3 of the World Series.Mets manager Terry Collins was asked Tuesday what can be done too slow down the Bumgarner Express in October.dddddddddddd The only thing he could grab onto was using Bumgarners aggressiveness against him, where thats possible.Like all great pitchers, he throws strikes, Collins said. So, the one thing youve got to go up with is a little bit of a plan. Try to get something you can handle and dont miss it. Dont foul it off. Put it in play.For much of August and September, the Giants seemed to be playing themselves out of postseason contention. But that doesnt just seem possible when the year in question is divisible by two. The Giants rallied late, winning six of their last eight games, including their last four, to keep the Cardinals at bay. Needless to say, the Giants dont have much to say about the even-year phenomenon.Doesnt matter what number they call the year, Hunter Pence said. Its right now and its a game between the Giants and Mets, playing what we love to do, playing for what we dream about.Whats to be made of the even-year pattern? A lot of theories have been floated for the Giants every-other-year dynasty. The most reasonable is that the extra innings burden on the pitchers tends to lead to a hangover effect the following season. In 2014, for example, the Giants piled 52? postseason innings on top of the 217? Bumgarner had already pitched in the regular season. Even that one is easily sliced and diced, though. Bumgarners 2015 season was almost identical to his 2014 season. He pitched just one more inning, in fact. He said he wishes he had an explanation for the teams back-and-forth fortunes.There is no sense in having to take a year off after youve had that long season, he drawled.Other than being able to throw one of the best pitchers in the game and one of the most ferocious competitors in sports at the other team, the Giants also present a few other matchup problems in October. They dont beat themselves, which sometimes feels like half the battle in loud, chaotic environments.The Giants are one of the best-fielding teams in baseball. Their 70 defensive runs saved (DRS) ranked third in baseball and their infielders ranked even higher. They dont strike out much. They had the second-best strikeout rate in the majors. Six of the past 10 teams to reach the World Series finished in the top five of the majors in strikeout rate.Its as if this team were designed by scientists somewhere to excel in the most pressure-packed games. Now it has been set loose on the world. ' ' '