SEATTLE – The University at Albany football program was ranked 24th in the HERO Sports 2020 Preseason FCS Top-25 poll announced Wednesday.
 
UAlbany finished the 2019 season ranked 22nd in HERO Sports' final FCS poll.  The Great Danes also pulled down final rankings of 20 in the FCS Coaches' Poll and 18 in the STATS FCS Top-25.
 
Additionally, the Great Danes ranked 15th in the final Athlon Sports FCS Power Poll of the 2019 season, their highest-ever ranking across all FCS polls.  Their previous high was 16th, in the STATS FCS Poll, coming in Week 6 of the 2016 season after starting the year 4-0.  That week the Danes were also 17th in the FCS Coaches' Poll.
 
Three-time defending national champion North Dakota State claims the top spot in the preseason poll.  National runner-up and 2019 CAA champion James Madison ranks fifth.  Including UAlbany and James Madison, the CAA drew five preseason rankings, adding Villanova (8), Delaware (15), and New Hampshire (17).  In 2020, UAlbany hosts James Madison, Villanova, and Delaware, and plays New Hampshire on the road.
 
The Great Danes went 9-5 overall in 2019 and finished second in the CAA behind a 6-2 conference record.  UAlbany won its first-ever FCS Playoff game, 42-14 over Central Connecticut State, before falling in the second round at Montana State.