If the Colonial Athletic Association’s head coaches and media relations directors are to be believed, the University of Rhode Island is set for another fruitless football season.

The Rams were picked last in the 12-team conference at Tuesday’s media day, which was held at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.

URI totaled just 31 points, trailing Elon (36) for the spot above the league basement. The Rams and Phoenix closed behind Towson (84) and the rest of the CAA’s traditional powers, including preseason favorite and defending FCS national champion James Madison (241).

The Dukes collected 21 of 24 first-place votes, with Richmond (210) receiving the other three. Villanova (209), New Hampshire (169), Delaware (133) and Albany (129) round out the CAA’s preseason top half while William & Mary (124), Stony Brook (118) and Maine (100) sit seventh, eighth and ninth. The Spiders and both sets of Wildcats joined James Madison in last year’s FCS postseason.

This is the fourth season for head coach Jim Fleming on the URI sidelines, and he opens without an all-conference player on his roster. The Rams and Elon were the only two teams shut out of balloting that saw Dukes quarterback Bryan Schor and Villanova defensive back Rob Rolle named the CAA’s offensive and defensive players of the year, respectively. James Madison had a CAA-best six players selected, including three on offense.

URI opens its season with a buy game at Central Michigan on Aug. 31, with the Chippewas paying the Rams to make the trip to the Midwest. URI’s CAA slate begins the following week when it hosts Stony Brook at Meade Stadium on Sept. 9, and other highlights in Kingston include visits from Ivy League power Harvard (Sept. 16), the Dukes (Nov. 4) and Villanova (Nov. 11).

It was an 84-7 loss to James Madison last season that prompted renewed calls for URI to discontinue its program, a notion flatly rejected by Fleming and athletic director Thorr Bjorn in a December interview with The Journal. The Rams responded by snapping their 23-game road losing streak the following week with a 44-14 victory at Elon, one of few successes in a 2-9 season overall and a 1-7 campaign in CAA play. URI held five fourth-quarter leads but failed to finish off the majority, including a 32-31 loss to the Tigers on a last-second field goal in the season finale.

The last winning season for the Rams came in 2001, as URI captured its first seven games on its way to an 8-3 mark. A 4-4 record against CAA foes in 2010 represents the Rams’ last real conference success, including a 37-34 victory over Massachusetts in the season finale. URI hasn’t reached the FCS playoffs since 1985, that appearance coming thanks to a second consecutive Yankee Conference title.

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On Twitter: @BillKoch25