Ten years later, they won their first-ever CAA championship, sharing the title with Villanova and Richmond.

From the revival of football in 1970 through 2012, the team played its home games at the 10,000 seat University Field in Albany, New York.

The Great Danes, led by running-back Gary Jones, would win the program's first-ever Northeast Conference title.

The Great Danes would defeat #11 FCS ranked University of Delaware (a full-scholarship program) 17–10 in front of just over 22,000 people on September 16.

The Great Danes defeated the Jacksonville University Dolphins in their second consecutive appearance in the Gridiron Classic on December 6, 2008 by a score of 28–0.

The NEC's automatic access could come sooner than 2010 if its champion meets specified criteria of the Football Championship Committee for an at-large spot.

However, because of a 38-10 victory against the Dukes earlier in the season, the Great Danes would win their first ever trip to the NCAA Division I Football Championship.

They would play former NEC opponent and Big South Champions, the Stony Brook Seawolves in the first round of the tournament.

Senior quarterback, Dan Di Lella would lead an offense that averaged 34.2 point per game.

On defense, senior captain defensive-end Eddie Delaney would set a single season school record for sacks.

Stony Brook, a former Northeast Conference rival, also made the move with them (it would eventually join the multi-sports CAA in 2022).

UAlbany defeated the Blue Devils 63-34, finishing 78-24 all-time against NEC opponents and 127-65 at University Field.

Since tickets were not given for grass seats, it is believed near 12,000 showed up, making it one of the highest watched UAlbany games in program history.

On November 23, Ford would coach his final game at UAlbany, as the Great Danes would lose to Stony Brook on Long Island.

UAlbany was awarded the NCAA's #5 seed in the playoffs, the highest the team has ever been ranked, while also receiving a First Round bye.

The win over Richmond cemented the furthest the Great Danes had ever gotten in the postseason, previously having reached the Second Round in 2019.

In the Quarterfinals, UAlbany flew across the country to #4 Idaho – taking down the Vandals, 30-22, in the Kibbie Dome to advance to the Semifinals before falling to South Dakota State, the top seed and the defending National Champions.

Rudy Vido, who graduated in 1974 as a fullback and defensive end, became the first player in school history to sign a contract with an NFL team.

Barksdale was cut however at the end of training camp, but was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs, and became the first player in school history placed on an NFL 53-man roster.

It marked the first time a UAlbany player had appeared in an NFL regular-season game when he took the field on special teams.

On December 30, 2008, Barksdale became the first UA stand-out to make an NFL Playoff roster after the Giants signed him to replace corner Sam Madison, who went down with an ankle injury.

He was named second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) and won the conference's Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

The Great Danes have sent multiple players to try-outs and NFL training camps as un-drafted free agents.

The strongest connection to the NFL is the university hosting the New York Giants Summer Training Camp.

From 1996 to 2012, the university's practice fields were handed over to the Giants, bringing fans and media from around New York and the United States to Albany.

In 2007, the school dedicated the university's football practice field in honor of Wellington Mara and Preston Robert Tisch, the late co-owners of the Giants.

Mara and Tisch were instrumental in making the University at Albany home to the Giants' summer training camp.