2018 Conference Preview

[Western_101]

STATS FCS Pre-Season Poll

Rank, School, Votes, Prev
1 North Dakota State (0-0) 3919 (151) NR
2 James Madison (0-0) 3764 (6) NR
3 South Dakota State (0-0) 3470 NR
4 Sam Houston State (0-0) 3228 NR
5 Kennesaw State (0-0) 3120 NR
6 Jacksonville State (0-0) 3041 NR
7 New Hampshire (0-0) 2873 NR
8 Weber State (0-0) 2815 NR
9 Eastern Washington (0-0) 2541 NR
10 Wofford (0-0) 2087 NR
11 Samford (0-0) 2003 NR
12 Elon (0-0) 1812 NR
13 UNI (0-0) 1612 NR
14 North Carolina A&T (0-0) 1480 NR
15 Delaware (0-0) 1470 NR
16 Central Arkansas (0-0) 1383 NR
17 McNeese (0-0) 1133 NR
18 Nicholls (0-0) 1056 NR
19 Villanova (0-0) 920 NR
20 Stony Brook (0-0) 798 NR
21 Illinois State (0-0) 795 NR
22 Austin Peay (0-0) 709 NR
23 Furman (0-0) 685 NR
24 Montana (0-0) 626 NR
25 Youngstown State (0-0) 541 NR

Others: South Dakota (496) , Western Illinois (401) , Southern Utah (357) , Northern Arizona (312) , Grambling State (289) , Idaho (287) , Yale (252) , Sacramento State (208) , San Diego (202) , Richmond (91) , Monmouth (53) , Colgate (45) , Lehigh (27) , Central Connecticut State (23) , North Dakota (13) , UC Davis (12) , Western Carolina (10) , Bethune-Cookman (9) , Montana State (8) , Stephen F. Austin (7) , Eastern Illinois (6) , Mercer (6) , Southern Illinois (4) , Harvard (4) , Howard (4) , Columbia (3) , Dartmouth (3) , Duquesne (3) , North Carolina Central (3) , Citadel (2) , Alcorn State (2) , UT Martin (1) , Southeastern Louisiana (1).

1-9 looks reasonable. Wofford at 10?

NCAT, Central Arkansas(way too high), Mcneese, Nicholls, Furman, ....all too high.

Western and USD not cracking the top 25 is a clear indication of what little value this poll offers.

[GV Dad]

After a 2-0 start with wins over a tough Big Sky team and an FBS bottom feeder we'll debut in the top 10. Home playoff game this year, book it!

[wiu712]

In year two, Leathernecks feeling more comfortable in 3-4.

From the McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... ble-in-3-4

[ST_Lawson]

There's a lot of people on AGS that were tearing apart that poll...Wofford too high (even from Wofford fans) was one of the points.
Another thing I heard was that Jacksonville State and Western should be much closer (some people thought we really should be right next to each other in the rankings).
On a consistent basis, the AGS poll gives the best rankings in terms of who gets picked for the playoff at-large spots, and where teams get seeded. There was one year...either '16 or '17, where they only missed one position from what the actual playoff bracket was. They had #1-#6 ranked exactly correct with the seedings from the NCAA, they had all the at-large teams exactly right...the only discrepancy was that they had #7 and #8 switched as compared to where the teams were actually seeded.

Anyway, this is the AGS preseason poll: http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthr ... 018-SEASON
MVFC teams in it are: #1 NDSU, #3 SDSU, #11 UNI, #15 ILSU, #21 WIU, #24 YSU, and in the ORV section, #29 USD.
At this point, I think that's about right...maybe a little lower than I'd like us to be, but still in the Top 25. We've got a few question marks that we'll have to go answer on the field before we get moved up higher.

[GV Dad]

There's a lot of people on AGS that were tearing apart that poll...Wofford too high (even from Wofford fans) was one of the points.
Another thing I heard was that Jacksonville State and Western should be much closer (some people thought we really should be right next to each other in the rankings).
On a consistent basis, the AGS poll gives the best rankings in terms of who gets picked for the playoff at-large spots, and where teams get seeded. There was one year...either '16 or '17, where they only missed one position from what the actual playoff bracket was. They had #1-#6 ranked exactly correct with the seedings from the NCAA, they had all the at-large teams exactly right...the only discrepancy was that they had #7 and #8 switched as compared to where the teams were actually seeded.

Anyway, this is the AGS preseason poll: http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthr ... 018-SEASON
MVFC teams in it are: #1 NDSU, #3 SDSU, #11 UNI, #15 ILSU, #21 WIU, #24 YSU, and in the ORV section, #29 USD.
At this point, I think that's about right...maybe a little lower than I'd like us to be, but still in the Top 25. We've got a few question marks that we'll have to go answer on the field before we get moved up higher.

Hopefully they think we should be 5-7, and not Jacksonville St to be down with us ORV

Also, from what we've been hearing a lot of the OL questions are receiving early good answers. Which is a GREAT sign.

[ST_Lawson]

Hopefully they think we should be 5-7, and not Jacksonville St to be down with us ORV

Also, from what we've been hearing a lot of the OL questions are receiving early good answers. Which is a GREAT sign.

The general consensus seems to be that JSU is a bit too high and we're a bit too low...probably average the two rankings and that's where we both really should be at this point. Maybe somewhere in the low teens. JSU wins more but in a MUCH easier conference, but if conference situations were switched and JSU was playing NDSU, SDSU, UNI, etc. and we were playing TTU, Murray State, EIU, etc....then we'd be undefeated (or nearly) during conference play and they'd be in the middle of the field.

Obviously it's hard to compare when there isn't a huge amount of common opponents, but last year:
We beat TTU by 27
JSU beat TTU by 27
both games at TTU

And we were generally within 10 ranking spots of them at the end of last season. I think we have something to prove to the FCS community due to a few of the losses we had vs last year, but I think we'll prove them on the field. Massey is fairly accurate and according to that rating system, we're favored in all of our games except NDSU (that includes all three OOC games...the Montanas and Illini).

[wiu712]

McShane, Norris, Ratkovich, and Johnson all bring different skills to WIU backfield.

From the McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... ack-attack

[wiu712]

Coach Elliott involved in all aspects of the team.

From the McDonough County Voice:
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... ts-of-team

[wiu712]

From the McDonough County Voice:

Leatherneck tight ends adding to offensive mix.
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... ensive-mix


Western looking for next breakout wide receiver.
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... e-receiver


Western Illinois offensive line taking shape.
http://www.mcdonoughvoice.com/sports/20 ... king-shape