Leatherneck Nation

Scott if you were putting one together, just add my rant, but had to get it out!!!!!

So the Stats (Media) poll just came out. Looks like we have a new number 1 and WIU stayed at 12. Totally fine with us not moving with the other outcomes this week, but do have an issue with the rankings.

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/polls.asp?div=fcs

I've mentioned previously while complaining about the polls, but just because you started at a certain number and keep winning should you keep moving up? Should the overall value of the wins and losses be considered?

For instance the new number 1 team is Sam Houston State. They were number 2 preseason and moved for 1 week to 4 and then back to 2. It's great they're undefeated and they are no doubt a good team, but a lot of teams could be 6-0 against their schedule. Their opponents are a combined 10 and 29 and this includes a DII that is 1 and 6. Best win is against a 3-3 Lamar or 3-4 SFA and they haven't beat a team over .500.

Number 2 Jacksonville State does have a sold 1 win against 4-2 (#17) Coastal and against 3-3 Liberty. Otherwise, DII win and wins against 2-5 Tennessee Tech and 0-6 Austin P.

Number 3 EWU has a great win against 4-2 Washington State (lost first 2 games by 6 total points). Beat 3-3 Northern Colorado, beat a tough luck 2-4 UNI team, and a 3-4 NAU team. Only loss to to NDSU in OT without Kupp in the second half.

Number 4 NDSU has beat 3-2 (#9) Charleston Southern, 5-1 (#3) EWU and a 5-2 Iowa team. Weakest win against ISUr and only loss to a surging #7 SDSU on the last play of the game.

Number 5 Citadel just beat a now 6-1 (#11) Chattanooga. Chatt by the way has only beat 1 team over .500 in 5-1 (#21) Samford. With Chatt and 4-3 DII North Greenville included, Citadel's opponents are 17-22. I'd be concerned facing their option team, but think #5 is a bit high.

Number 6 Richmond has good wins at D1 Virginia (now with 2 D1 wins), 4-2 (#23) Albany, and 5-2 (#16) Villanova. Lone loss to 4-2 (#24) Stony Brook.

Number 7 SDSU has better wins than some of the above teams, against us and NDSU and 2 close losses to TCU and #17 Cal Poly.

Number 8 James Madison, has only 1 win against a team over .500, against a good 4-3 New Hampshire.

Again, not lobbying for us to be higher as where we are now doesn't really matter, but just wonder sometimes how people vote.

I don't mind someone else starting it, that's fine. Here's my $0.02...
Ever since SportsNetwork got sold to STATS and they took over doing the poll, it's been getting steadily worse. I don't know if they've been changing up the makeup of the voters or what, but it seems like they overvalue undefeated teams and don't really look at who they played.

I've moved more towards using the AGS poll for rankings and stuff...they seem to do better about taking that stuff into account, as well as having a high level of "peer review" of picks. If you stick, for example, a 5-1 Tennessee State in the top 5 rather than borderline top-25 where they really probably belong at this point, they'll call you out on it and you'd better be able to defend your position well. I like to think I know a decent amount about FCS football, but the AGS voters put me to shame.

You already mentioned some of the placements of the STATS poll, so here's how the conference (and other teams we played) shakes out in the AGS poll:

#3 North Dakota State (1)
#7T South Dakota State (11)
#11 Youngstown State (12)
#13 Western Illinois (14)
#19 Eastern Illinois (21)
#24 South Dakota (31)
ORV
#35T Illinois State (33)
#35T Northern Iowa (23)
#37T Missouri State (36)

The full poll is here: http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthr ... 10-17-2016
but for comparison to what you said about the STATS poll, here's their top 5...
#1 Eastern Washington
#2 Jacksonville State
#3 North Dakota State
#4 Sam Houston State
#5 The Citadel

And that makes a lot more sense to me at this point.

Athlon has a power poll that seems to be better.

http://athlonsports.com/college-footbal ... eek-8-2016


End of the day, we just need to keep winning and make some noise in the playoffs, but polls are a good place for discussion.

letsgonecks wrote:Athlon has a power poll that seems to be better.

http://athlonsports.com/college-footbal ... eek-8-2016


End of the day, we just need to keep winning and make some noise in the playoffs, but polls are a good place for discussion.

Technically, I think that's just more of a 1-person ranking than a poll, but it's written by Craig Haley, who's been covering I-AA/FCS football for nearly as long as I've been paying attention to it, and he does know his stuff. I agree that his ranking is one of the better ones out there.