FCS Rankings

[1Griz_Fan]

For the most part these polls are a good way to measure a teams performance.

But Northern Iowa should not still be receiving votes in the Sports Network or Coaches Poll. They are 2-6!!! And I believe only one is against an FCS school. Who cares if they played well against two FBS teams or other FCS, they still lost and have only beaten one of their peers. That is absurd they are getting any votes and to me shows the poll system is biased.

BTW, last week Montana had a few votes, they must have been pity or maybe this new incident(s) changed voters opinions about where the Griz are heading. Anyway, not saying the Griz deserve any votes but neither does Northern Iowa. They chose to play two teams from the FBS and one from a lower division so they earned that record of 2-6. Imagine if they upset Wisconsin, they would probably be placed in the playoffs even if they only won 3 or 4 games this season by the looks of these voters.

 

[Grizzle Tech]

I agree with you 100%. It's a function of the lack of national media coverage for FCS football and the over-inclusion approach by The Sports Network who runs the poll. TSN has asked about 165 folks, mostly local beat writers in FCS college towns, to vote on the poll. With the serious lack of any national coverage and exposure to FCS football, it is next to impossible for these guys to know how good a team is across the country. I like Mick Holien and respect his football IQ, but there is no way he knows how good Albany is and probably should not be voting on that - and he is probably one of the more informed voters on the panel. Imagine how much a beat writer in Boston or somewhere knows or really cares about Northern Arizona or Tennessee State or most other teams in the poll. That's why ten weeks into the season eight different teams are still getting first-place votes, including the team ranked twelfth overall (NAU). It makes you wonder, of the four people who voted Stony Brook number one, how many of them have watched anything besides Patriot League games. Bottom line, it's a joke of a poll, but it's probably the best the FCS has got right now. But why not bring the number of voters down to 25 or so very informed voters and have them bring some credibility to the poll.
:rant:

 

[catdaddy7]

I agree with you 100%. It's a function of the lack of national media coverage for FCS football and the over-inclusion approach by The Sports Network who runs the poll. TSN has asked about 165 folks, mostly local beat writers in FCS college towns, to vote on the poll. With the serious lack of any national coverage and exposure to FCS football, it is next to impossible for these guys to know how good a team is across the country. I like Mick Holien and respect his football IQ, but there is no way he knows how good Albany is and probably should not be voting on that - and he is probably one of the more informed voters on the panel. Imagine how much a beat writer in Boston or somewhere knows or really cares about Northern Arizona or Tennessee State or most other teams in the poll. That's why ten weeks into the season eight different teams are still getting first-place votes, including the team ranked twelfth overall (NAU). It makes you wonder, of the four people who voted Stony Brook number one, how many of them have watched anything besides Patriot League games. Bottom line, it's a joke of a poll, but it's probably the best the FCS has got right now. But why not bring the number of voters down to 25 or so very informed voters and have them bring some credibility to the poll.
:rant:

Good post and idea. The Big Sky in my opinion is almost always slighted. The voters east of us
probably are not in tune with how competitive the BSC has become. In past years they knew about
the Griz and EWU. Now, with the other teams gelling up it will be awhile before they catch on to
the fact that its not that the Griz & EWU are weaker teams, Its that the rest of the conference
is much stronger now than it was in the past.

 

[IdaGriz01]

I agree with you 100%. It's a function of the lack of national media coverage for FCS football and the over-inclusion approach by The Sports Network who runs the poll. TSN has asked about 165 folks, mostly local beat writers in FCS college towns, to vote on the poll. With the serious lack of any national coverage and exposure to FCS football, it is next to impossible for these guys to know how good a team is across the country. ... Bottom line, it's a joke of a poll, but it's probably the best the FCS has got right now. But why not bring the number of voters down to 25 or so very informed voters and have them bring some credibility to the poll.
:rant:

Good post and idea. The Big Sky in my opinion is almost always slighted. The voters east of us
probably are not in tune with how competitive the BSC has become. In past years they knew about
the Griz and EWU. Now, with the other teams gelling up it will be awhile before they catch on to
the fact that its not that the Griz & EWU are weaker teams, Its that the rest of the conference
is much stronger now than it was in the past.

All true about the lack of coverage, etc. Plus it may be even worse in some cases. From what I've read, the poll organizers don't always specifically pick the person who gets to vote: The slot is simply given to a particular news organization (newspaper, media company, etc.), which then assigns the job to someone on the staff. That individual may, or may not, be knowledgeable about FCS football (or even interested, for that matter). And the job is almost always piled on top of the voter's other duties, so he/she ends up with more work (no extra pay) for the "honor" of being part of the poll. I recall a blog writer -- from the SoCon area, I think -- who claimed to know of one voter who got wrapped up in another assignment, and asked his girlfriend to make up a list and submit it. (Of course, she might have done a better job than he would have :lol: but that's not the point.)