IdaGriz01
Well-known member
I know, pretty much a crap weekend, on more than one level. But it’s neither the end of the world, nor of the season. So, just to maintain a bit of “normalcy” … here are my guesses as to what tomorrow’s STATS poll might look like.
Poll Guess, Team (Record), [Current Rank]
1 Jacksonville St (7-1) [1]
2 Illinois St (7-1) [3]
3 Chattanooga (7-1) [4]
4 EWU (6-2) [5]
5 Richmond (7-1) [6]
6 NDSU (6-2) [7]
7 Coastal Carolina (7-1) [2]
8 SHSU (6-2) [8]
9 McNeese St (8-0) [10]
10 PSU (7-1) [12]
11 SDSU (6-2) [14]
12 Harvard (7-0) [15]
13 W&M (6-2) [16]
14 James Madison (7-2) [9]
15 UNI (4-4) [18]
16 Fordham (7-2) [11]
17 E Kentucky (5-3) [13]
18 NC A&T (7-1) [20]
19 Southern Utah (6-2) [NR]
20 Charles So (7-1) [24]
21 YSU (4-4) [25]
22 Montana (4-4) [17]
23 North Dakota (5-4) [NR]
24 MSU (4-4) [19]
25 Indiana State (4-4) [21]
NR Dartmouth (6-1) [22]
NR W Illinois (4-4) [23]
Seven matchups between ranked teams guaranteed seven ranked teams would lose. To that we added MSU losing to unranked UND and Fordham losing to unranked Colgate. (And except for some truly nasty weather, there might have been a tenth. :? )
Anyway, it’s hard to predict what the pollsters will do when there are so many losses. It’s even harder when they come in a big block -- teams ranked 21 thru 23 all lost. Normally, low-ranked teams who lose drop out of the top-25. However, I decided that, since Indiana State only lost by a FG and on the road, they would hang on.
One obvious replacement was the #26 vote-getter, Southern Utah. And I also figured SUU’s 6-2 record would move them up pretty high -- and the pollsters may be even more generous.
It was harder to pick a second addition because the next “Other” vote-getter was idle and the two after that both lost. I finally decided that North Dakota’s win over the kitties would get some attention from the pollsters and they might move back into the top-25. (But Bethune-Cookman, The Citadel, or Villanova are also possibilities.)
What these guesses do is to form a block of 4-4 (and one 5-4) teams down at he bottom. What makes this extra interesting is the one 4-4 team sitting at #15, UNI. My “formulas” put them there, but that .500 record sure sticks out among the teams that only have a couple losses. Of course, the bigger question was how they could be ranked #18 with a losing record. It’s entirely possible that the glaring discrepancy of their record among all those other teams will lead to a lower ranking. (But I’m not holding my breath.
)
Some on here may think I'm being too generous to the two Montana teams. But those guesses are not just wishful thinking -- they're based on the past history of the STATS pollsters. And I like the way they fall "naturally" in that block of low-ranked 4-4 teams.
Poll Guess, Team (Record), [Current Rank]
1 Jacksonville St (7-1) [1]
2 Illinois St (7-1) [3]
3 Chattanooga (7-1) [4]
4 EWU (6-2) [5]
5 Richmond (7-1) [6]
6 NDSU (6-2) [7]
7 Coastal Carolina (7-1) [2]
8 SHSU (6-2) [8]
9 McNeese St (8-0) [10]
10 PSU (7-1) [12]
11 SDSU (6-2) [14]
12 Harvard (7-0) [15]
13 W&M (6-2) [16]
14 James Madison (7-2) [9]
15 UNI (4-4) [18]
16 Fordham (7-2) [11]
17 E Kentucky (5-3) [13]
18 NC A&T (7-1) [20]
19 Southern Utah (6-2) [NR]
20 Charles So (7-1) [24]
21 YSU (4-4) [25]
22 Montana (4-4) [17]
23 North Dakota (5-4) [NR]
24 MSU (4-4) [19]
25 Indiana State (4-4) [21]
NR Dartmouth (6-1) [22]
NR W Illinois (4-4) [23]
Seven matchups between ranked teams guaranteed seven ranked teams would lose. To that we added MSU losing to unranked UND and Fordham losing to unranked Colgate. (And except for some truly nasty weather, there might have been a tenth. :? )
Anyway, it’s hard to predict what the pollsters will do when there are so many losses. It’s even harder when they come in a big block -- teams ranked 21 thru 23 all lost. Normally, low-ranked teams who lose drop out of the top-25. However, I decided that, since Indiana State only lost by a FG and on the road, they would hang on.
One obvious replacement was the #26 vote-getter, Southern Utah. And I also figured SUU’s 6-2 record would move them up pretty high -- and the pollsters may be even more generous.
It was harder to pick a second addition because the next “Other” vote-getter was idle and the two after that both lost. I finally decided that North Dakota’s win over the kitties would get some attention from the pollsters and they might move back into the top-25. (But Bethune-Cookman, The Citadel, or Villanova are also possibilities.)
What these guesses do is to form a block of 4-4 (and one 5-4) teams down at he bottom. What makes this extra interesting is the one 4-4 team sitting at #15, UNI. My “formulas” put them there, but that .500 record sure sticks out among the teams that only have a couple losses. Of course, the bigger question was how they could be ranked #18 with a losing record. It’s entirely possible that the glaring discrepancy of their record among all those other teams will lead to a lower ranking. (But I’m not holding my breath.
)Some on here may think I'm being too generous to the two Montana teams. But those guesses are not just wishful thinking -- they're based on the past history of the STATS pollsters. And I like the way they fall "naturally" in that block of low-ranked 4-4 teams.
