IdaGriz01
Well-known member
A third of the ranked teams that played this weekend lost. (Lehigh was probably glad to have a bye and escape the blitz.) The next poll is bound to be “interesting.”
Guess, Team, (Record), [Current Rank]
1 Sam Houston State (10-0) [1]
2 Jacksonville State (9-1) [2]
3 Eastern Washington (9-1) [3]
4 North Dakota State (9-1) [4]
5 Citadel (10-0) [5]
6 James Madison (9-1) [6]
7 Richmond (8-2) [8]
8 No Carolina A&T (9-1) [10]
9 South Dakota St (7-3) [11]
10 North Dakota (9-2) [12]
11 Central Arkansas (9-1) [13]
12 Chattanooga (8-2) [7]
13 Villanova (7-3) [9]
14 Chas Southern (6-3) [14]
15 Coastal Carolina (8-2) [15]
16 Youngstown State (7-3) [17]
17 Wofford (7-3) [NR]
18 Grambling State (7-1) [20]
19 Samford (7-3) [22]
20 Lehigh (8-2) [23]
21 NC Central (8-2) [NR]
22 Cal Poly (6-4) [16]
23 Montana (6-4) [18]
24 Illinois State (6-5) [NR]
25 Western Illinois (6-4) [19]
NR New Hampshire (6-4) [21]
NR Harvard (7-2) [24]
NR Liberty (6-4) [25]
The three dropping out seemed easy to call. When you’re near the bottom, you generally cannot afford a loss. Note, however, that two of the three that I have projected to drop out have 6-4 records … so they are not going away as far as playoff chances are concerned.
Then the problem became: Who gets to move in? One easy call was to move Wofford up. Not only were they just out of the top-25 last week, they went into Chattie and knocked off the #7 team. In fact, the pollsters may slot them in even higher than I have. Next in line among the “Others” was North Carolina Central, which beat pitiful Howard (1-9), 30-21. Not sure the MEAC will rate two teams in the top-25, but that 8-2 record looks pretty impressive (their 2 losses were to FBS teams).
That left the third spot between St. Francis, PA (7-3), UT-Martin (7-4), and Illinois State (6-5). On the bare record, I-State looks least impressive … except that they have an upset win over an FBS opponent. One of the UT-Martin wins was against an NAIA opponent, and St. Francis has one D-II win. So, I went with the team out of the MVFC.
I only dropped Villanova four spots, and that may not be enough. However, the pollsters seem to be cutting the ranked teams in the CAA some slack after their losses, so I went with it. I dropped Chattanooga “only” five because Wofford was almost a ranked team. However, Chattie was at home, so they might drop another spot or so.
I hammered Cal Poly down the “usual” amount mainly because this was their second loss in a row … and the pollsters never seem to give them their due. In fact, I could see them dropping another spot or two. And the Griz could drop one more, but it was a close loss and on the road.
Notice the results of all this: It puts the Griz right in among a block of ranked 6-4 teams. In fact, there are an amazing number of teams sitting at 6-4 right now. Besides the five shown above, we also have Albany, Drake, Maine, Northern Colorado, Prairie View, Sacred Heart, SE Louisiana, Tennessee State and Weber State. Some of these team -- like Drake and Prairie View -- are out of the running, but that still leaves a lot.
Guess, Team, (Record), [Current Rank]
1 Sam Houston State (10-0) [1]
2 Jacksonville State (9-1) [2]
3 Eastern Washington (9-1) [3]
4 North Dakota State (9-1) [4]
5 Citadel (10-0) [5]
6 James Madison (9-1) [6]
7 Richmond (8-2) [8]
8 No Carolina A&T (9-1) [10]
9 South Dakota St (7-3) [11]
10 North Dakota (9-2) [12]
11 Central Arkansas (9-1) [13]
12 Chattanooga (8-2) [7]
13 Villanova (7-3) [9]
14 Chas Southern (6-3) [14]
15 Coastal Carolina (8-2) [15]
16 Youngstown State (7-3) [17]
17 Wofford (7-3) [NR]
18 Grambling State (7-1) [20]
19 Samford (7-3) [22]
20 Lehigh (8-2) [23]
21 NC Central (8-2) [NR]
22 Cal Poly (6-4) [16]
23 Montana (6-4) [18]
24 Illinois State (6-5) [NR]
25 Western Illinois (6-4) [19]
NR New Hampshire (6-4) [21]
NR Harvard (7-2) [24]
NR Liberty (6-4) [25]
The three dropping out seemed easy to call. When you’re near the bottom, you generally cannot afford a loss. Note, however, that two of the three that I have projected to drop out have 6-4 records … so they are not going away as far as playoff chances are concerned.
Then the problem became: Who gets to move in? One easy call was to move Wofford up. Not only were they just out of the top-25 last week, they went into Chattie and knocked off the #7 team. In fact, the pollsters may slot them in even higher than I have. Next in line among the “Others” was North Carolina Central, which beat pitiful Howard (1-9), 30-21. Not sure the MEAC will rate two teams in the top-25, but that 8-2 record looks pretty impressive (their 2 losses were to FBS teams).
That left the third spot between St. Francis, PA (7-3), UT-Martin (7-4), and Illinois State (6-5). On the bare record, I-State looks least impressive … except that they have an upset win over an FBS opponent. One of the UT-Martin wins was against an NAIA opponent, and St. Francis has one D-II win. So, I went with the team out of the MVFC.
I only dropped Villanova four spots, and that may not be enough. However, the pollsters seem to be cutting the ranked teams in the CAA some slack after their losses, so I went with it. I dropped Chattanooga “only” five because Wofford was almost a ranked team. However, Chattie was at home, so they might drop another spot or so.
I hammered Cal Poly down the “usual” amount mainly because this was their second loss in a row … and the pollsters never seem to give them their due. In fact, I could see them dropping another spot or two. And the Griz could drop one more, but it was a close loss and on the road.
Notice the results of all this: It puts the Griz right in among a block of ranked 6-4 teams. In fact, there are an amazing number of teams sitting at 6-4 right now. Besides the five shown above, we also have Albany, Drake, Maine, Northern Colorado, Prairie View, Sacred Heart, SE Louisiana, Tennessee State and Weber State. Some of these team -- like Drake and Prairie View -- are out of the running, but that still leaves a lot.
