IdaGriz01
Well-known member
What a wild weekend! Eight ranked teams (almost a third) were defeated. Admittedly, four lost to other ranked teams, but then you have to consider several close calls. So I expect some major stirring of the pot by the pollsters. And, while I don’t expect to get my guesses exactly right, I’m confident that the pollsters will move the Griz up. I suspect some on here will swear off polls (if they haven’t already 
) if I’m even close to right.
Poll Guess, Team (Record), #Current Rank
#1 SDSU (4-0) [1]
#2 Montana State (4-1) [3]
#3 Idaho (4-1) [4]
#4 Furman (3-1) [7]
#5 Sacramento State (4-1) [8]
#6 NDSU (2-2) [2]
#7 Incarnate Word (3-1) [9]
#8 Southern Illinois (4-0) [10]
#9 Delaware (3-1) [11]
#10 William & Mary (4-1) [4]
#11 Weber State (3-2) [13]
#12 Holy Cross (3-2) [6]
#13 NC Central (4-1) [15]
#14 Western Carolina (4-1) [17]
#15 Montana (4-1) [18]
#16 North Dakota (2-2) [12]
#17 Florida A&M (4-1) [20]
#18 UC Davis (3-2) [21]
#19 UT Martin (4-1) [22]
#20 New Hampshire (2-3) [14]
#21 Villanova (3-2) [16]
#22 Eastern Washington (2-3) [19]
#23 Harvard (3-0) NR
#24 Rhode Island (3-2) [24]
#25 Central Arkansas (3-2) [25]
NR Youngstown State (2-2) [23]
I may be overstating how much North Dakota State will drop … given the bias that every MVFC team is a powerhouse (not without some justification, of course). Still, the final score does not convey how South Dakota dominated NDSU on the Bison home field … NDSU had to score 9 points in the 4th quarter to make it as close as it was at the end.
That may also be true for William & Mary, but I don’t think so. Elon was not only not ranked, they did not receive a single vote in last week’s poll. In fact, I could see W&M dropping another spot.
Personally, I might have dropped Holy Cross another spot (or two), because Harvard pretty much dominated that game on the Crusader’s home field. However, I’m not convinced that the pollsters will; they seem to cut HC a lot of slack.
Is four spots enough of a drop for North Dakota, after losing to the top-ranked team? Or not enough? Hard to say, but that game was pretty much a beatdown. I could easily see another spot or two down.
I’m guessing that the pollsters will punish New Hampshire rather harshly for their home loss. Yes, the game did go into overtime, but it means that UNH is now (0-2) in conference. Perhaps the pollsters won’t see it that way.
On the other hand, Villanova could drop even more than my guess. Not only was Albany unranked, but they maintained a good lead all the way, before putting it away in the 4th quarter.
In keeping with that, I could see Eastern Washington going into the #21 spot, bumping ‘Nova down one more. The Eags were competitive most of the way before Idaho pulled away a bit in the 4th quarter.
Although it was a close loss on the road at unranked Northern Iowa, I think the pollsters will drop Youngstown State from the top-25. When you’re sitting at #23, you just about can’t afford any loss. Of course, since the pollsters seem to act like Panthers “should” be ranked all the time (they weren’t even close), they may cut YSU some slack. I don’t think they will this time around.
But if that guess is right, it opens a spot for a new team in the top-25. That presents a quandary, along the lines of “who you gonna call?” We had three teams that upset ranked opponents: UNI, Elon, and Harvard. Two of those upsets were squeakers, but Harvard won fairly decisively … and pollsters seem to like having an Ivy in the top-25. So … I went with them.
) if I’m even close to right.Poll Guess, Team (Record), #Current Rank
#1 SDSU (4-0) [1]
#2 Montana State (4-1) [3]
#3 Idaho (4-1) [4]
#4 Furman (3-1) [7]
#5 Sacramento State (4-1) [8]
#6 NDSU (2-2) [2]
#7 Incarnate Word (3-1) [9]
#8 Southern Illinois (4-0) [10]
#9 Delaware (3-1) [11]
#10 William & Mary (4-1) [4]
#11 Weber State (3-2) [13]
#12 Holy Cross (3-2) [6]
#13 NC Central (4-1) [15]
#14 Western Carolina (4-1) [17]
#15 Montana (4-1) [18]
#16 North Dakota (2-2) [12]
#17 Florida A&M (4-1) [20]
#18 UC Davis (3-2) [21]
#19 UT Martin (4-1) [22]
#20 New Hampshire (2-3) [14]
#21 Villanova (3-2) [16]
#22 Eastern Washington (2-3) [19]
#23 Harvard (3-0) NR
#24 Rhode Island (3-2) [24]
#25 Central Arkansas (3-2) [25]
NR Youngstown State (2-2) [23]
I may be overstating how much North Dakota State will drop … given the bias that every MVFC team is a powerhouse (not without some justification, of course). Still, the final score does not convey how South Dakota dominated NDSU on the Bison home field … NDSU had to score 9 points in the 4th quarter to make it as close as it was at the end.
That may also be true for William & Mary, but I don’t think so. Elon was not only not ranked, they did not receive a single vote in last week’s poll. In fact, I could see W&M dropping another spot.
Personally, I might have dropped Holy Cross another spot (or two), because Harvard pretty much dominated that game on the Crusader’s home field. However, I’m not convinced that the pollsters will; they seem to cut HC a lot of slack.
Is four spots enough of a drop for North Dakota, after losing to the top-ranked team? Or not enough? Hard to say, but that game was pretty much a beatdown. I could easily see another spot or two down.
I’m guessing that the pollsters will punish New Hampshire rather harshly for their home loss. Yes, the game did go into overtime, but it means that UNH is now (0-2) in conference. Perhaps the pollsters won’t see it that way.
On the other hand, Villanova could drop even more than my guess. Not only was Albany unranked, but they maintained a good lead all the way, before putting it away in the 4th quarter.
In keeping with that, I could see Eastern Washington going into the #21 spot, bumping ‘Nova down one more. The Eags were competitive most of the way before Idaho pulled away a bit in the 4th quarter.
Although it was a close loss on the road at unranked Northern Iowa, I think the pollsters will drop Youngstown State from the top-25. When you’re sitting at #23, you just about can’t afford any loss. Of course, since the pollsters seem to act like Panthers “should” be ranked all the time (they weren’t even close), they may cut YSU some slack. I don’t think they will this time around.
But if that guess is right, it opens a spot for a new team in the top-25. That presents a quandary, along the lines of “who you gonna call?” We had three teams that upset ranked opponents: UNI, Elon, and Harvard. Two of those upsets were squeakers, but Harvard won fairly decisively … and pollsters seem to like having an Ivy in the top-25. So … I went with them.
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