IdaGriz01
Well-known member
Yet another crazy weekend for FCS football, with six losses by ranked teams. Of course, three of those losses were to other ranked teams and one to an FBS opponent. But the specific matchups make for some interesting possible changes in the rankings, with some key questions concerning Weber State. And what about Northern Arizona?
Poll Guess, Team (Record), [Current Rank]
#1 SDSU (5-0) [1]
#2 Montana State (4-1) [2]
#3 Idaho (5-1) [3]
#4 Sacramento State (4-1) [4]
#5 Furman (4-1) [5]
#6 NDSU (4-1) [7]
#7 Incarnate Word (4-1) [8]
#8 Delaware (4-1) [9]
#9 W. Carolina (5-1) [11]
#10 Holy Cross (4-2) [12]
#11 NC Central (5-1) [14]
#12 Southern Illinois (4-1) [6]
#13 South Dakota (4-1) [15]
#14 William & Mary (4-2) [10]
#15 North Dakota (3-2) [16]
#16 Montana (5-1) [17]
#17 UT Martin (5-1) [18]
#18 Florida A&M (5-1) [19]
#19 Harvard (4-0) [21]
#20 Weber State (3-3) [13]
#21 Rhode Island (4-2) NR
#22 Central Arkansas (4-2) [23]
#23 Eastern Washington (2-3) [22]
#24 UC Davis (3-3) [20]
#25 Youngstown State (2-2) NR
NR Chattanooga (4-2) [24]
NR Elon (3-3) [25]
The top half of the poll seems pretty straightforward, with #6 Southern Illinois losing to an unranked opponent. Of course, the pollsters might consider Youngstown an “almost ranked” team and perhaps not drop the Salukis as far as I’ve guessed. Even so, I expect to see SIU definitely drop out of the top-10, which opens a spot for everyone to move up.
That brings us to William & Mary. Virginia was/is 0-5 against FBS competition. We watched parts of that game, and The Tribe was competitive for a long time … but still lost pretty decisively. I could see the pollsters go either way: either one higher than my guess, or one lower.
Next up, Weber State. Despite, their win over the Griz, the NAU has yet to receive any votes from the pollsters. (I believe that will change, but probably not enough to get them into the top-25.) So the Weebs lost by 17 points, at home, to a team that the pollsters have totally ignored. That (3-3) record also stands out. Yes, one loss was to a ranked FBS team, but one win was over a D-II opponent. So I think the pollsters will hammer them badly … could see them down even more.
On the other hand, I don’t expect the pollsters to be too hard on UC Davis, perhaps not even as much I’ve guessed. Of course, I could be wrong, but I at least don’t see them dropping out of the top-25.
The final two teams both lost to ranked opponents. As I’ve observed here before, you usually cannot afford any loss when you’re siting at the bottom of the rankings. (They were only 23-24 points ahead of “#26” in the last poll.)
That opens two spots to fill, which is often a total crap-shoot. For one, I picked Rhode Island, even though New Hampshire was the top “Others Receiving Votes” in the last poll. Not only does UNH have a losing record, they are winless (0-2) in the CAA. Rhode Island is (2-1) in the CAA. For the other, I think the pollsters will reward Youngstown State for their decisive win over the #6 team. In fact, it would not surprise me to see them jump to just ahead of Eastern Washington.
Poll Guess, Team (Record), [Current Rank]
#1 SDSU (5-0) [1]
#2 Montana State (4-1) [2]
#3 Idaho (5-1) [3]
#4 Sacramento State (4-1) [4]
#5 Furman (4-1) [5]
#6 NDSU (4-1) [7]
#7 Incarnate Word (4-1) [8]
#8 Delaware (4-1) [9]
#9 W. Carolina (5-1) [11]
#10 Holy Cross (4-2) [12]
#11 NC Central (5-1) [14]
#12 Southern Illinois (4-1) [6]
#13 South Dakota (4-1) [15]
#14 William & Mary (4-2) [10]
#15 North Dakota (3-2) [16]
#16 Montana (5-1) [17]
#17 UT Martin (5-1) [18]
#18 Florida A&M (5-1) [19]
#19 Harvard (4-0) [21]
#20 Weber State (3-3) [13]
#21 Rhode Island (4-2) NR
#22 Central Arkansas (4-2) [23]
#23 Eastern Washington (2-3) [22]
#24 UC Davis (3-3) [20]
#25 Youngstown State (2-2) NR
NR Chattanooga (4-2) [24]
NR Elon (3-3) [25]
The top half of the poll seems pretty straightforward, with #6 Southern Illinois losing to an unranked opponent. Of course, the pollsters might consider Youngstown an “almost ranked” team and perhaps not drop the Salukis as far as I’ve guessed. Even so, I expect to see SIU definitely drop out of the top-10, which opens a spot for everyone to move up.
That brings us to William & Mary. Virginia was/is 0-5 against FBS competition. We watched parts of that game, and The Tribe was competitive for a long time … but still lost pretty decisively. I could see the pollsters go either way: either one higher than my guess, or one lower.
Next up, Weber State. Despite, their win over the Griz, the NAU has yet to receive any votes from the pollsters. (I believe that will change, but probably not enough to get them into the top-25.) So the Weebs lost by 17 points, at home, to a team that the pollsters have totally ignored. That (3-3) record also stands out. Yes, one loss was to a ranked FBS team, but one win was over a D-II opponent. So I think the pollsters will hammer them badly … could see them down even more.
On the other hand, I don’t expect the pollsters to be too hard on UC Davis, perhaps not even as much I’ve guessed. Of course, I could be wrong, but I at least don’t see them dropping out of the top-25.
The final two teams both lost to ranked opponents. As I’ve observed here before, you usually cannot afford any loss when you’re siting at the bottom of the rankings. (They were only 23-24 points ahead of “#26” in the last poll.)
That opens two spots to fill, which is often a total crap-shoot. For one, I picked Rhode Island, even though New Hampshire was the top “Others Receiving Votes” in the last poll. Not only does UNH have a losing record, they are winless (0-2) in the CAA. Rhode Island is (2-1) in the CAA. For the other, I think the pollsters will reward Youngstown State for their decisive win over the #6 team. In fact, it would not surprise me to see them jump to just ahead of Eastern Washington.
