Week 11 Stats.com FCS Poll

[FargoBison]

STATS FCS Poll Rankings as of 11/16/2015
Rank School Votes Prev
1 Jacksonville State (9-1) 3886 (145) 1
2 North Dakota State (8-2) 3655 2
3 McNeese State (9-0) 3555 (10) 3
4 Coastal Carolina (9-1) 3280 4
5 South Dakota State (8-2) 3247 5
6 Illinois State (8-2) 3133 6
7 William & Mary (8-2) 2949 7
8 Chattanooga (8-2) 2720 8
9 Charleston Southern (9-1) 2589 (1) 11
10 Sam Houston State (7-3) 2304 13
11 Portland State (8-2) 2212 15
12 James Madison (8-2) 2197 14
13 Fordham (9-2) 1746 16
14 Richmond (7-3) 1735 9
15 UNI (6-4) 1618 17
16 North Carolina A&T (9-1) 1418 19
17 Montana (6-4) 1270 22
18 Eastern Washington (6-4) 1211 10
19 Harvard (8-1) 1127 12
20 Southern Utah (7-3) 942 18
21 Dartmouth (8-1) 718 23
22 Grambling State (8-2) 491 25
23 Eastern Kentucky (6-4) 464 24
24 Northern Arizona (7-3) 414 NR
25 Citadel (7-3) 398 21

Others: Youngstown State (377) , Central Arkansas (293) , Dayton (201) , Bethune-Cookman (183) , Villanova (83) , Eastern Illinois (73) , North Dakota (42) , Western Illinois (37) , Penn (29) , UT Martin (29) , New Hampshire (24) , Duquesne (13) , Western Carolina (12) , Colgate (10) , Alcorn State (7) , Towson (6) , Montana State (1) , Prairie View A&M (1)

[JMUNJ08]

Six words: Coastal Carolina & Sam Houston State

Carry on xcoffeex

[FargoBison]

Six words: Coastal Carolina & Sam Houston State

Carry on xcoffeex

Two words....slot voting

[JSUSoutherner]

EKU is interestingly high. Should be EIU in the spot IMO.
Coastal at 4 😂
Not sure what they see in SHSU.

[Professor Chaos]

It's laughable to have Sam Houston St at 10 and UCA unranked (technically 27th). Same conference, same record (but UCA has a better conference record), SHSU has a non-D1 win, UCA beat Lamar by 18 while SHSU lost by 3, and a load of common opponents that they both handled equally well for the most part.

If UCA beats SHSU this week they'll probably still be behind the Bearkats with the way the STATS poll voters slot vote which will be even more laughable.

[Daytripper]

It's laughable to have Sam Houston St at 10 and UCA unranked (technically 27th). Same conference, same record (but UCA has a better conference record), SHSU has a non-D1 win, UCA beat Lamar by 18 while SHSU lost by 3, and a load of common opponents that they both handled equally well for the most part.

If UCA beats SHSU this week they'll probably still be behind the Bearkats with the way the STATS poll voters slot vote which will be even more laughable.


I am not defending the ranking, but it is a product of where each started the season.

[JMUNJ08]

Two words....slot voting


I am not defending the ranking, but it is a product of where each started the season.

Welcome to the STATS poll....

[BisonFan02]

I am not defending the ranking, but it is a product of where each started the season.

To a point this....but I have SHSU slightly ahead of UCA because (right or wrong) I think they have a slightly better team/higher ceiling right now....we'll find out this Saturday. If SHSU beats UCA, I would imagine they will some how slip into the postseason and go on their usual upset streak....just to lose later on. xthumbsupx xlolx

[clenz]

I am not defending the ranking, but it is a product of where each started the season.
So...slot voting

I'm with BF02 on this as well. Though I've bounced SHSU in and out all year. Mine didn't happen because of slot voting...xlolx

[Professor Chaos]

I am not defending the ranking, but it is a product of where each started the season.
You're right I just think it's ridiculous to still use preseason rankings to influence your vote by this time of the year when there's plenty of information out there from this year if a voter just takes the time to look at it.

One of the local TV guys in Fargo, Dom Izzo, votes in this poll and I'll bet he does more research on the FCS in general than about anyone else who votes in this poll yet he still has CCU at #6 and CSU at #11 and when I asked him about it on his blog he just said it's because CCU started higher in the polls. Just utter silliness IMO.

[CSU18]

Just noticed CSU received a first place vote in this poll. Would love to know who threw that vote out there. Thanks for the vote, but let's be realistic.

[dbackjon]

Trash

[BEAR]

To a point this....but I have SHSU slightly ahead of UCA because (right or wrong) I think they have a slightly better team/higher ceiling right now....we'll find out this Saturday. If SHSU beats UCA, I would imagine they will some how slip into the postseason and go on their usual upset streak....just to lose later on. xthumbsupx xlolx

Time to hire Anonymous to market my Bears...."they will get in, count on it!" could be in their video...well, that is unless they are busy hacking ISIS. xlolx

[dewey]

One of the local TV guys in Fargo, Dom Izzo, votes in this poll and I'll bet he does more research on the FCS in general than about anyone else who votes in this poll yet he still has CCU at #6 and CSU at #11 and when I asked him about it on his blog he just said it's because CCU started higher in the polls. Just utter silliness IMO.

I asked basically that same question again to him in his poll Blog post.

Here is what I asked.
Hey Dom, Why do you still have Coastal Carolina ahead of Charleston Southern? CSU beat CCU 33-25 and has a win over The Citadel, 33-20, but yet you have CCU stil higher. CSU’s only loss is to FBS Troy while Coastal’s best win is over unranked Western Illinois and they didn’t play and FBS team. Slot voting is terrible. There is enough proof this late in the season to figure out who is better and not rely on preseason rankings.

Here was Dom Izzo's response.
Again, CSU has a D-2 win, so after this weekend when they lose at Alabama they’ll have 9 wins, but actually 8 D1 wins, while Coastal will have 9. That in my mind gives them the nod, despite the head to head.

I disagree with him as I think head to head has more wieght but he at least has a better response than slot voting.

Dewey

[MTfan4life]

One of the local TV guys in Fargo, Dom Izzo, votes in this poll and I'll bet he does more research on the FCS in general than about anyone else who votes in this poll yet he still has CCU at #6 and CSU at #11 and when I asked him about it on his blog he just said it's because CCU started higher in the polls. Just utter silliness IMO.

As a guy who can't stand Dom, this doesn't surprise me. He's one of those guys that, like you said, does a lot of work getting to know teams. However, it's like he has these premeditated biases and practices that will always be a factor in how he both votes, commentates, and writes. It's why all these media polls suck. Who cares where they started in the polls?

Talking about the whole poll in general, Eastern Washington, a team who has lost their last two games by an average of 31.5 points and also hasn't beaten an above .500 team, is still ranked in the top 20?

[Casey_Orourke]

As a guy who can't stand Dom, this doesn't surprise me. He's one of those guys that, like you said, does a lot of work getting to know teams. However, it's like he has these premeditated biases and practices that will always be a factor in how he both votes, commentates, and writes. It's why all these media polls suck. Who cares where they started in the polls?

Talking about the whole poll in general, Eastern Washington, a team who has lost their last two games by an average of 31.5 points and also hasn't beaten an above .500 team, is still ranked in the top 20?

By that reasoning, as far as I can see, Portland State, which was not even considered at the beginning of the season is now ranked above all the Big Sky teams currently in the poll shouldn't even be considered despite their record.

Do the voters make their ballots public, or is it all done by secret ballot?