AGS Poll Top 25 - Week 9

[AGSPoll]

Any Given Saturday Poll Top 25
10/29/2007
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. Northern Iowa (59) 8-0
2. North Dakota St. (33) 8-0
3. McNeese St. (2) 8-0
4. Massachusetts (3) 7-1
5. Montana (1) 8-0
6. Southern Illinois 7-1
7. New Hampshire 6-2
8. Delaware 7-1
9. Wofford 7-2
10. Appalachian St. 6-2
11. James Madison 6-2
12. Yale 7-0
13. Richmond 6-2
14. Delaware St. 7-1
15. Elon 6-2
16. Eastern Kentucky 7-2
17. Georgia Southern 6-2
18. Grambling St. 7-1
19. Eastern Illinois 6-3
20. Youngstown St. 5-4
21. Hofstra 6-2
22. Western Illinois 6-3
23. Cal Poly 5-3
24. The Citadel 5-3
25. Eastern Washington 5-3

Dropped out: Nicholls State (20), Montana State (21), Norfolk State (24)

Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes): Fordham (35), Villanova (34), Nicholls St. (32), Central Arkansas (31), Holy Cross (31), Alabama A&M (23), Montana St. (16), Dayton (14), South Dakota St. (12), Norfolk St. (11)

MOST SIGNIFICANT WIN OF THE WEEK: Delaware
MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF THE WEEK: Montana St

[appfan2008]

uni's lead dipped just a little and i am surprised to see ysu still that high with 4 losses even though they played great on saturday... i had deleware a little higher after that great win... looks good overall

[bluehenbillk]

This poll makes less sense every week:


- JMU over Richmond, same record & UR just beat JMU in H-Burg.
-YSU at #20 with a 5-4 record?? Newsflash: They're done guys.

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

Looks appropriate...although I don't really understand why McNeese moved above Montana after beating a 2-6 team and Montana got a road win over, while not an exceptional NAU, a decent NAU. We finally get a half decent road win and we drop lol. Oh well what can ya do?

[danefan]

No love for the Danes at all?????

Man, that Colgate loss is just burning a hole in our season!!!!!!!!!!!!

[flyenhigh]

Who votes for this poll??

[danefan]

Forum members here.....

If you stick around long enough you'll be asked to vote here.

I had a vote this year, but I couldn't give it enough time to do it the justice a vote deserves. It takes a ton of research on Sunday to make an educated poll.

[bandl]

This poll makes less sense every week:


- JMU over Richmond, same record & UR just beat JMU in H-Burg.
-YSU at #20 with a 5-4 record?? Newsflash: They're done guys.

Probably because JMU has been ranked much higher than UR all year. JMU dropped, Richmond rose. I had JMU/UR/UD/UNH a jumbled back-to-back-to-back-to-back in my poll (even got a PM about it from ags!!), because there's no telling at this point who's better of those 4. JMU lost to UR, but UR beat UNH, and JMU beat UNH, but UNH beat UD, and UD still has to play JMU and UR, etc. It's a clusterf&ck for sure, and it'll be sorted out in a few weeks. xnodx xconfusedx

[appfan2008]

Looks appropriate...although I don't really understand why McNeese moved above Montana after beating a 2-6 team and Montana got a road win over, while not an exceptional NAU, a decent NAU. We finally get a half decent road win and we drop lol. Oh well what can ya do?

doesnt make sense for sure but... i do believe that that is an impressive win for you guys

[89Hen]

- JMU over Richmond, same record & UR just beat JMU in H-Burg.
Agreed there. I have UR as the #2 in the CAA behind UMass. I watched the JMU/UNH and JMU/UR games and IMO UR is better than both. I wish I had seen the UR/Towson game to know what happened there.... I know they had some injuries going into that game. xcoffeex

[bandl]

Looks appropriate...although I don't really understand why McNeese moved above Montana after beating a 2-6 team and Montana got a road win over, while not an exceptional NAU, a decent NAU. We finally get a half decent road win and we drop lol. Oh well what can ya do?

Probably because voters are tired of seeing a "Top 5" team barely eke out a win every week (UNC doesn't count, no matter what Montana State says ;) ). xnodx

[89Hen]

Looks appropriate...although I don't really understand why McNeese moved above Montana after beating a 2-6 team and Montana got a road win over, while not an exceptional NAU, a decent NAU. We finally get a half decent road win and we drop lol. Oh well what can ya do?
Delaware had some strange movements this year too. I'd have to go back and check, but I think the Hens dropped two weeks in a row on wins and moved up last week on a bye. xnodx :p

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

Probably because voters are tired of seeing a "Top 5" team barely eke out a win every week (UNC doesn't count, no matter what Montana State says ;) ). xnodx

That doesn't make any sense though...the poll is supposed to be based upon what happens that week...and this week we got a road win against a much better opponent than McNeese who played at home.

[89Hen]

That doesn't make any sense though...the poll is supposed to be based upon what happens that week...and this week we got a road win against a much better opponent than McNeese who played at home.
Just to clarify, the poll is supposed to be based upon what has happened this year. Carry on. xthumbsupx

[appfan2008]

That doesn't make any sense though...the poll is supposed to be based upon what happens that week...and this week we got a road win against a much better opponent than McNeese who played at home.

the poll is not about what happened that week... it is about your body of work up to and including that week

[bandl]

That doesn't make any sense though...the poll is supposed to be based upon what happens that week...and this week we got a road win against a much better opponent than McNeese who played at home.

If it was based on what happened that week, Delaware would be #1 because they beat Navy, the "most significant win of the week".

[WMTribe90]

Not too bad, drop Montana a few spots, raise UD a few spots, drop YSU out, and bump Villanova up to 25 IMO.

[danefan]

I think he's is saying that flucuations in the poll should coincide with what happened last week.

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

the poll is not about what happened that week... it is about your body of work up to and including that week

I understand that...BUT Looking at McNeese's schedule it's really not all that impressive either

Sat, Sep 1 Portland State W 35-12 -- 2-6
Sat, Sep 15 at Louisiana-Lafayette W 38-17 -- FBS but 1-7
Sat, Sep 22 at Southern Utah W 41-20 -- 0-8
Sat, Sep 29 South Dakota W 31-7 -- Div II
Sat, Oct 6 at Texas State W 41-20 -- 3-5
Sat, Oct 13 Sam Houston State W 31-21 -- 4-4
Sat, Oct 20 at Nicholls State W 28-7 -- 5-3 but a good team
Sat, Oct 27 Southeastern Louisiana W 45-17 -- 2-6
Sat, Nov 3 at Stephen F. Austin 7:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 10 Northwestern State 8:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 17 Central Arkansas 8:00 pm

PLUS only one more road game scheduled than Montana...and I don't ever see McNeese getting grief for being over-rated lol But like I said what can ya do

[kardplayer]

The poll sometimes doesn't "make sense" for a variety of reasons:

There are a few different schools of thought amongst voters each week:

One group uses their last week ranking and does plus/minuses based on wins and losses. This results in an over/underrated team taking a few weeks to reach their appropriate level as voters feel like "I can't drop them that far/bump them up that much"

The other group looks at the full resume and assesses each team each week. This could result in wild swings as they realize their earlier assumptions were wrong (e.g. that win over Hofstra doesn't look as exciting as they head towards a 7-4/6-5 record).

Then you have voters like me that aspires to be in the second group but often only has time to be in the first group. On the weeks where I do a full resume review, I get wild swings (e.g. Elon went from 21 to 6 in my poll as I finally accounted for victories over GSU and Wofford).

As a result, there can be some very weird things from time to time, but given that there are only 100 or so of us voting, that's to be expected.

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

I think he's is saying that flucuations in the poll should coincide with what happened last week.

Yes thank you

[andy7171]

This poll makes less sense every week:


- JMU over Richmond, same record & UR just beat JMU in H-Burg.
-YSU at #20 with a 5-4 record?? Newsflash: They're done guys.
Richmond dropped a couple weeks ago after losing to Towson. JMU has been in the top 10 all year. You don't just flip rankings, or else NoCo would be in the top 15 or so after beating Montana State. xsmhx

[DetroitFlyer]

No San Diego at all.... Losing to Dayton is a good loss, ( if there is such a thing ). It is not like USD went out and lost to Northern Colorado.... Now that I think about it, USD hammered NC.... Not only did USD drop out of top 25 contention, they fell off the map completely....

[89Hen]

Richmond dropped a couple weeks ago after losing to Towson. JMU has been in the top 10 all year. You don't just flip rankings, or else NoCo would be in the top 15 or so after beating Montana State. xsmhx
UR beat James Madison, UR beat New Hampshire, UR has only lost two games (same as JMU and UNH)... do you really think your analogy is a good one? xconfusedx

[bandl]

No San Diego at all.... Losing to Dayton is a good loss, ( if there is such a thing ). It is not like USD went out and lost to Northern Colorado.... Now that I think about it, USD hammered NC.... Not only did USD drop out of top 25 contention, they fell off the map completely....

Holy crap....are we f&cking kidding....is it ever going to end??? xeekx xeekx

[mcveyrl]

No San Diego at all.... Losing to Dayton is a good loss, ( if there is such a thing ). It is not like USD went out and lost to Northern Colorado.... Now that I think about it, USD hammered NC.... Not only did USD drop out of top 25 contention, they fell off the map completely....

No smack intended because I had them in my Top 25 last week, but I would imagine that most voters had them in the 20-25 range. Just about any team that loses that's in that bracket falls out of my Top 25 (see also Norfolk State and The Citadel).

[89Hen]

No San Diego at all.... Losing to Dayton is a good loss, ( if there is such a thing ). It is not like USD went out and lost to Northern Colorado.... Now that I think about it, USD hammered NC.... Not only did USD drop out of top 25 contention, they fell off the map completely....
MSU was dropped completely off the map by 80% of the voters. Losing to Dayton is a bad loss. Losing to UNC is a bad loss.

[UNHWildCats]

Probably because JMU has been ranked much higher than UR all year. JMU dropped, Richmond rose. I had JMU/UR/UD/UNH a jumbled back-to-back-to-back-to-back in my poll (even got a PM about it from ags!!), because there's no telling at this point who's better of those 4. JMU lost to UR, but UR beat UNH, and JMU beat UNH, but UNH beat UD, and UD still has to play JMU and UR, etc. It's a clusterf&ck for sure, and it'll be sorted out in a few weeks. xnodx xconfusedx

I got a PM too for dropping UMass 1 spot after struggling with W&M and being tied with them with 4 minutes remaining xreadx

[mcveyrl]

I got a PM too for dropping UMass 1 spot after struggling with W&M and being tied with them with 4 minutes remaining xreadx

Did you drop UNH for struggling with URI??xeyebrowx

[89Hen]

Did you drop UNH for struggling with URI??xeyebrowx
The public wants to know. xeyebrowx

[th0m]

I would've expected JMU to drop farther, but I'll take it.

[UNHWildCats]

Did you drop UNH for struggling with URI??xeyebrowx

UNH wasn't tied with 4 minutes left. And UNH's offense didnt look horrible. The defense did, but dont they always? UNH hasbeen ranked for week after week at #1 in the past with a horrible defense, nothing new there.

New Hampshire's win wasnt in doubt in the second half, Massachusett's was, for most of the second half.

[89Hen]

New Hampshire's win wasnt in doubt in the second half, Massachusett's was, for most of the second half.
"Rhode Island, which amassed 267 first-half rushing yards to build a 24-21 halftime lead, was led by Jimmy Hughes’ 168 rushing yards on 20 carries."

"Another UNH turnover led to Hughes’ 21-yard scoring play that lifted the Rams within 35-30 at 13:11 of the fourth quarter. On the ensuing two-point conversion, backup quarterback D.J. Stefkovich rolled to the right but could not connect with Shawn Leonard (four catches, 57 yards) along the right side of the end zone."

xcoffeex

[andy7171]

UR beat James Madison, UR beat New Hampshire, UR has only lost two games (same as JMU and UNH)... do you really think your analogy is a good one? xconfusedx

I was exaggerating to prove my point. xrolleyesx :o It's not like they were back to back in the rankings so you could just flip them like when UNH beat Delaware. Last week I had JMU #4 and Richmond #24. This week I had JMU #10 and Richmond #19. I cant justify dropping JMU down further , and can't leap frog other teams that won in front of Richmond. The poll is ultimately meaningless. It just gives us all something to talk about.

Being a first year voter, I am amazed how much I didn't know about I-AA FCS football in the past.

[UNHWildCats]

"Rhode Island, which amassed 267 first-half rushing yards to build a 24-21 halftime lead, was led by Jimmy Hughes’ 168 rushing yards on 20 carries."

"Another UNH turnover led to Hughes’ 21-yard scoring play that lifted the Rams within 35-30 at 13:11 of the fourth quarter. On the ensuing two-point conversion, backup quarterback D.J. Stefkovich rolled to the right but could not connect with Shawn Leonard (four catches, 57 yards) along the right side of the end zone."

xcoffeex

And unlike the UMass offense, New Hampshire was moving at will. As I said, the UNH win wasn't in doubt in the second half.

[Ivytalk]

The poll sometimes doesn't "make sense" for a variety of reasons:

There are a few different schools of thought amongst voters each week:

One group uses their last week ranking and does plus/minuses based on wins and losses. This results in an over/underrated team taking a few weeks to reach their appropriate level as voters feel like "I can't drop them that far/bump them up that much"

The other group looks at the full resume and assesses each team each week. This could result in wild swings as they realize their earlier assumptions were wrong (e.g. that win over Hofstra doesn't look as exciting as they head towards a 7-4/6-5 record).

Then you have voters like me that aspires to be in the second group but often only has time to be in the first group. On the weeks where I do a full resume review, I get wild swings (e.g. Elon went from 21 to 6 in my poll as I finally accounted for victories over GSU and Wofford).

As a result, there can be some very weird things from time to time, but given that there are only 100 or so of us voting, that's to be expected.

That sounds about right to me, kardplayer. I used to be a diehard "first-group" person, but now I usually go straight to the "second group" instead of psychoanalyzing my old ballots. I don't pretend to know which method is more accurate.xpeacex

[89Hen]

Being a first year voter, I am amazed how much I didn't know about I-AA FCS football in the past.
We've known that for a while. :p

[DetroitFlyer]

No smack intended because I had them in my Top 25 last week, but I would imagine that most voters had them in the 20-25 range. Just about any team that loses that's in that bracket falls out of my Top 25 (see also Norfolk State and The Citadel).

Yeah, but MSU is still on the map.... What this tells me is that with a couple more wins, they could be ranked again before the season is over.... USD on the other hand, is not even on the map anymore, is it likely that if they win out, they will be ranked again?

USD's loss to Dayton is much better than MSU's loss to UNC.... Yeah, it sounds funny when you say it like that, but I think you get my gist....

[SeattleGriz]

UNH wasn't tied with 4 minutes left. And UNH's offense didnt look horrible. The defense did, but dont they always? UNH hasbeen ranked for week after week at #1 in the past with a horrible defense, nothing new there.

New Hampshire's win wasnt in doubt in the second half, Massachusett's was, for most of the second half.

Wow. East coast bias against an East coast team. Does this bias know no bounds? :D

[blukeys]

The poll sometimes doesn't "make sense" for a variety of reasons:

There are a few different schools of thought amongst voters each week:

One group uses their last week ranking and does plus/minuses based on wins and losses. This results in an over/underrated team taking a few weeks to reach their appropriate level as voters feel like "I can't drop them that far/bump them up that much"

The other group looks at the full resume and assesses each team each week. This could result in wild swings as they realize their earlier assumptions were wrong (e.g. that win over Hofstra doesn't look as exciting as they head towards a 7-4/6-5 record).

Then you have voters like me that aspires to be in the second group but often only has time to be in the first group. On the weeks where I do a full resume review, I get wild swings (e.g. Elon went from 21 to 6 in my poll as I finally accounted for victories over GSU and Wofford).

As a result, there can be some very weird things from time to time, but given that there are only 100 or so of us voting, that's to be expected.


Kardplayer, You sound just like me. No wonder I have so much trouble beating you in trivia!!!!!:D :D :D :D :D

[89Hen]

the UNH win wasn't in doubt in the second half.
Must have just been me then. xeyebrowx

"Facing a Rhode Island team it was expected to handle easily on Saturday, the eighth-ranked Wildcats had to rely on a series of breaks and a key injury before they could escape Cowell Stadium with a 49-36 come-from-behind win." -Portsmouth News Herald"

The University of New Hampshire football team eventually took care of business in a 49-36 win triumph over Rhode Island for its fourth straight win." -Union Leader

"Now that was harder than it should have been.

An ugly fusion of penalties, turnovers and porous run defense weighted down eighth-ranked University of New Hampshire against one-win University of Rhode Island yesterday at a damp Cowell Stadium. With the chain of mistakes around the Wildcats ankles and URI's triple-option offense devouring rushing yards and clock, the cellar-dwelling Rams (1-7) actually had a three-point lead late in the third quarter." - Concord Monitor

[UNHWildCats]

if Montana State beats Montana they will be ranked and rightfully so, if they dont they wont be.

Who the hell has San Diego beaten? Even if they beat USD who cares cause Davis sucks this year.

San Diego wasn't a playoff team and they proved it.

[mcveyrl]

Yeah, but MSU is still on the map.... What this tells me is that with a couple more wins, they could be ranked again before the season is over.... USD on the other hand, is not even on the map anymore, is it likely that if they win out, they will be ranked again?

USD's loss to Dayton is much better than MSU's loss to UNC.... Yeah, it sounds funny when you say it like that, but I think you get my gist....

I did not have MSU on my poll, BUT I will say that a lot depends on where they were when they lost. If somebody had them at 15 or so and thought that the UNC loss was a fluke, then you might not drop them completely out.

[OL FU]

That sounds about right to me, kardplayer. I used to be a diehard "first-group" person, but now I usually go straight to the "second group" instead of psychoanalyzing my old ballots. I don't pretend to know which method is more accurate.xpeacex

how about a combination, be a first grouper who also looks to see if the overall makes sense then go with it. I have tried it both ways and, in my opinion people can read to much into one game unless they have a some starting point from which to move the teamsxtwocentsx

On the other hand if you stick with the starting point you can end up with a 5 loss team in the top 25 very easily. xnodx

[McNeese75]

That doesn't make any sense though...the poll is supposed to be based upon what happens that week...and this week we got a road win against a much better opponent than McNeese who played at home.

Much better opponent??? xlolx

NAU lost to Arizona,

SELA Played and lost to New Mexico State, Kansas and Tulane. The last two conference games before McNeese were lost by a total of 7 points.

Welcome to the "Hole" :D

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

Much better opponent??? xlolx

NAU lost to Arizona,

SELA Played and lost to New Mexico State, Kansas and Tulane. The last two conference games before McNeese were lost by a total of 7 points.

Welcome to the "Hole" :D

Still don't see the win as being all that impressive i'm sorry lol

[McNeese75]

Still don't see the win as being all that impressive i'm sorry lol


xlolx I understand, I guess I feel the same way about yours xnodx

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

xlolx I understand, I guess I feel the same way about yours xnodx

makes sense :D

[Grizalltheway]

I got a PM too for dropping UMass 1 spot after struggling with W&M and being tied with them with 4 minutes remaining xreadx

OT, but Arsenal are ahead of Man U on goals scored. xrulesx Just thought I'd bring you down a peg. :D

[HensRock]

That doesn't make any sense though...the poll is supposed to be based upon what happens that week...and this week we got a road win against a much better opponent than McNeese who played at home.

McNeese didn't pass Montana, they passed UMass. Montana stayed at #5.

[MSU_77]

Still don't see the win as being all that impressive i'm sorry lol

As the polls stand now, both Montana and McNeese will be seeded in the playoffs. Neither Montana nor McNeese has been defeated, and neither has played a lot of very impressive opponents. (Although we sure enjoyed wiping the smirks off the ULL fans faces, and our 28-7 road win at then #12 Nicholls wasn't too bad).

McNeese so far has not even been challenged in a game. I don't think our starters have seen any 4th quarter action yet. That might change at any moment, but a poll is based on what has happened so far.

[Ronin]

If it was based on what happened that week, Delaware would be #1 because they beat Navy, the "most significant win of the week".

Very good point.

[HensRock]

Not too bad, drop Montana a few spots, raise UD a few spots, drop YSU out, and bump Villanova up to 25 IMO.

Once again, Montana didn't drop. They were #5 last week. Basically UMass and McNeese just swapped at the #3 and #4 spots, the top 5 are the same as last week.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Must have just been me then. xeyebrowx

"Facing a Rhode Island team it was expected to handle easily on Saturday, the eighth-ranked Wildcats had to rely on a series of breaks and a key injury before they could escape Cowell Stadium with a 49-36 come-from-behind win." -Portsmouth News Herald"

The University of New Hampshire football team eventually took care of business in a 49-36 win triumph over Rhode Island for its fourth straight win." -Union Leader

"Now that was harder than it should have been.

An ugly fusion of penalties, turnovers and porous run defense weighted down eighth-ranked University of New Hampshire against one-win University of Rhode Island yesterday at a damp Cowell Stadium. With the chain of mistakes around the Wildcats ankles and URI's triple-option offense devouring rushing yards and clock, the cellar-dwelling Rams (1-7) actually had a three-point lead late in the third quarter." - Concord Monitor

You see thats why it wasn't in doubt in the 2nd half. That injury happened late in the 2nd quarter....so no doubt it the 2nd half.

Wow...why is that so hard to understand?xsmiley_wix





In the first half UNH played as badly as I've seen in a long time.
Fumbles, bad penalties, poor defense. Very very flat.

The D played better in the 2nd half but the other problems remained.
They were very lucky to be only down 3 at the half.

On the up side they found a way to win. There playoff hopes are still alive.
I can see why any voter would choose not to reward them for such an effort.

[Down with the Foe!]

self edit- my mistake

[mcveyrl]

no offense,,,but you lost me here danefan.

How good of a job and unbiased decision or research for that fact, are these "fans" actually doing?

How do the Griz drop another spot? especially after what the teams above us did??? The Only conclusion I can come to is that this is nothing more than "fans" voting...and really are NOT very educated or neutral in their ballot selections.

I'm not asking for the Griz to raise...but how do they drop?


See what I'm getting at?

I'm not mad, or trying to be start an argument or talk smack or be dissrespectful...I'm just curious?

xnonono2x

I didn't have the Griz dropping. I thought this was one of their better wins.

FWIW, it also confuses me how people are dropping UM. I mean, the pre-season rankings are where you thought a team would end up. Didn't you know their schedule when you did that?? I HAVE dropped the Griz for a couple of lack luster wins, but for the most part they've done what I expected them to do - blowout some much weaker opponents.

[danefan]

xnonono2x

I quess what I was trying to say was that I personally don't vote because I don't have the time necessary to do what I feel is appropriate to cast a vote. I'm not saying that people voting actually do this type of research, nor defending the poll at all.

[BisonBacker]

I didn't have the Griz dropping. I thought this was one of their better wins.

FWIW, it also confuses me how people are dropping UM. I mean, the pre-season rankings are where you thought a team would end up. Didn't you know their schedule when you did that?? I HAVE dropped the Griz for a couple of lack luster wins, but for the most part they've done what I expected them to do - blowout some much weaker opponents.

Serious question (no smack intended) but other then last weeks score who have the griz blown out? I don't really remember any blowouts that come to mind.

[PantherRob82]

This poll makes less sense every week:


-YSU at #20 with a 5-4 record?? Newsflash: They're done guys.

YSU lost to 2 top 10 teams, FBS #1 Ohio State, and a good Illinois State team. I think they are still one of the top 25 best teams.

[HensRock]

YSU lost to 2 top 10 teams, FBS #1 Ohio State, and a good Illinois State team. I think they are still one of the top 25 best teams.

Would that be that "good Illinois State team" that is 4-5 with a loss to Drake?

[PantherRob82]

Would that be that "good Illinois State team" that is 4-5 with a loss to Drake?

They're not that bad of a team? Seen em play?

[mcveyrl]

Serious question (no smack intended) but other then last weeks score who have the griz blown out? I don't really remember any blowouts that come to mind.

So blowout might've been too strong a word, but...

Southern Utah W 37-17 - 20-point win to start off the year to a team that's hard to gauge because they play the toughest schedule in FCS

Fort Lewis W 49-0 - this was about right to me
Albany W 35-14 - same here - 3TD win over an okay team
Weber State W 18-10 - dropped them for this one
E. Washington W 24-23 - Good win over what has shown to be a quality team. Maybe a little too close, but still a good win.

@ Sac. State W 17-3 - This one was not impressive either, but a 2TD road win is not shabby against anybody.

N. Col. W 52-7 - Did what they were supposed to here.
@ Northern Arizona W 21-16 - Good win here. I think NAU is a good team.

[HensRock]

They're not that bad of a team? Seen em play?

No, I have not seen them play. I didn't say they were bad. I just thought you calling them "good" was a bit of a stretch. There's no denying the Redbirds are having a down year. Can we agree on that much?

[AZGrizFan]

So blowout might've been too strong a word, but...

Southern Utah W 37-17 - 20-point win to start off the year to a team that's hard to gauge because they play the toughest schedule in FCS

Fort Lewis W 49-0 - this was about right to me
Albany W 35-14 - same here - 3TD win over an okay team
Weber State W 18-10 - dropped them for this one
E. Washington W 24-23 - Good win over what has shown to be a quality team. Maybe a little too close, but still a good win.

@ Sac. State W 17-3 - This one was not impressive either, but a 2TD road win is not shabby against anybody.

N. Col. W 52-7 - Did what they were supposed to here.
@ Northern Arizona W 21-16 - Good win here. I think NAU is a good team.

The thing I hate about judging a team's performance by whether or not they "blew somebody out" is that in many games, the Griz have ended the game DEEP in their opponent's territory, but kneel for the last 1:30 instead of pounding it in to make the score "look" better. NAU is a prime example. The game ended with the Griz on the 6 yard line. They kneeled the last 1:45. Could have scored (and I mean scored EASILY---Hilliard was gettin' 6-7 yards per carry at that point), made it 27-16, and it would have 'looked' better, but BH has too much class. Same with SUU, Albany & Fort Lewis. All could have been much worse scores, but BH just won't do it. And the opinion of the Griz nationwide suffers as a result.

[89Hen]

On the up side they found a way to win. There playoff hopes are still alive.
I can see why any voter would choose not to reward them for such an effort.
Yup. I had just never seen a fan of a team LOSING in the third quarter say the game was never in doubt at that point. xlolx

[mcveyrl]

The thing I hate about judging a team's performance by whether or not they "blew somebody out" is that in many games, the Griz have ended the game DEEP in their opponent's territory, but kneel for the last 1:30 instead of pounding it in to make the score "look" better. NAU is a prime example. The game ended with the Griz on the 6 yard line. They kneeled the last 1:45. Could have scored (and I mean scored EASILY---Hilliard was gettin' 6-7 yards per carry at that point), made it 27-16, and it would have 'looked' better, but BH has too much class. Same with SUU, Albany & Fort Lewis. All could have been much worse scores, but BH just won't do it. And the opinion of the Griz nationwide suffers as a result.

Hey, I'm with you. My point was that it's kind of silly to talk about how Montana doesn't deserve to be Top 10 or Top 5 but not complain when they were put their in the pre-season.

[skinny_uncle]

YSU lost to 2 top 10 teams, FBS #1 Ohio State, and a good Illinois State team. I think they are still one of the top 25 best teams.

YSU lost a couple of games by five points and one point that is the difference between 5-4 and 7-2. The margin for error is pretty slim this year. Not many teams would have fared any better with their schedule.

[89Hen]

the Griz have ended the game DEEP in their opponent's territory
Taking care of business means you wouldn't have to score a last second TD to inflate the score... it should have already been inflated. :p

The Griz have turned the tide for me. Started at #1, dropped to #8 as the close wins piled up, but now are back up to #6 and moving up. xthumbsupx

[AZGrizFan]

Taking care of business means you wouldn't have to score a last second TD to inflate the score... it should have already been inflated. :p

The Griz have turned the tide for me. Started at #1, dropped to #8 as the close wins piled up, but now are back up to #6 and moving up. xthumbsupx


True, true, but for those that just look at the SCORE, and not how they GOT to that score, it's the same difference. That's my point.

They've turned the corner for me too....just wish I'd voted this week!

[Tailbone]

The thing I hate about judging a team's performance by whether or not they "blew somebody out" is that in many games, the Griz have ended the game DEEP in their opponent's territory, but kneel for the last 1:30 instead of pounding it in to make the score "look" better. .......... And the opinion of the Griz nationwide suffers as a result.

I just hope the kid gloves come off in the play-offs.
Then those observers who make judgments based on margin of victory will be left to evaluate the meaning of their own teams 20 point loss.....and how their team then, compares to those "big fluffy sky" teams who lost by a "few" points.

[Ronin]

I understand that...BUT Looking at McNeese's schedule it's really not all that impressive either

Sat, Sep 1 Portland State W 35-12 -- 2-6
Sat, Sep 15 at Louisiana-Lafayette W 38-17 -- FBS but 1-7
Sat, Sep 22 at Southern Utah W 41-20 -- 0-8
Sat, Sep 29 South Dakota W 31-7 -- Div II
Sat, Oct 6 at Texas State W 41-20 -- 3-5
Sat, Oct 13 Sam Houston State W 31-21 -- 4-4
Sat, Oct 20 at Nicholls State W 28-7 -- 5-3 but a good team
Sat, Oct 27 Southeastern Louisiana W 45-17 -- 2-6
Sat, Nov 3 at Stephen F. Austin 7:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 10 Northwestern State 8:00 pm --
Sat, Nov 17 Central Arkansas 8:00 pm

PLUS only one more road game scheduled than Montana...and I don't ever see McNeese getting grief for being over-rated lol But like I said what can ya do

I suspect that many are taking into account the following:

Record -- Equal in this case
Strength of schedule -- Equal for sake of argument
Margin of win -- Montana 16.2 pts, McNeese 20.7 pts.*

Removed Division II games for point comparison.

[BisonBacker]

The thing I hate about judging a team's performance by whether or not they "blew somebody out" is that in many games, the Griz have ended the game DEEP in their opponent's territory, but kneel for the last 1:30 instead of pounding it in to make the score "look" better. NAU is a prime example. The game ended with the Griz on the 6 yard line. They kneeled the last 1:45. Could have scored (and I mean scored EASILY---Hilliard was gettin' 6-7 yards per carry at that point), made it 27-16, and it would have 'looked' better, but BH has too much class. Same with SUU, Albany & Fort Lewis. All could have been much worse scores, but BH just won't do it. And the opinion of the Griz nationwide suffers as a result.

Fair enough but I believe that same thing could be said for many top ranked teams. Maybe not every game they play but certainly in some of them.

[BisonBacker]

For the record I don't put that much into a blowout win anyway especially if its a team your expected to or should beat by a fair margain. When it sticks out is if its a blowout over a ranked opponent then that may be different and I think in a way it should be. Either way I don't see a "blowout win" moving a team up anymore then a "win" anyway. It may bump a team a couple spots if it's against good competition but its not going to put a team that would be ranked outside of the top 10 into the top 5 teams and it shouldn't.

[Mountain Panther]

I just hope the kid gloves come off in the play-offs.
Then those observers who make judgments based on margin of victory will be left to evaluate the meaning of their own teams 20 point loss.....and how their team then, compares to those "big fluffy sky" teams who lost by a "few" points.

Then do me a favor, take off the "kid gloves" and beat your in-state rival MSU by at least 20 points this year. Then I'll buy what you're sellin'. xthumbsupx

[mcveyrl]

For the record I don't put that much into a blowout win anyway especially if its a team your expected to or should beat by a fair margain. When it sticks out is if its a blowout over a ranked opponent then that may be different and I think in a way it should be. Either way I don't see a "blowout win" moving a team up anymore then a "win" anyway. It may bump a team a couple spots if it's against good competition but its not going to put a team that would be ranked outside of the top 10 into the top 5 teams and it shouldn't.

So Montana shouldn't have dropped from their preseason ranking and should've moved up with each win (assuming people above them lost)?xconfusedx xconfusedx

[uofmman1122]

Then do me a favor, take off the "kid gloves" and beat your in-state rival MSU by at least 20 points this year. Then I'll buy what you're sellin'. xthumbsupxI'd love nothing more. xthumbsupx

[X-Factor]

Looks appropriate...although I don't really understand why McNeese moved above Montana after beating a 2-6 team and Montana got a road win over, while not an exceptional NAU, a decent NAU. We finally get a half decent road win and we drop lol. Oh well what can ya do?

I hear ya, but dang I would trade spots with you in a heartbeat if we could be in the playoffs xlolx

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

I hear ya, but dang I would trade spots with you in a heartbeat if we could be in the playoffs xlolx

I believe ya...just think only one more year

[BisonBacker]

So Montana shouldn't have dropped from their preseason ranking and should've moved up with each win (assuming people above them lost)?xconfusedx xconfusedx

Where did I say that????xnonox

[Tailbone]

Then do me a favor, take off the "kid gloves" and beat your in-state rival MSU by at least 20 points this year. Then I'll buy what you're sellin'. xthumbsupx

Nah, It'd be much more satisfying to beat you (by any margin) somewhere along the road to Chattanooga. :D

[mcveyrl]

Where did I say that????xnonox

Aren't you saying that a win's a win?

Or are you saying that blowouts don't matter, but close games do? What's your definition of a blowout and a convincing win? Where do you draw the line?

Just trying to figure out what you're getting at by pointing out that Montana hasn't blown anybody out (which I conceded, but for a few games, is true)

[buckp]

All I've got to say is....its good the see the Fightin' Blue Hens back in the Top 10! xbowx

[Daved]

This poll makes less sense every week:


- JMU over Richmond, same record & UR just beat JMU in H-Burg.
-YSU at #20 with a 5-4 record?? Newsflash: They're done guys.

Sure they are done -but remember that one of their losses is to #1 Ohio State and another was that massive rout by #1 UNI!

[No_Skill]

The thing I hate about judging a team's performance by whether or not they "blew somebody out" is that in many games, the Griz have ended the game DEEP in their opponent's territory, but kneel for the last 1:30 instead of pounding it in to make the score "look" better. NAU is a prime example. The game ended with the Griz on the 6 yard line. They kneeled the last 1:45. Could have scored (and I mean scored EASILY---Hilliard was gettin' 6-7 yards per carry at that point), made it 27-16, and it would have 'looked' better, but BH has too much class. Same with SUU, Albany & Fort Lewis. All could have been much worse scores, but BH just won't do it. And the opinion of the Griz nationwide suffers as a result.

Why do you keep bringing this up? Are the Griz the only team who kneels down at the end of games? Give me a break. NDSU knelt down with like 1:30 remaining in the Gopher game down near the 30. Every team with the lead does this.

[Gil Dobie]

Why do you keep bringing this up? Are the Griz the only team who kneels down at the end of games? Give me a break. NDSU knelt down with like 1:30 remaining in the Gopher game down near the 30. Every team with the lead does this.

Except the Patriots. xeyebrowx

[No_Skill]

Except the Patriots. xeyebrowx

:D They could kneel down the entire 4th quarter and still win.

BTW: You know what I meant...the last 2 minutes when they can't call TO.

[MR. CHICKEN]

HOW CAN YA'LL VOTE MONTANA STATE AS MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSS......WHEN DUH #6 SQWAD...IS BEATEN AT HOME....BY #14 RICHMOND?........GRANTED IT WAS UH NAIL-BITERAH..........BUT IFIN' DUH KNUCKLE-DRAGGERAHS........REMEMBERAH......BACK TA DUH PRE-SEASON POLL......DUH BOBCATS.......WERE CHOSEN MOST LIKEY TOP 25 TEAM TA FALL DUH FARTHEST..........NORFFERN COLORADO IS BAD.....BUT DEY WERE AT HOME.....AN' DEY DIDN'T WIN BAH MUCH.......AN' IN SUPPORT O' DUH 'GUINS........YOUNGSTOWN WOULD CRUSH YALE....DEL STATE....ALL DUH LOWERAH TIER POLL TEAMS.....AN' ARE STILL AS GOOD AS SOME UPPERS........................xmadx....BRAWK!

[Gil Dobie]

HOW CAN YA'LL VOTE MONTANA STATE AS MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSS......WHEN DUH #6 SQWAD...IS BEATEN AT HOME....BY #14 RICHMOND?........GRANTED IT WAS UH NAIL-BITERAH..........BUT IFIN' DUH KNUCKLE-DRAGGERAHS........REMEMBERAH......BACK TA DUH PRE-SEASON POLL......DUH BOBCATS.......WERE CHOSEN MOST LIKEY TOP 25 TEAM TA FALL DUH FARTHEST..........NORFFERN COLORADO IS BAD.....BUT DEY WERE AT HOME.....AN' DEY DIDN'T WIN BAH MUCH.......AN' IN SUPPORT O' DUH 'GUINS........YOUNGSTOWN WOULD CRUSH YALE....DEL STATE....ALL DUH LOWERAH TIER POLL TEAMS.....AN' ARE STILL AS GOOD AS SOME UPPERS........................xmadx....BRAWK!

Norffern Colorado win is a bigger upset than Richmond over JMU, IMO

[MR. CHICKEN]

IT'S CALLED DUH MOST SIGNIFICANT WIN AND LOSS......WHEN #6 LOSES....DAT SIGNIFICANT............MONTANA STATE AT LOWER BOWELS O' DUH AGS POLL...UPENDED BY UH TEAM PLAYIN' AT HOME.....AN' DEN STILL NOT WINNIN' BUT BAH UH C-HAIR?.....M STATE BEEN STRUGGLIN' AGIN' SOME LESSER SQWADS....(SOUFFERN UTAH 7-3 AT HOME)!

[ngineer]

This poll makes less sense every week:


- JMU over Richmond, same record & UR just beat JMU in H-Burg.
-YSU at #20 with a 5-4 record?? Newsflash: They're done guys.

I don't see the poll as a listing in order of the playoff bound schools. The question is ranking in them interms of ability vis a vis the others. Yes, they have four losses, but to lose by one point to #1 and the other losses were relatively close (except Ohio St.). The poll is an opinion of the relative strengths of the schools listed, and YSU has shown themselves be very strong in competition with the schools on this list. I find it amusing that I'm defending YSU, ;) , but, I think they are deserving of being ranked, though certainly no longer in the 'elite'...

[Houndawg]

I don't see the poll as a listing in order of the playoff bound schools. The question is ranking in them interms of ability vis a vis the others. Yes, they have four losses, but to lose by one point to #1 and the other losses were relatively close (except Ohio St.). The poll is an opinion of the relative strengths of the schools listed, and YSU has shown themselves be very strong in competition with the schools on this list. I find it amusing that I'm defending YSU, ;) , but, I think they are deserving of being ranked, though certainly no longer in the 'elite'...

They were tied with SIU in the 4th qtr. before losing by 7. They and WIU will be the best teams not in the playoffs.

[DaGriz]

Haha, funny. We keep winning and keep dropping. I'm sure it's been beaten to death here, sorry, I just couldn't help it. Why is it again we are dropping when we are winning on the road to conference foes but didn't drop when we beating crap opponents at home like DII Ft.Lewis or Albany?

[flyenhigh]

HOW CAN YA'LL VOTE MONTANA STATE AS MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSS......WHEN DUH #6 SQWAD...IS BEATEN AT HOME....BY #14 RICHMOND?........GRANTED IT WAS UH NAIL-BITERAH..........BUT IFIN' DUH KNUCKLE-DRAGGERAHS........REMEMBERAH......BACK TA DUH PRE-SEASON POLL......DUH BOBCATS.......WERE CHOSEN MOST LIKEY TOP 25 TEAM TA FALL DUH FARTHEST..........NORFFERN COLORADO IS BAD.....BUT DEY WERE AT HOME.....AN' DEY DIDN'T WIN BAH MUCH.......AN' IN SUPPORT O' DUH 'GUINS........YOUNGSTOWN WOULD CRUSH YALE....DEL STATE....ALL DUH LOWERAH TIER POLL TEAMS.....AN' ARE STILL AS GOOD AS SOME UPPERS........................xmadx....BRAWK!

Is that english?

[flyenhigh]

Sure they are done -but remember that one of their losses is to #1 Ohio State and another was that massive rout by #1 UNI!

I agree. YSU is underrated in my opinion.xnodx

[blukeys]

Is that english?

it's Mr. Chicken. Do you need a translator???xeyebrowx xeyebrowx

[BigApp]

IT'S CALLED DUH MOST SIGNIFICANT WIN AND LOSS......WHEN #6 LOSES....DAT SIGNIFICANT............MONTANA STATE AT LOWER BOWELS O' DUH AGS POLL...UPENDED BY UH TEAM PLAYIN' AT HOME.....AN' DEN STILL NOT WINNIN' BUT BAH UH C-HAIR?.....M STATE BEEN STRUGGLIN' AGIN' SOME LESSER SQWADS....(SOUFFERN UTAH 7-3 AT HOME)!

no, errr ahhh. When dah #6 ahhh loses...dat IMPORTANT or BIG ahh...but not SIGNIFICANT ahhh...#6 team still verah much ahh pecking for ahh playoff corn. MState coughed up ahh playoff hairball, be tuff for kitties to ahh scratch back into playoff henhouse. Too, dis loss ahh hurts Big fluffy's chance of at-large nest.

App-ahh laid uhh egg to duh ankle biters ahh, but dat not SIGNIFICANT, cause ahh Mountaineers still on dah top of dat playoff roost.

Significant=affects the BIG PICTURE, not just a team that loses a single game.

[JALMOND]

if Montana State beats Montana they will be ranked and rightfully so, if they dont they wont be.

Who the hell has San Diego beaten? Even if they beat USD who cares cause Davis sucks this year.

San Diego wasn't a playoff team and they proved it.

And exactly who has Yale beaten to earn a #12 ranking? Georgetown by a touchdown? Penn in 3 OT's? Quite a feat to be undefeated at this point in the season, but how can anyone put Yale anywhere above #20?

[WSBE]

Must have just been me then. xeyebrowx

"Facing a Rhode Island team it was expected to handle easily on Saturday, the eighth-ranked Wildcats had to rely on a series of breaks and a key injury before they could escape Cowell Stadium with a 49-36 come-from-behind win." -Portsmouth News Herald"

The University of New Hampshire football team eventually took care of business in a 49-36 win triumph over Rhode Island for its fourth straight win." -Union Leader

"Now that was harder than it should have been.

An ugly fusion of penalties, turnovers and porous run defense weighted down eighth-ranked University of New Hampshire against one-win University of Rhode Island yesterday at a damp Cowell Stadium. With the chain of mistakes around the Wildcats ankles and URI's triple-option offense devouring rushing yards and clock, the cellar-dwelling Rams (1-7) actually had a three-point lead late in the third quarter." - Concord Monitor

...I don't disagree that the defense looked horrible against the run & the option. A couple points to make though. 2 key defensive starters (D-line & D-end) were lost to injury early. And it was raining. But not to be lost in the results was how prolific the UNH offense is when it needs to be. 3 games this year...McDonnell has called off the dogs in the 2nd half. But what I saw Saturday was Santos realizing in the 2nd qtr that he needed to score on every drive the way his defense was (not) defending the run. I watched an offense score a TD on 6 of the last 8 drives in spectacular fashion, in the rain. One of the 2 unsuccessful drives was a fumble on the 35 yrd line. One punt. There was also a fumbled return that led to a quick TD by RI. So no excuses for the fumbles but this was uncharacteristic for UNH. Again, UNH offense looked, well, like it did against Hofstra, Delaware & Marshall...dominant. Santos was outright amazing I thought. They also went downfield a lot which is exciting. How frigin great is that UMASS vs UNH game going to be in 2 weeks?

[Houndawg]

...I don't disagree that the defense looked horrible against the run & the option. A couple points to make though. 2 key defensive starters (D-line & D-end) were lost to injury early. And it was raining. But not to be lost in the results was how prolific the UNH offense is when it needs to be. 3 games this year...McDonnell has called off the dogs in the 2nd half. But what I saw Saturday was Santos realizing in the 2nd qtr that he needed to score on every drive the way his defense was (not) defending the run. I watched an offense score a TD on 6 of the last 8 drives in spectacular fashion, in the rain. One of the 2 unsuccessful drives was a fumble on the 35 yrd line. One punt. There was also a fumbled return that led to a quick TD by RI. So no excuses for the fumbles but this was uncharacteristic for UNH. Again, UNH offense looked, well, like it did against Hofstra, Delaware & Marshall...dominant. Santos was outright amazing I thought. They also went downfield a lot which is exciting. How frigin great is that UMASS vs UNH game going to be in 2 weeks?

Pretty friggin great, I hope. A UNH victory would sure help SIU's chances of getting a home game, assuming we do our part of course.

[DaGriz]

Haha, funny. We keep winning and keep dropping. I'm sure it's been beaten to death here, sorry, I just couldn't help it. Why is it again we are dropping when we are winning on the road to conference foes but didn't drop when we beating crap opponents at home like DII Ft.Lewis or Albany?

Beuller, anybody, hello.

[GeauxLions94]

Still don't see the win as being all that impressive i'm sorry lol


Trust me, it (McNeese's win) was impressive.

[FCS Go!]

Beuller, anybody, hello.

Big Sky is weak.
OOC sched is weak.
Griz barely win vs. weak opp.
Griz D must be weak to allow so many yards.
Griz O never scores a lot of points, therefore weak.
Griz not as good as teams from CAA or SoCon (ie Griz are weak).
Griz not battle-tested because of weak schedule.
Non-Griz teams have more impressive performances in any given week ( or is it weak?).
And so on ad nausem.

xsmiley_wix

[VT Wildcat Fan53]

Agreed there. I have UR as the #2 in the CAA behind UMass. I watched the JMU/UNH and JMU/UR games and IMO UR is better than both. I wish I had seen the UR/Towson game to know what happened there.... I know they had some injuries going into that game. xcoffeex

You defeat your point by acknowledging UR's loss to Towson. As to the "injury excuse", UNH had an injury to its best running back, Chad Kackert -- a true game breaker -- in both losses this year (JMU and UR). With him, they are undefeated.

JMU lost their top RB prior to UR game, too.

Doesn't matter anyway, Delaware should be ranked 2nd behind UMASS, especially with impressive win over Navy this weekend.

IMO, despite loss to UR, JMU is one of the top 5-6 teams in the nation after watching them pull away from UNH back in week #2.

Real bottom line is that there are lots of key games over the closing 3 weeks of the season. I'm expecting UMASS, UD, UNH, JMU, and UR to all be in the playoff fight right up until the last weekend's games are completed.

[spelunker64]

Any Given Saturday Poll Top 25
10/29/2007
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. Northern Iowa (59) 8-0
2. North Dakota St. (33) 8-0
3. McNeese St. (2) 8-0
4. Massachusetts (3) 7-1
5. Montana (1) 8-0
6. Southern Illinois 7-1
7. New Hampshire 6-2
8. Delaware 7-1
9. Wofford 7-2
10. Appalachian St. 6-2
11. James Madison 6-2
12. Yale 7-0
13. Richmond 6-2
14. Delaware St. 7-1
15. Elon 6-2
16. Eastern Kentucky 7-2
17. Georgia Southern 6-2
18. Grambling St. 7-1
19. Eastern Illinois 6-3
20. Youngstown St. 5-4
21. Hofstra 6-2
22. Western Illinois 6-3
23. Cal Poly 5-3
24. The Citadel 5-3
25. Eastern Washington 5-3

Dropped out: Nicholls State (20), Montana State (21), Norfolk State (24)

Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes): Fordham (35), Villanova (34), Nicholls St. (32), Central Arkansas (31), Holy Cross (31), Alabama A&M (23), Montana St. (16), Dayton (14), South Dakota St. (12), Norfolk St. (11)

MOST SIGNIFICANT WIN OF THE WEEK: Delaware
MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF THE WEEK: Montana St


Thanks for posting records this week. xthumbsupx

[WyomingGrizFan]

Big Sky is weak.
OOC sched is weak.
Griz barely win vs. weak opp.
Griz D must be weak to allow so many yards.
Griz O never scores a lot of points, therefore weak.
Griz not as good as teams from CAA or SoCon (ie Griz are weak).
Griz not battle-tested because of weak schedule.
Non-Griz teams have more impressive performances in any given week ( or is it weak?).
And so on ad nausem.

xsmiley_wix

Funny, don't recall you saying that during the last twenty years or so. Now, all of a sudden....

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

Big Sky is weak.
OOC sched is weak.
Griz barely win vs. weak opp.
Griz D must be weak to allow so many yards.
Griz O never scores a lot of points, therefore weak.
Griz not as good as teams from CAA or SoCon (ie Griz are weak).
Griz not battle-tested because of weak schedule.
Non-Griz teams have more impressive performances in any given week ( or is it weak?).
And so on ad nausem.

xsmiley_wix

Might as well get those out of the way at the begining of every thread xlolx Because you know someone's gonna pull it out

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

Trust me, it (McNeese's win) was impressive.

Well if beating a 2-5 (now 2-6) team at home by 28 points is impressive then Montana's win over Northern Colorado by 45 points at home is impressive

ps I don't think Montana's win over UNC was impressive...although MSU's loss to them was xlolx

[URMite]

They were tied with SIU in the 4th qtr. before losing by 7. They and WIU will be the best teams not in the playoffs.

Can you do me a favor and make sure of that?

[WildcatFan]

Except the Patriots. xeyebrowx

Hey leave the Patriots and Red Sox out of this argument!!xsmiley_wix xsmiley_wix

[MR. CHICKEN]

no, errr ahhh. When dah #6 ahhh loses...dat IMPORTANT or BIG ahh...but not SIGNIFICANT ahhh...#6 team still verah much ahh pecking for ahh playoff corn. MState coughed up ahh playoff hairball, be tuff for kitties to ahh scratch back into playoff henhouse. Too, dis loss ahh hurts Big fluffy's chance of at-large nest.

App-ahh laid uhh egg to duh ankle biters ahh, but dat not SIGNIFICANT, cause ahh Mountaineers still on dah top of dat playoff roost.

Significant=affects the BIG PICTURE, not just a team that loses a single game.

DUH CAA DOESN'T HAVE UH BIG PITCHER WINDAH?????..........BRAWK!

[BisonBacker]

Aren't you saying that a win's a win?

Or are you saying that blowouts don't matter, but close games do? What's your definition of a blowout and a convincing win? Where do you draw the line?

Just trying to figure out what you're getting at by pointing out that Montana hasn't blown anybody out (which I conceded, but for a few games, is true)

What I was saying and this isn't specific to anyone team it applies to all IMHO. A blowout doesn't tell you all that much. The only time a blowout (a win by more then 3tds) would catch my attention is if its a win over a ranked team. If a team like NDSU, Montana or Appy was to beat the tar out of a team like Fort Lewis or any smaller division school it doesn't say much to me they are supposed to beat them like that. Now if a team like Montana was to pound a team like UNI or NDSU by 3 or more TD's that's saying something.

Had UNI lost to YSU last week in a close game with both teams being ranked then I don't think UNI would drop very far or YSU would go up too many spots but they would and should obviously move up. I think thats how most view those games but maybe not. There was no smack intended in my first post towards Montana.

[DaGriz]

Haha, funny. We keep winning and keep dropping. I'm sure it's been beaten to death here, sorry, I just couldn't help it. Why is it again we are dropping when we are winning on the road to conference foes but didn't drop when we beating crap opponents at home like DII Ft.Lewis or Albany?

No voters can answer this question? So are you saying the AGS poll is a popularity poll and the voters are dropping us in the rankings because they are sick of MT? Come on guys. Be objective or this poll loses credibility in my book. I don't care if you're sick of us winning and sick of us playing at home in the playoffs, be objective. At least give a good reason how you justify dropping us now but not at the start of the year.

[Ronbo]

I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

[89Hen]

Haha, funny. We keep winning and keep dropping. I'm sure it's been beaten to death here, sorry, I just couldn't help it. Why is it again we are dropping when we are winning on the road to conference foes but didn't drop when we beating crap opponents at home like DII Ft.Lewis or Albany?
Simple, Montana isn't the only team in the polls and the overall rankings don't hinge on the outcome of just the Griz game. UD dropped a spot this year after winning then later moved up four spots on a bye week. It happens. xpeacex

[McNeese72]

I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

Well, we can't do much about our schedule but just play the games. And we are usually winning by 3 TD's or so and that is with calling off the dogs and playing everybody on the bench in the 4th quarter. A lot of our opponents have scored late TD's because of this. The scoring differential would be even more if it wasn't for this.

Doc

[Tailbone]

........ Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

I think the answer would be this one:


" Griz not as good as teams from CAA or SoCon (ie Griz are weak)

You know, those other guys are dealing with teams from much tougher conferences whose records are a reflection of conference powerhouses "beating each other up" while Montana is just playing cupcakes from that "fluffy" conference. xrolleyesx

[MR. CHICKEN]

Well, we can't do much about our schedule but just play the games. And we are usually winning by 3 TD's or so and that is with calling off the dogs and playing everybody on the bench in the 4th quarter. A lot of our opponents have scored late TD's because of this. The scoring differential would be even more if it wasn't for this.

Doc

THAT'S NOT SCORIN' DIFFY.......MCNEESE STATE'S PREVIOUS 2007 OPPONENTS....IN 64 GAMES...HAVE ONLY WON 19........xrotatehx...BRAWK!

[TCisMYhero]

I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

Big Sky Standings:
W-L PF PA W-L PF PA STRK
Montana 5-0 132 59 8-0 253 90 W8
Northern Arizona 4-2 177 160 5-4 269 239 L1
Montana State 3-2 107 85 5-3 182 133 L1
Eastern Washington 3-2 151 102 5-3 251 188 W1
Weber State 3-3 157 143 3-5 183 246 W1
Idaho State 2-3 115 153 3-5 190 273 L1
Portland State 2-3 194 200 2-6 240 313 L3
Northern Colorado 1-4 51 148 1-8 91 347 W1
Sacramento State 1-5 111 145 1-7 114 227 L4


Gateway Standings:
W-L PF PA W-L PF PA STRK
Northern Iowa 4-0 109 53 8-0 250 104 W8
Southern Illinois 3-1 165 67 7-1 360 125 W1
Western Illinois 3-1 80 73 6-3 240 174 W1
Missouri State 2-3 162 173 5-4 327 333 W1
Illinois State 2-3 164 147 4-5 272 250 L1
Youngstown State 1-3 101 86 5-4 230 172 L2
Indiana State 0-4 41 223 0-9 102 433 L9



Big Sky- 5/9 with overall losing records
Gateway- 3/7 with overall losing records
Big Sky- 5/9 with 3 wins or less overall
Gateway- 1/9 with 3 wins or less overall
Big Sky- 5 teams with <200 pts. scored
Gateway- 1 team with <200 pts. scored

FWIW.....xcoffeex

[89Hen]

You know, those other guys are dealing with teams from much tougher conferences whose records are a reflection of conference powerhouses "beating each other up" while Montana is just playing cupcakes from that "fluffy" conference. xrolleyesx
Big Sky wins OOC: Albany, UC Davis, SUU, SUU, Ft Lewis, Montana-Western, Dixie State, Western New Mexico, Southern Oregon

xeyebrowx

[Ronbo]

Well, we can't do much about our schedule but just play the games. And we are usually winning by 3 TD's or so and that is with calling off the dogs and playing everybody on the bench in the 4th quarter. A lot of our opponents have scored late TD's because of this. The scoring differential would be even more if it wasn't for this.

Doc

Our coach is the King of resting starters throughout the game (platooning), putting in the second teamers with a 14 point lead, going to a 80% run game with a 3 score lead, and taking a knee inside the twenty in the last two minutes. We had NAU 21-9 with 5 minutes to go and they drove for a garbage TD against the 2nd string defense, then we drive to the NAU 15 and we take a knee. So a game that was never in question ends up looking close. You ask Hauck why he did that and he says the "W" is the only important stat.

[WrenFGun]

...I don't disagree that the defense looked horrible against the run & the option. A couple points to make though. 2 key defensive starters (D-line & D-end) were lost to injury early. And it was raining. But not to be lost in the results was how prolific the UNH offense is when it needs to be. 3 games this year...McDonnell has called off the dogs in the 2nd half. But what I saw Saturday was Santos realizing in the 2nd qtr that he needed to score on every drive the way his defense was (not) defending the run. I watched an offense score a TD on 6 of the last 8 drives in spectacular fashion, in the rain. One of the 2 unsuccessful drives was a fumble on the 35 yrd line. One punt. There was also a fumbled return that led to a quick TD by RI. So no excuses for the fumbles but this was uncharacteristic for UNH. Again, UNH offense looked, well, like it did against Hofstra, Delaware & Marshall...dominant. Santos was outright amazing I thought. They also went downfield a lot which is exciting. How frigin great is that UMASS vs UNH game going to be in 2 weeks?

I'm quite concerned about the status of Jordan Long and TJ Taylor from that game. Taylor usually starts, and Long does play a fair deal of snaps. Losing those two really gives us a lack of size in the middle, as Tyler Brown would likely shift to DT with Steve Young, and Marvin Wright would probably get some time there as well. The only other DE's they play regularly are Kyle Maroney, Matt Perdoni and Kevin Peters, both clearly natural DE's. You might see a bit more of LB/DE Dan Ruhl and LB/DE Nate Jones on that line. The depth they built at the beginning of the season was impressive, and probably shows through now. They are routinely playing 8 on that front line, and have given Ruhl a fair share, too. It's kind of exciting that they return 6 of those 8 next season.

As for the game, they just need to play better. Too many fumbles, and they really just did not defend the 3O at all. If Cassidy doesn't go out, that game is in question.

[FargoBison]

Big Sky wins OOC: Albany, UC Davis, SUU, SUU, Ft Lewis, Montana-Western, Dixie State, Western New Mexico, Southern Oregon

xeyebrowx

And some wonder why the Big Sky doesn't get any respect?

[MR. CHICKEN]

No voters can answer this question? So are you saying the AGS poll is a popularity poll and the voters are dropping us in the rankings because they are sick of MT? Come on guys. Be objective or this poll loses credibility in my book. I don't care if you're sick of us winning and sick of us playing at home in the playoffs, be objective. At least give a good reason how you justify dropping us now but not at the start of the year.

DUH CHICKEN THEORY O' GRIZZWOLD RELATIVITY: (FO' WHAT IT'S WORFFxcoffeex )

AH BELIEVE MONTANA.....HAS BEEN DROPPIN' IN DUH POLL..(LIKE UH MONTE TREE DIVE).....DUE TA YER MARGIN O' VICTORY OVERAH PERCIEVED WEAKER TEAMS....THAT IN PREVIOUS YEARS......YA'LL FLATTENED LIKE PANCAKES....AN'.....FROM START O' DIS SEASON....EVERAH ONE EXPECTED YA'S TA CONTINUEAH....TA DO.....IT'S YER RICH....KILLERAH TRADITION DAT IS SNAPPIN' AT MONTE'S TAIL...LIKE AN' ALLIGATOR.....ALSO.....AS YA STRUGGLED SOMEWHAT........TEAMS BEHIND MONTANA HAD SOME IMPRESSIVE W'S.....&......CATAPULTED OVERAH...DUH G-WOLDS......AWK!

18-10 WEBER STATE

17-3 SAC STATE

[Ronbo]

And some wonder why the Big Sky doesn't get any respect?


LOL. Two of the cupcakes are Great West Teams! Then you look at the records of NDSU's opponents.

0-8
4-4
5-4
6-3
2-6
2-6
1-8
0-8
4-5
5-3
4-4

That would rank as the 102nd worst schedule in FCS if NDSU was included.

[Tailbone]

Big Sky wins OOC: Albany, UC Davis, SUU, SUU, Ft Lewis, Montana-Western, Dixie State, Western New Mexico, Southern Oregon

xeyebrowx

Nice list.
Soon we'll be able to add the likes of UNI, SIU, Delaware, McNeese, UMass, and were it not for transition rules....NDSU. :D

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

Do those records account for the FBS teams that those schools have beaten?

For example, McNeese beat ULL, who is 1-7
SIU beat Northern Illinois, who is 1-8
Northern Iowa beat Iowa State, who is 1-8

I would have had Montana higher than the AGS poll does but having them at #1 is a streth.

[FargoBison]

LOL. Two of the cupcakes are Great West Teams! Then you look at the records of NDSU's opponents.

0-8
4-4
5-4
6-3
2-6
2-6
1-8
0-8
4-5
5-3
4-4

That would rank as the 102nd worst schedule in FCS if NDSU was included.

Yep, UCD the second worst Great West team is the Big Sky's best non-conference win. Congrats. Go ahead and post just the records of the teams we play. Its a lot easier to make your point when you don't have to look at a Big Ten school or the team that is in first place of the MAC that way.

[kardplayer]

I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

The grief is because it feels like Montana set it up so they'd play a weak schedule, and have only home OOC, while other schools travel OOC and scheduled "tough" only to find some of their opponents have down seasons.

Compare each:
Montana - Southern Utah, Fort Lewis (DII), Albany
McNeese State - Portland State (common to Montana), at La-Lafayette (FBS), at Southern Utah, South Dakota (DII)

They both played DII schools, so they offset. They both play Portland State, so they offset. So the difference OOC is that McNeese travelled to Southern Utah, and that they played an FBS school (albeit a not-so-good one) while Montana played a limited scholarship school.
Tougher schedule, when the AD made the schedule: McNeese

Montana - Southern Utah, Fort Lewis (DII), Albany
Southern Illinois - Quincy (DII), at Northern Illinois (FBS), at Southern Utah, Ark-PB, at Hampton

Again both have DII schools and both have Southern Utah (although again the non-Montana school travelled). Difference here is that Hampton is a perennial playoff team (AD couldn't have known a down year was coming when scheduling) plus an FBS school. I'm not going to try and make a statement SWAC vs. Albany which is tougher, but its safe to say SIU's schedule overall is much harder.

Montana - Southern Utah, Fort Lewis (DII), Albany
Northern Iowa - Minn State-Mankato (DII), at Iowa State (FBS), at South Dakota State, at Drake, Southern Utah.

Again, both have DII schools, again both have Southern Utah (boy, they had a death wish this year, huh?) although this time both at home. Use Albany and Drake to cancel each other out, for sake of argument. That leaves UNI scheduling an FBS school and a school that was ranked last year (SD State) on the road.
Once again, Montana's schedule is a lot easier, and certainly was when the schedules were made.

In summary, its great that Montana has a home field where they can afford to buy games and have teams come to them - I'm sure most schools would do the same in their position (see Delaware). It would be nice though to schedule some difficult games while you're at it. A lot of Southland schools schedule 2 FBS games, maybe you could find one of them...

But you can't have it both ways. The price you pay for having a full home OOC against the opponents you picked is that everyone is going to call you out for having it easy.

Enjoy being seeded in the playoffs, hope for a top 2 seed so you don't have to travel until you get to Chatty (if you get that far), and turn a deaf ear to the jealous masses that wish they could have a free ticket to the playoffs every year.

[Ronin]

I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41

I must say you made me laugh.

A Montana fan wanting to play in the Gateway? Come on over, I am sure UNI (1), SIU (6), Youngstown (20), WIU (19) and next year NDSU (2). Will love an easy game for once. xlolx

[Ronin]

Originally Posted by Ronbo View Post
I'm pretty sick of the weak shedule excuse when McNeese State, Southern Illinois, and Northern Iowa also have really weak schedules according to the NCAA stats. Why is no one busting their nads over it?

Cumulative Opposition

McNeese 19-45
Southern Illinois 29-45
Montana 26-40
Northern Iowa 32-41


Big Sky- 5/9 with overall losing records
Gateway- 3/7 with overall losing records
Big Sky- 5/9 with 3 wins or less overall
Gateway- 1/9 with 3 wins or less overall
Big Sky- 5 teams with <200 pts. scored
Gateway- 1 team with <200 pts. scored

Is it time to call the fire department?

[Ronbo]

I must say you made me laugh.

A Montana fan wanting to play in the Gateway? Come on over, I am sure UNI (1), SIU (6), Youngstown (20), WIU (19) and next year NDSU (2). Will love an easy game for once. xlolx

The Big Sky seems to do pretty well against the usually overrated Gateway schools in the playoffs. 38-0, just an example. Hope we see you or SIU in the playoffs. Both you guys seem to overlook us and underestimate us.

[Ronin]

For example, McNeese beat ULL, who is 1-7
SIU beat Northern Illinois, who is 1-8
Northern Iowa beat Iowa State, who is 1-8

I would have had Montana higher than the AGS poll does but having them at #1 is a streth.

Which FBS team has Montana beaten this year?

[mlbowl]

I must say you made me laugh.

A Montana fan wanting to play in the Gateway? Come on over, I am sure UNI (1), SIU (6), Youngstown (20), WIU (19) and next year NDSU (2). Will love an easy game for once. xlolx

I must say...YOU made me laugh!

BTW

<--------Take your smackin azz that way

[mlbowl]

Which FBS team has Montana beaten this year?


OMG...all bow down...UNI beat Iowa State...get over yourself!xrolleyesx

[kardplayer]

The Big Sky seems to do pretty well against the usually overrated Gateway schools in the playoffs. 38-0, just an example. Hope we see you or SIU in the playoffs. Both you guys seem to overlook us and underestimate us.

By my count, Montana is 3-4 against the current Gateway schools in the playoffs, dating back to 1994, so I'm not sure how "pretty well" fits in here

1994
Montana 23-20 over UNI at Montana (first round)
Youngstown 28-9 at YSU (semis)

1998
Western Illinois 52-9 at WIU (first round)

1999
Youngstown 30-27 at YSU (first round)

2001
Montana 38-0 over UNI at Montana (semis)

2003
Western Illinois 43-40 at Montana (first round)

2006
Montana 20-3 over Southern Illinois at Montana (quarters)

[HensRock]

No voters can answer this question? So are you saying the AGS poll is a popularity poll and the voters are dropping us in the rankings because they are sick of MT? Come on guys. Be objective or this poll loses credibility in my book. I don't care if you're sick of us winning and sick of us playing at home in the playoffs, be objective. At least give a good reason how you justify dropping us now but not at the start of the year.

I'll answer your question for [only] the 3rd time in this thread...

YOU DID NOT DROP!!!! YOU WERE AT #5 LAST WEEK and #5 THIS WEEK!

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31467

Geez, you Griz fans are sensitive!

I think I'll drop you next week for bad reading comprehension - both in this thread and in the poll! :D

[Ronin]

The Big Sky seems to do pretty well against the usually overrated Gateway schools in the playoffs. 38-0, just an example. Hope we see you or SIU in the playoffs. Both you guys seem to overlook us and underestimate us.

2001 Montana 38, Northern Iowa 0
2003 Montana 24, North Dakota State 25
2003 Montana 40, Western Illinois 43
2006 Montana 20,Southern Illinois 3

Considering you played at home the best you can do is only 2-2. I wonder what your record would be playing these teams on a regular basis on the road?

[Tailbone]

I suspect this argument will fall on deaf ears as it has in the past. It seems that far too many are unwilling or unable to understand the balancing act required (of BSC schools) to present schedules that are sufficiently challenging and at the same time fiscally responsible. Perhaps this map will help to illustrate the problem.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Cfdiaa.PNG

The distance between UofM and NDSU (closest OOC school) is 811 miles.
How many quality OOC opponents are within 800 miles of (pick your school)?

In the past, Montana has had as difficult a schedule as any, and always at a greater cost. I personally don't care how Montana is ranked or what you think of their scheduling practices. When you apply your bias to another's problems you are almost always wrong.

In any event, cupcakes notwithstanding, we will gladly host anybody whose schedule is more befitting of their programs stature, hand them their asses, and put to rest discussions about our "weak" schedule.

[mlbowl]

I'm gonna sum this up for everyone...

The Big Sky is weak...Montana schedules cupcakes...Montana only plays at home...Don't sign a home and home with Montana...The Big Sky is a one team conference...The only reason Montana has playoff success is because they always get home games................Did I miss anything haters?

xdeadhorsex

[stevdock]

And some wonder why the Big Sky doesn't get any respect?

Is anyone from NDSU as happy as I am that next year we won't have to worry about SOS in the Gateway compared to if we would have gotten into the Big Sky like what was originally planned?

[Tailbone]

Which FBS team has Montana beaten this year?

Perhaps a more relevant question is, how many FCS schools with FBS wins will the Griz send packing?

[RabidRabbit]

The grief is because it feels like Montana set it up so they'd play a weak schedule, and have only home OOC, while other schools travel OOC and scheduled "tough" only to find some of their opponents have down seasons.

Compare each:
Montana - Southern Utah, Fort Lewis (DII), Albany
McNeese State - Portland State (common to Montana), at La-Lafayette (FBS), at Southern Utah, South Dakota (DII)

They both played DII schools, so they offset. They both play Portland State, so they offset. So the difference OOC is that McNeese travelled to Southern Utah, and that they played an FBS school (albeit a not-so-good one) while Montana played a limited scholarship school.
Tougher schedule, when the AD made the schedule: McNeese

Montana - Southern Utah, Fort Lewis (DII), Albany
Southern Illinois - Quincy (DII), at Northern Illinois (FBS), at Southern Utah, Ark-PB, at Hampton

Again both have DII schools and both have Southern Utah (although again the non-Montana school travelled). Difference here is that Hampton is a perennial playoff team (AD couldn't have known a down year was coming when scheduling) plus an FBS school. I'm not going to try and make a statement SWAC vs. Albany which is tougher, but its safe to say SIU's schedule overall is much harder.

Montana - Southern Utah, Fort Lewis (DII), Albany
Northern Iowa - Minn State-Mankato (DII), at Iowa State (FBS), at South Dakota State, at Drake, Southern Utah.

Again, both have DII schools, again both have Southern Utah (boy, they had a death wish this year, huh?) although this time both at home. Use Albany and Drake to cancel each other out, for sake of argument. That leaves UNI scheduling an FBS school and a school that was ranked last year (SD State) on the road.
Once again, Montana's schedule is a lot easier, and certainly was when the schedules were made.

In summary, its great that Montana has a home field where they can afford to buy games and have teams come to them - I'm sure most schools would do the same in their position (see Delaware). It would be nice though to schedule some difficult games while you're at it. A lot of Southland schools schedule 2 FBS games, maybe you could find one of them...

But you can't have it both ways. The price you pay for having a full home OOC against the opponents you picked is that everyone is going to call you out for having it easy.

Enjoy being seeded in the playoffs, hope for a top 2 seed so you don't have to travel until you get to Chatty (if you get that far), and turn a deaf ear to the jealous masses that wish they could have a free ticket to the playoffs every year.


Montana bought out the challenging game of playing SDSU at Brookings, and replaced that game with Ft. Lewis at Griz home. xsmhx xsmhx

UNI took advantage of that dropped MT game by the Jacks, to play their soon-to-be-conference mate in Brookings. xthumbsupx xthumbsupx

UNI looked REALLY SHARP against my bunnies. xbawlingx xbawlingx

Make you wonder if Griz would have had the same success. xconfusedx xconfusedx

The fall of the Griz in the polls more reflects successes by other teams, especially in the FBS wins by those above the Griz. But also the fact that Griz have a relatively weak schedule, and that the BSC is struggling against OOC's and not particularly strong in conference play.

Originally voted Griz #1 in pre-season, and it will be a loss at home, in play-offs that exposes that Griz weak opponents didn't prep themselves adequately. OR, as the basis of my original #1 Griz pick, their weak schedule leaves them with virtually no injuried players, and they sweep through the play-offs.

Good thing NDSU isn't eligible, as they are substantially better than the Griz. UNI/NDSU is the great game NOT happening this year, that we'll see from 2008 onward. xbowx xbowx

[lizrdgizrd]

Haha, funny. We keep winning and keep dropping. I'm sure it's been beaten to death here, sorry, I just couldn't help it. Why is it again we are dropping when we are winning on the road to conference foes but didn't drop when we beating crap opponents at home like DII Ft.Lewis or Albany?


Beuller, anybody, hello.


No voters can answer this question? So are you saying the AGS poll is a popularity poll and the voters are dropping us in the rankings because they are sick of MT? Come on guys. Be objective or this poll loses credibility in my book. I don't care if you're sick of us winning and sick of us playing at home in the playoffs, be objective. At least give a good reason how you justify dropping us now but not at the start of the year.


Simple, Montana isn't the only team in the polls and the overall rankings don't hinge on the outcome of just the Griz game. UD dropped a spot this year after winning then later moved up four spots on a bye week. It happens. xpeacex
What Hen said, plus, where are the Griz dropping?

Any Given Saturday Poll Top 25
10/29/2007
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. Northern Iowa (59) 8-0
2. North Dakota St. (33) 8-0
3. McNeese St. (2) 8-0
4. Massachusetts (3) 7-1
5. Montana (1) 8-0

Any Given Saturday Poll Top 25
10/22/2007
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. Northern Iowa (65)
2. North Dakota St. (28)
3. Massachusetts (2)
4. McNeese St. (2)
5. Montana (1)

Any Given Saturday Poll Top 25
10/15/2007
(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. Northern Iowa (77)
2. North Dakota St. (17)
3. Massachusetts (2)
4. Wofford (2)
5. McNeese St. (2)
6. Montana (3)

[AGSPoll]

Thanks for posting records this week. xthumbsupx
Have it your way at AGS. xsmiley_wix

[AZGrizFan]

Good thing NDSU isn't eligible, as they are substantially better than the Griz. xbowx xbowx

What color is the sky in your world? xconfusedx xconfusedx xconfusedx xconfusedx

[89Hen]

Nice list.
Soon we'll be able to add the likes of UNI, SIU, Delaware, McNeese, UMass, and were it not for transition rules....NDSU. :D
Is there a bookmark feature here? Let's revisit this in December. xthumbsupx

[89Hen]

The Big Sky is weak...Montana schedules cupcakes...Montana only plays at home...Don't sign a home and home with Montana...The Big Sky is a one team conference...The only reason Montana has playoff success is because they always get home games................Did I miss anything
No, you did pretty well. xthumbsupx :p

[AZGrizFan]

No, you did pretty well. xthumbsupx :p

Why'd you cut off "haters", Hen? Never known you to be PC. Particularly on this topic. xeyebrowx xeyebrowx xeyebrowx

[89Hen]

Why'd you cut off "haters", Hen? Never known you to be PC. Particularly on this topic. xeyebrowx xeyebrowx xeyebrowx
I didn't want to change his words... haters = truth speakers. :p

[mlbowl]

No, you did pretty well. xthumbsupx :p

Thanks 89, I thought I got it all...:D

[Ronin]

What color is the sky in your world? xconfusedx xconfusedx xconfusedx xconfusedx

It's probably not Fluffy. xcoffeex

[Ronin]

The Big Sky is weak...Montana schedules cupcakes...Montana only plays at home...Don't sign a home and home with Montana...The Big Sky is a one team conference...The only reason Montana has playoff success is because they always get home games................Did I miss anything

Ditto

[Mountain Panther]

The Big Sky seems to do pretty well against the usually overrated Gateway schools in the playoffs.

Really? History proves otherwise....

UNI vs.....

2005
Northern Arizona W 41-17 (last game of regular season)
Eastern Washington W 41-38 (first round playoffs)

2004
at Northern Arizona W 45-21 (last game of regular season)

2003
Montana State W 35-14 (first round playoffs)

[mlbowl]

Really? History proves otherwise....

UNI vs.....

2005
Northern Arizona W 41-17 (last game of regular season)
Eastern Washington W 41-38 (first round playoffs)

2004
at Northern Arizona W 45-21 (last game of regular season)

2003
Montana State W 35-14 (first round playoffs)

I notice you conveniently left out #1 SIU's first round loss to 8-3 Eastern Washington in the 2004 playoffs. I'm sure it was just an oversight.xrolleyesx ...and how about including Montana's victories...mmmmkay.

[Ronin]

For fun I compared Montana schedule with UNI on top rated teams by Sagarin. Yes, I used Sagarin instead of the polls, simply because I find them more reliable without the subjective bias of cash and name recognition.

Top 25 opponents
UNI played 4 teams currently ranked
Montana played 0 teams currently ranked

Top 40 opponents
UNI played 6 teams currently ranked
Montana played 1 team currently ranked

[BigApp]

[/SIZE]

DUH CAA DOESN'T HAVE UH BIG PITCHER WINDAH?????..........BRAWK!

DIS KNUCKLEDRAGGER KNEED HELP AHH MINDING DIS CHICKEN SCRATCH?!?...CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK BRAWK!

[stevdock]

For fun I compared Montana schedule with UNI on top rated teams by Sagarin. Yes, I used Sagarin instead of the polls, simply because I find them more reliable without the subjective bias of cash and name recognition.

Top 25 opponents
UNI played 4 teams currently ranked
Montana played 0 teams currently ranked

Top 40 opponents
UNI played 6 teams currently ranked
Montana played 1 team currently ranked

Didn't Montana play SDSU #23 (maybe it was last year), and if it helps Montana any, NDSU has only played 1 Top 25 team and 1 Top 40 teams so far by Sagarin.

[McNeese72]

We can argue all of this ad nauseum, but all we can all do is win the rest of our games. And then it is up to the Selection Committee and their secret power ratings to decided the seeding, etc.

Doc

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I notice you conveniently left out #1 SIU's first round loss to 8-3 Eastern Washington in the 2004 playoffs. I'm sure it was just an oversight.xrolleyesx ...and how about including Montana's victories...mmmmkay.

xlolx xlolx
Not to mention Eastern only lost by a field goal in the final seconds to UNI in the 2005 playoffs at the UNI dome. I hope to FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster [I don't believe in any other God]) that Eastern gets the last at large bid and gets matched with UNI first round. You Panthers were lucky to escape the clutches of the Erik to Erik opponent killing combo, but you haven't exerienced the sophmore tandem of Nichols and Boyce. If we don't make any noise this year, Eastern will tear it up the next two years; our starters are heavily laden with sophmores. xrulesx xthumbsupx

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

For fun I compared Montana schedule with UNI on top rated teams by Sagarin. Yes, I used Sagarin instead of the polls, simply because I find them more reliable without the subjective bias of cash and name recognition.

Top 25 opponents
UNI played 4 teams currently ranked
Montana played 0 teams currently ranked

Top 40 opponents
UNI played 6 teams currently ranked
Montana played 1 team currently ranked

Why exactly are you always on such a bender about Montana? I'm just curious xlolx I mean every single thread you comment on your comment has to do with your beef with Montana. Man I don't even here this much guff from Kitty Cat fans who have a legitimate reason to hate us

[Mountain Panther]

You Panthers were lucky to escape the clutches of the Erik to Erik opponent killing combo, but you haven't exerienced the sophmore tandem of Nichols and Boyce.

Ah yes.....the mighty E-Squared....two guys couldn't carry the team past the first round last time so I wouldn't expect it to happen this year.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Ah yes.....the mighty E-Squared....two guys couldn't carry the team past the first round last time so I wouldn't expect it to happen this year.

More like didn't; E squared definitely could and would have, if we had more than 30 seconds and no time outs... despite that, they were still driving on you guys in those 30 seconds. But don't worry, we have a lot more than two guys carrying the team. xsmiley_wix

[crunifan]

More like didn't; E squared definitely could and would have, if we had more than 30 seconds and no time outs... despite that, they were still driving on you guys in those 30 seconds. But don't worry, we have a lot more than two guys carrying the team. xsmiley_wix

I'm pretty sure that if Portland State can beat you...UNI can beat you, especially in the Dome.

Heck, you still have three games to play, and if you lose one, you're out. So I would be praying that your trip to Flagstaff goes well.

[Tailbone]

........

Good thing NDSU isn't eligible, as they are substantially better than the Griz. .......

and you know this... how?
are you the man behind the curtain....all the way down there in FLA. or have you seen enough of the games of both teams to make this "objective" evaluation?

[uofmman1122]

and you know this... how?
are you the man behind the curtain....all the way down there in FLA. or have you seen enough of the games of both teams to make this "objective" evaluation?ButtheybeatMinnesotaandare#1andtheGrizp layaweakscheduleandaresissywhineyninniesandthedako tasarewaybetterthanMontanaandwellIjustknowtheyareb etter!!

[griz_fan_in_SanDiego]

ButtheybeatMinnesotaandare#1andtheGrizplayaweaksch eduleandaresissywhineyninniesandthedakotasarewaybe tterthanMontanaandwellIjustknowtheyarebetter!!

and don't forget that the BSC is weak, and we never go on the road and blah blah blah

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I'm pretty sure that if Portland State can beat you...UNI can beat you, especially in the Dome.

Heck, you still have three games to play, and if you lose one, you're out. So I would be praying that your trip to Flagstaff goes well.

I'm pretty sure if we can put up 565 yards of offense on Montana's D, commit 14 penalties for 127 yards, and still only lose by 1 in the final seconds in WA-Griz (arguably hardest place in FCS to play), EWU can beat UNI.

I am looking forward to the NAU game, it'll be a good one. Eastern still has something to play for, NAU doesn't; we'll see if they play like they do.

[redspider]

Wow guys question what does Richmond have to do to get any respect from you voters on here? We beat both New Hampshire and James Madison and yet both of them are above us on the poll and all three of us have the same record???? This makes nooo sense!

[PantherRob82]

xlolx xlolx
Not to mention Eastern only lost by a field goal in the final seconds to UNI in the 2005 playoffs at the UNI dome. I hope to FSM (Flying Spaghetti Monster [I don't believe in any other God]) that Eastern gets the last at large bid and gets matched with UNI first round. You Panthers were lucky to escape the clutches of the Erik to Erik opponent killing combo, but you haven't exerienced the sophmore tandem of Nichols and Boyce. If we don't make any noise this year, Eastern will tear it up the next two years; our starters are heavily laden with sophmores. xrulesx xthumbsupx

Not too worried about EWU, let alone them getting a bid anyways.

[MR. CHICKEN]

Wow guys question what does Richmond have to do to get any respect from you voters on here? We beat both New Hampshire and James Madison and yet both of them are above us on the poll and all three of us have the same record???? This makes nooo sense!


BUT TOWSON SPANKED YA' LIKE UH MONKEY!............xnodx.....BRAWK!

[RabidRabbit]

ButtheybeatMinnesotaandare#1andtheGrizplayaweaksch eduleandaresissywhineyninniesandthedakotasarewaybe tterthanMontanaandwellIjustknowtheyarebetter!!

Schedule the Bison, and start in Fargo. Sorry, Bunnies are booked in '08, &'09. But we look forward to Montana or MT St. visit to Coughlin.

In the meantime, Montana has the '07 schedule that they created for themselves. As have sewn..... xsmiley_wix

[Hammerhead]

Sagarin rating strength of schedule as posted on 30-Nov-2007:

UNI - 127th toughest
NDSU - 169
Montana - 202




LOL. Two of the cupcakes are Great West Teams! Then you look at the records of NDSU's opponents.

0-8
4-4
5-4
6-3
2-6
2-6
1-8
0-8
4-5
5-3
4-4

That would rank as the 102nd worst schedule in FCS if NDSU was included.

[McNeese75]

Sagarin rating strength of schedule as posted on 30-Nov-2007:

UNI - 127th toughest
NDSU - 169
Montana - 202

xrolleyesx xconfusedx

[redspider]

BUT TOWSON SPANKED YA' LIKE UH MONKEY!.................BRAWK!
Hmmm if you call spanking by a monkey a literally last second deep throw by a very good quaterback which lets admit was lucky. If our secondary had not broken down we would have been undefeated so far. So dont call a close loss a spanking.

[MR. CHICKEN]

DIS KNUCKLEDRAGGER KNEED HELP AHH MINDING DIS CHICKEN SCRATCH?!?...CLUCK CLUCK CLUCK BRAWK!

ONE OTHERAH POINT........MOUSEKETEER........NORFFERN COLORADO.......WAS 1-10....LAST SEASON...........PLAYED MONTANA STATE IN DERE PARK.......AN' ONLY LOST 13-10.........SEEMS DEM VICIOUS B'CATS.....CAIN'T PLAY DUH BEARS........WORFF SQWAT.....(AN' STATE PAID YA'LL UH VISIT).....SOME TEAMS JES' MATCH UP WELL DESPITE RECORDS........DERE-FORE.....JMU.......MOST SIGNIFICANT LOSS...............AH WIN......xnodx.....BRAWK!

[Thunderstruck84]

I suspect this argument will fall on deaf ears as it has in the past. It seems that far too many are unwilling or unable to understand the balancing act required (of BSC schools) to present schedules that are sufficiently challenging and at the same time fiscally responsible. Perhaps this map will help to illustrate the problem.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/39/Cfdiaa.PNG

The distance between UofM and NDSU (closest OOC school) is 811 miles.
How many quality OOC opponents are within 800 miles of (pick your school)?

In the past, Montana has had as difficult a schedule as any, and always at a greater cost. I personally don't care how Montana is ranked or what you think of their scheduling practices. When you apply your bias to another's problems you are almost always wrong.

In any event, cupcakes notwithstanding, we will gladly host anybody whose schedule is more befitting of their programs stature, hand them their asses, and put to rest discussions about our "weak" schedule.
This doesn't seem to be a problem for Southern Utah

[uofmman1122]

This doesn't seem to be a problem for Southern UtahThey also have 0 wins and get most of their respect from their insane schedule. I guess if their goal is to have the best schedule in the league, they've succeeded, but at what cost?

[MR. CHICKEN]

Hmmm if you call spanking by a monkey a literally last second deep throw by a very good quaterback which lets admit was lucky. If our secondary had not broken down we would have been undefeated so far. So dont call a close loss a spanking.



OKAY.........SO TOWSON PUNCHED YA...IN DUH CHOPS....DROPPED YA LIKE UH BAG O' POTTIN' SOIL........RIGHT AT DUH BELL........xnodx.....BRAWK!

ps.....WHEN YA LOSE TO UH TEAM...41-17....YER NOT UNDEFEATED.....AWQ!