FWIW Sagarin ratings for "elite eight"

[terrierbob]

40 UNI 77.18
64 SIU 71.2
66 App 70.95
74 UMASS 68.5
77 UR 67.91
81 DE 66.8
83 Woof 66.37
110 E. WA 60.68

Any surprises?

[andy7171]

Yeah, where's UNI rank?

[Umass74]

Northern Iowa?

[terrierbob]

I guess I didn't look high enough...

[SuperEagle]

1 SOUTHEASTERN (A) = 80.74 80.55 ( 1) 12
2 PAC-10 (A) = 78.92 78.76 ( 2) 10
3 BIG EAST (A) = 78.77 78.28 ( 3) 8
4 BIG 12 (A) = 77.36 77.14 ( 4) 12
5 ATLANTIC COAST (A) = 76.43 76.02 ( 5) 12
6 BIG TEN (A) = 75.81 75.49 ( 6) 11
7 MOUNTAIN WEST (A) = 70.28 70.27 ( 7) 9
8 WESTERN ATHLETIC (A) = 62.51 63.13 ( 8) 9
9 I-A INDEPENDENTS (A) = 62.08 62.13 ( 9) 4
10 MID-AMERICAN (A) = 60.21 60.41 ( 10) 13
11 SOUTHERN (AA)= 59.38 58.57 ( 12) 8
12 COLONIAL (AA)= 58.80 58.53 ( 13) 12
13 CONFERENCE USA (A) = 58.69 58.98 ( 11) 12
14 SUN BELT (A) = 58.41 58.27 ( 14) 8
15 GATEWAY (AA)= 58.33 56.52 ( 15) 7
16 GREAT WEST (AA)= 56.59 56.45 ( 16) 5
17 SOUTHLAND (AA)= 46.40 46.40 ( 17) 8
18 BIG SKY (AA)= 45.86 46.36 ( 18) 9
19 PATRIOT LEAGUE (AA)= 44.89 43.24 ( 20) 7
20 IVY LEAGUE (AA)= 42.98 43.56 ( 19) 8
21 BIG SOUTH (AA)= 39.67 39.64 ( 21) 5
22 SOUTHWESTERN (AA)= 38.47 37.57 ( 23) 10
23 MID-EASTERN (AA)= 37.94 37.63 ( 22) 10
24 OHIO VALLEY (AA)= 36.19 36.71 ( 24) 10
25 PIONEER (AA)= 33.25 32.91 ( 25) 8
26 NORTHEAST (AA)= 29.92 30.48 ( 26) 7
27 I-AA INDEPENDENTS (AA)= 29.06 28.65 ( 27) 4
28 METRO ATLANTIC (AA)= 20.50 18.96 ( 28) 4

[terrierbob]

Ummm... aren't Conference USA and Sunbelt "I-A"?

[appfan2008]

I would have thought ewu would be higher...

[KAUMASS]

Yeah, where's UNI rank?

Northern Illinois is #144 in Sagarian.

[KAUMASS]

40 UNI 77.18
64 SIU 71.2
66 App 70.95
74 UMASS 68.5
77 UR 67.91
81 DE 66.8
83 Woof 66.37
110 E. WA 60.68

Any surprises?

SIU and here is why: Schedule Strength per GPI by opponent.

Southern Illinois: UMass:

Quincy-D2?? Holy Cross-#30
Northern Illinois-#144(Sagarian) Colgate-#38
S. Utah-#80 GPI Towson-#50
Ark-Pine Bluff-#84 GIP Maine-#45
Indiana St-#112 GPI Boston College-#15 (Sagarian)
Youngstown-#12 GPI Villanova-#15
Northern Iowa#1 GPI Northeastern-#40
Missouri St-#33 GPI William/Mary-#33
Western Illinois-#25 Rhode Island-#49
Illinois St.-#42 New Hampshire-#14
Hampton-#61 Hofstra-#21
E. Illinois-#37 Fordham-#43


We will find out on Saturday if SIU is for real or not. I think they are tad bit overrated. They have my respect no doubt, I just don't think they have been battletested week in and week out like UMass.

[GSUhooligan]

They lost to UNI by 1 in the UNI dome. I didn't know that winning all of your games (including an FBS) except for 1, to the #1 team in the country, means you're overrated. I guess they should have lost to URI if they wanted to be thought of as "elite".

[UNIFanSince1983]

They actually lost by 6 to us in the dome, but it did come down to the last play.

But yes SIU was easily one of the best teams I have seen play this year, and I have watched UMass a couple times. Overall, this one should be a great game.

[KAUMASS]

They lost to UNI by 1 in the UNI dome. I didn't know that winning all of your games (including an FBS) except for 1, to the #1 team in the country, means you're overrated. I guess they should have lost to URI if they wanted to be thought of as "elite".



Only I response before the URI game.. Well then, here is some stuff in return:

Maybe we could play Quincy next year and maybe URI could build a dome so we don't have to play in a hurricane. Regardless of the hurricane, URI was ranked #50 in the GPI and they took Army to O.T. URI is ranked above 1/3 of the teams SIU played this year. URI also took UNH down to the wire b-4 losing their starting QB and runningback. UNH just played almighty UNI tough. UNH was the 5th team in the CAA.

For the record, I do think SIU is a good football team and anyone that gets to the quarters has had a great season. However, based upon schedule GPI strength, I don't think SIU should be ranked above UMass or Richmond.

[skinny_uncle]

Only I response before the URI game.. Well then, here is some stuff in return:

Maybe we could play Quincy next year and maybe URI could build a dome so we don't have to play in a hurricane. Regardless of the hurricane, URI was ranked #50 in the GPI and they took Army to O.T. URI is ranked above 1/3 of the teams SIU played this year. URI also took UNH down to the wire b-4 losing their starting QB and runningback. UNH just played almighty UNI tough. UNH was the 5th team in the CAA.

For the record, I do think SIU is a good football team and anyone that gets to the quarters has had a great season. However, based upon schedule GPI strength, I don't think SIU should be ranked above UMass or Richmond.

It' not just strength of Schedule. Wins and losses are factored into the Sagarin. 11-1 vs 10-2 teams. The URI loss is the reason UMass ranks behind SIU. Likewise, the Towson loss hurt Richmond. It's not just who you play, but whether or not you win.

[Syntax Error]

It' not just strength of Schedule. Wins and losses are factored into the Sagarin.Sag uses the BCS formula heavily weighted to W/L. Plus it disregards the non-D-I games. That's why Sag is not optimal for FCS.

[UNI Pike]

How much higher would the GW conference be if Indiana State was not included? They were just awful, #235 out of 242 teams ranked.

I am a UNI honk, but watching that game was just painful. The Gateway (or MVC, or whatever we will be next year) should chip in for some extra schollies to at least make them competitive.

[Tribe4SF]

Sagarin has three different ratings, as well as a strength-of-schedule rating. His ELO-CHESS rating counts only wins and losses, and is what the BCS uses. The best indicator of future outcomes is his PREDICTOR, which is a "pure points" rating, and appears on the far right of his columns. PREDICTOR ratings for the final eight are...

UNI 71.52
SIU 68.32
ASU 68.05
UMass 66.31
UD 65.96
UR 64.49
WC 64.24
EWU 62.40

[93BlueHen]

I wonder if SIU, UNI, and Wofford had higher Sagarin rankings before we steamrolled them 48-7, 37-7, and 24-9 in the playoffs in 2003?

I don't put much weight in rankings and spreadsheets. They mean little after kickoff.

[Syntax Error]

I wonder if SIU, UNI, and Wofford had higher Sagarin rankings before we steamrolled them 48-7, 37-7, and 24-9 in the playoffs in 2003?
I don't put much weight in rankings and spreadsheets. They mean little after kickoff.Do you put more weight in what happened four years ago?

[terrierbob]

I wonder if SIU, UNI, and Wofford had higher Sagarin rankings before we steamrolled them 48-7, 37-7, and 24-9 in the playoffs in 2003?

I don't put much weight in rankings and spreadsheets. They mean little after kickoff.


I don't know, but that was a great team you had that year. We came closer to you than anyone else. Tied at the half as I recall. Maybe Woffy should start taking FBS transfers. Not.

[DTSpider]

I don't know, but that was a great team you had that year. We came closer to you than anyone else. Tied at the half as I recall. Maybe Woffy should start taking FBS transfers. Not.

Are UR & WC the only teams without any FBS transfers in the quarterfinals?