AGS Poll Results 2023 Wk6

[AGSPoll]

10/9/2023



Rank
Team:
Total Points
First Place Votes


1
South Dakota State Jackrabbits
1250
50


2
Montana State Bobcats
1193



3
Idaho Vandals
1154



4
Furman Paladins
1061



5
Sac State Hornets
1024



6
North Dakota State Bison
923



7
Western Carolina Catamounts
922



8
Incarnate Word Cardinals
903



9
Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
828



10
South Dakota Coyotes
791



11
Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
671



12
Holy Cross Crusaders
628



13
North Carolina Central Eagles
525



14
Southern Illinois Salukis
512



15
North Dakota Fighting Hawks
488



16
Albany Great Danes
486



17
Harvard Crimson
422



18
William & Mary Tribe
399



19
Montana Grizzlies
313



20
Youngstown State Penguins
282



21
Chattanooga Mocs
251



22
Central Arkansas Bears
206



23
Florida A&M Rattlers
164



24
Eastern Washington Eagles
161



25
Villanova Wildcats
132
















ORV:




26
Mercer Bears
129



27
Northern Iowa Panthers
83



28
Austin Peay Governors
63



29
Eastern Illinois Panthers
56



30
Rhode Island Rams
47



31T
Eastern Kentucky Colonels
43



31T
Weber State Wildcats
43



33T
Elon Phoenix
32



33T
UC Davis Aggies
32



35
Lafayette Leopards
19



36
New Hampshire Wildcats
9



37
Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
3



38
Fordham Rams
2




























Most Significant Win:
Youngstown State Penguins






Most Significant Loss:
Southern Illinois Salukis

[Chalupa Batman]

For your viewing pleasure.

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: Western Carolina Catamounts
6: Sac State Hornets
7: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
8: South Dakota Coyotes
9: North Dakota State Bison
10: Incarnate Word Cardinals
11: Harvard Crimson
12: Chattanooga Mocs
13: Eastern Kentucky Colonels
14: Holy Cross Crusaders
15: Youngstown State Penguins
16: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
17: North Carolina Central Eagles
18: Albany Great Danes
19: Montana Grizzlies
20: William & Mary Tribe
21: Northern Iowa Panthers
22: Eastern Washington Eagles
23: Southern Illinois Salukis
24: Mercer Bears
25: Austin Peay Governors

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: UC Davis Aggies

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Sac State Hornets
5: Western Carolina Catamounts
6: Furman Paladins
7: Albany Great Danes
8: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
9: Incarnate Word Cardinals
10: South Dakota Coyotes
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
13: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
14: North Dakota State Bison
15: Harvard Crimson
16: Youngstown State Penguins
17: Chattanooga Mocs
18: Holy Cross Crusaders
19: Southern Illinois Salukis
20: Florida A&M Rattlers
21: Eastern Illinois Panthers
22: Villanova Wildcats
23: Montana Grizzlies
24: Northern Iowa Panthers
25: Eastern Washington Eagles

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Tarleton Texans
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Patriot League

[Professor Chaos]

This week's top 25 article: https://thefcswedge.com/ags-poll/ags-poll-week-6-top-25-results-5/

Starting to see the Big Sky and MVFC cannibalization start as there are now teams from 8 different conferences in the top 13 and from 11 different conferences in the top 25. I still think UT Martin is overrated in the consensus at #11. I think Youngstown State is underrated at #20 - there was nothing flukish about their win over YSU as they dominated that game in every facet. I don't think they should be punished that much for a 3 point loss in the UNI-Dome. Switch around YSU and UTM in the consensus and it would be better IMO.

[Professor Chaos]

Here's what I came up with:

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Sac State Hornets
5: Furman Paladins
6: Western Carolina Catamounts
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: Incarnate Word Cardinals
9: Albany Great Danes
10: Delaware Fightin Blue Hens
11: Harvard Crimson
12: North Dakota State Bison
13: Holy Cross Crusaders
14: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
15: Youngstown State Penguins
16: North Carolina Central Eagles
17: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
18: Southern Illinois Salukis
19: Chattanooga Mocs
20: Villanova Wildcats
21: Florida A&M Rattlers
22: Central Arkasas Bears
23: Eastern Washington Eagles
24: Montana Grizzlies
25: Northern Iowa Panthers

[KPSUL]

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 6:36:15

Your vote is listed below.


1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: North Dakota State Bison
5: Furman Paladins
6: Western Carolina Catamounts
7: Incarnate Word Cardinals
8: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
9: Sac State Hornets
10: North Carolina Central Eagles
11: South Dakota Coyotes
12: Harvard Crimson
13: Youngstown State Penguins
14: Montana Grizzlies
15: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
16: William & Mary Tribe
17: Chattanooga Mocs
18: Albany Great Danes
19: Holy Cross Crusaders
20: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Southern Illinois Salukis
23: Florida A&M Rattlers
24: Northern Iowa Panthers
25: Rhode Island Rams

KPSUL

The Most Significant Win: Western Carolina Catamounts
The Most Significant Loss: Weber State Wildcats
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Colonial Athletic Association

[atthewbon]

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Sac State Hornets
5: Furman Paladins
6: Western Carolina Catamounts
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Incarnate Word Cardinals
11: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
12: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
13: Albany Great Danes
14: Harvard Crimson
15: North Carolina Central Eagles
16: Youngstown State Penguins
17: Holy Cross Crusaders
18: Eastern Washington Eagles
19: Mercer Bears
20: Southern Illinois Salukis
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Northern Iowa Panthers
24: Eastern Kentucky Colonels
25: Florida A&M Rattlers

[atthewbon]

Interesting NAU only got 3 votes. While I don't personally think they should be ranked, I thought they would have gotten more. They are a very strange case.

[wcugrad95]

I guess several of you already saw mine :)

New guy, so I would appreciate some constructive conversation and questions.

Hello wcugrad95,


We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 8:08:26


Your vote is listed below.




1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Idaho Vandals
3: Montana State Bobcats
4: Furman Paladins
5: Sac State Hornets
6: Incarnate Word Cardinals
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Western Carolina Catamounts
11: Holy Cross Crusaders
12: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
13: Harvard Crimson
14: William & Mary Tribe
15: North Carolina Central Eagles
16: Albany Great Danes
17: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
18: Southern Illinois Salukis
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Chattanooga Mocs
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Mercer Bears
24: Villanova Wildcats
25: Youngstown State Penguins

I know there will be questions about YSU and Southern Illinois, but that is one data point and the Salukis were very high heading into that game. I would have kept Samford possibly ahead of WCU earlier in the year until I saw a few more games.

[Professor Chaos]

I guess several of you already saw mine :)

New guy, so I would appreciate some constructive conversation and questions.

Hello wcugrad95,


We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 8:08:26


Your vote is listed below.




1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Idaho Vandals
3: Montana State Bobcats
4: Furman Paladins
5: Sac State Hornets
6: Incarnate Word Cardinals
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Western Carolina Catamounts
11: Holy Cross Crusaders
12: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
13: Harvard Crimson
14: William & Mary Tribe
15: North Carolina Central Eagles
16: Albany Great Danes
17: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
18: Southern Illinois Salukis
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Chattanooga Mocs
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Mercer Bears
24: Villanova Wildcats
25: Youngstown State Penguins
Pretty good work I'd say. I think you're being too tough on your Catamounts though - switch them with Incarnate Word (who hasn't shown much so far this year with that schedule) and it would be better. I think you're too high on William & Mary and too low on Youngstown St but you're closer to the consensus on those two than I am so maybe you're right and I'm wrong.

[atthewbon]

I guess several of you already saw mine :)

New guy, so I would appreciate some constructive conversation and questions.

Hello wcugrad95,


We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 8:08:26


Your vote is listed below.




1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Idaho Vandals
3: Montana State Bobcats
4: Furman Paladins
5: Sac State Hornets
6: Incarnate Word Cardinals
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Western Carolina Catamounts
11: Holy Cross Crusaders
12: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
13: Harvard Crimson
14: William & Mary Tribe
15: North Carolina Central Eagles
16: Albany Great Danes
17: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
18: Southern Illinois Salukis
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Chattanooga Mocs
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Mercer Bears
24: Villanova Wildcats
25: Youngstown State Penguins

I know there will be questions about YSU and Southern Illinois, but that is one data point and the Salukis were very high heading into that game. I would have kept Samford possibly ahead of WCU earlier in the year until I saw a few more games.

This is by no means directed just at you, as the consensus was the same, but what's the logic for Holy Cross over Harvard?

[Professor Chaos]

SIU is an interesting scenario - yeah they've got a good win against Northern Illinois and a decent win against Austin Peay but those wins against SEMO (where they needed a late fumble recovery and a 4th down conversion to take the lead with just seconds on the clock) and Missouri St are pretty underwhelming and then you add the blowout loss to YSU it's getting easier to poke holes in them I think.

[caribbeanhen]

I had a real problem figuring out YSU, Southern Illinois and N Iowa so I will not be posting my poll this week

[wcugrad95]

Slow playing my Cats on purpose. I want them to be underdogs. YSU was hard. In and out of the polls. That was an impressive win Saturday, so I certainly should have them at least a lot closer to Southern Illinois. I just felt like a 14-digit drop felt right for the Salukis and I had a hard time taking YSU from out of the polls all the way into the teens. I'll have no problem switching them if both teams look similar this weekend. I honestly also think William & Mary is too high in my own poll, but I didn't think punishing them for losing to an ACC team was right.

[POD Knows]

I had a real problem figuring out YSU, Southern Illinois and N Iowa so I will not be posting my poll this week
I had them SIU<Youngstown<UNI. I hammered SIU this week because i thought they looked sort of bad against a bad MoSt team and got completly dominated by YSU. I watched that game and it was men against boys it seemed to me. But that UNI loss to Weber at UNI is a real bad loss for UNI, Weber sucks balls and not in a good way.

[crusader11]

My take --

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Sac State Hornets
5: Western Carolina Catamounts
6: Furman Paladins
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Incarnate Word Cardinals
11: Holy Cross Crusaders
12: Albany Great Danes
13: Youngstown State Penguins
14: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
15: North Carolina Central Eagles
16: Southern Illinois Salukis
17: Harvard Crimson
18: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
19: Eastern Washington Eagles
20: William & Mary Tribe
21: Mercer Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Chattanooga Mocs
24: Central Arkansas Bears
25: Northern Iowa Panthers

[grizband]

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Western Carolina Catamounts
5: Furman Paladins
6: Sac State Hornets
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
10: Incarnate Word Cardinals
11: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
12: Chattanooga Mocs
13: William & Mary Tribe
14: North Carolina Central Eagles
15: Albany Great Danes
16: Harvard Crimson
17: Holy Cross Crusaders
18: Central Arkansas Bears
19: Villanova Wildcats
20: Youngstown State Penguins
21: Southern Illinois Salukis
22: Mercer Bears
23: Eastern Illinois Panthers
24: Florida A&M Rattlers
25: Montana Grizzlies

grizband

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Southern Illinois Salukis
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Big Sky Conference

[Preferred Walk-On]

I'll shut up and listen...

-----

Hello Preferred Walk-On,

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 18:28:32

Your vote is listed below (previous rank in parentheses).

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits (1)
2: Montana State Bobcats (2)
3: Idaho Vandals (3)
4: Furman Paladins (5)
5: Sac State Hornets (7)
6: South Dakota Coyotes (8)
7: Western Carolina Catamounts (6)
8: North Dakota State Bison (10)
9: Harvard Crimson (11)
10: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens (12)
11: Holy Cross Crusaders (13)
12: Incarnate Word Cardinals (9)
13: Albany Great Danes (15)
14: North Carolina Central Eagles (16)
15: North Dakota Fighting Hawks (17)
16: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks (18)
17: Mercer Bears (19)
18: Eastern Kentucky Colonels (14)
19: Chattanooga Mocs (23)
20: Northern Iowa Panthers (NR)
21: Youngstown State Penguins (NR)
22: Eastern Washington Eagles (21)
23: Southern Illinois Salukis (4)
24: Florida A&M Rattlers (22)
25: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (NR)

The Most Significant Win: North Carolina Central Eagles
The Most Significant Loss: Southern Illinois Salukis
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Missouri Valley Football Conference

[KPSUL]

This is by no means directed just at you, as the consensus was the same, but what's the logic for Holy Cross over Harvard?

Harvard is not undefeated! (wait, looks like that's not right)
Holy Cross has won the rest of their games! (oops, I guess not)
Harvard was playing at home! (Ahh, apparently no)
The Harvard vs Holy Cross game was extremely Close! (not really, Harvard up by 17 until HC scored a TD with 3 minutes remaining)

Most of us don't pay attention to Ivy League football cuz they ain't even in the playoffs! (Bingo, correct answer)

[wcugrad95]

@PWO - I missed adding my most significant wins and losses to my post. I also chose the NC Central Eagles. I was down on them for having to hang-on in their win at home against Campbell and I actually expected them to lose against Elon - they certainly showed me something and got a little more respect in my poll, too. We both have UTM around the same spot, but I also thought about dropping them further (even though they won). I also didn't include EKU but think they are simply a win or two away from recovering from 2 opening FBS losses. When they go over .500 they'll creep into my top-25 for sure.

[WileECoyote06]

@PWO - I missed adding my most significant wins and losses to my post. I also chose the NC Central Eagles. I was down on them for having to hang-on in their win at home against Campbell and I actually expected them to lose against Elon - they certainly showed me something and got a little more respect in my poll, too. We both have UTM around the same spot, but I also thought about dropping them further (even though they won). I also didn't include EKU but think they are simply a win or two away from recovering from 2 opening FBS losses. When they go over .500 they'll creep into my top-25 for sure.

but you ranked NCCU right behind William and Mary. William and Mary couldn't go into Elon and get a win. . NCCU did. . And did it in dominating fashion (star RB held to 13 yards; 8 QB sacks; at one time a 17 point lead).

I can understand if you were high on William and Mary and kept them four or more spots higher than NCCU; but that's not what you presented. xeyebrowx

[FUBeAR]

but you ranked NCCU right behind William and Mary. William and Mary couldn't go into Elon and get a win. . NCCU did. . And did it in dominating fashion (star RB held to 13 yards; 8 QB sacks; at one time a 17 point lead).

I can understand if you were high on William and Mary and kept them four or more spots higher than NCCU; but that's not what you presented. xeyebrowx
95 doesn't bother himself with such trivialities as Wins vs. Losses and comparable scores against common opponents...

20: Chattanooga Mocs
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Mercer Bears

The Mocs are L vs. W and -24 to the Bears in that calculation

[wcugrad95]

I did at least have the 4-1 (vs FCS competition) Mercer Bears in the top-25. I explained the Mocs being there being based on if WCU is a top-10 team the Mocs have to be in the top-20.

[WileECoyote06]

95 doesn't bother himself with such trivialities as Wins vs. Losses and comparable scores against common opponents...

20: Chattanooga Mocs
21: Central Arkansas Bears
22: Montana Grizzlies
23: Mercer Bears

The Mocs are L vs. W and -24 to the Bears in that calculation

the loss to Furman is a noose, but I think Mercer is deserving of a ranking. I had yall at 20.

[Mike296]

I usually get a few raised eyebrows on my poll so I’m half expecting it this week.

Hello Mike296,

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 1:09:52

Your vote is listed below.


1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: Sac State Hornets
6: Incarnate Word Cardinals
7: Western Carolina Catamounts
8: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
9: South Dakota Coyotes
10: Harvard Crimson
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
13: Holy Cross Crusaders
14: North Dakota State Bison
15: Albany Great Danes
16: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
17: Eastern Washington Eagles
18: Eastern Kentucky Colonels
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Central Arkansas Bears
21: Austin Peay Governors
22: Youngstown State Penguins
23: Southern Illinois Salukis
24: William & Mary Tribe
25: Lafayette Leopards

Mike296

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Chattanooga Mocs
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Atlantic Sun Conference

[caribbeanhen]

I did at least have the 4-1 (vs FCS competition) Mercer Bears in the top-25. I explained the Mocs being there being based on if WCU is a top-10 team the Mocs have to be in the top-20.

AGS can be tough on pollsters and it’s one of the best things about this place…. You’re like a kitten minnow in the Amazon right now and the Piranhas are hungry for fresh meat

Good on you for having the guts to post your poll

[caribbeanhen]

I usually get a few raised eyebrows on my poll so I’m half expecting it this week.

Hello Mike296,

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 1:09:52

Your vote is listed below.


1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: Sac State Hornets
6: Incarnate Word Cardinals
7: Western Carolina Catamounts
8: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
9: South Dakota Coyotes
10: Harvard Crimson
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
13: Holy Cross Crusaders
14: North Dakota State Bison
15: Albany Great Danes
16: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
17: Eastern Washington Eagles
18: Eastern Kentucky Colonels
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Central Arkansas Bears
21: Austin Peay Governors
22: Youngstown State Penguins
23: Southern Illinois Salukis
24: William & Mary Tribe
25: Lafayette Leopards

Mike296

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Chattanooga Mocs
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Atlantic Sun Conference

Youngstown would roll the Rattlers

[FUBeAR]

AGS can be tough on pollsters and it’s one of the best things about this place…. You’re like a kitten minnow in the Amazon right now and the Piranhas are hungry for fresh meat

Good on you for having the guts to post your poll95 has Paladin roots. He's of much stronger stock than your typical kitten. He'll be fine.

[wapiti]

Whoever voted Weber did not do their homework

[FUBeAR]

the loss to Furman is a noose, but I think Mercer is deserving of a ranking. I had yall at 20.
The loss to Furman is what it is, but Chattanooga hasn't played Furman yet. Furman might beat Chatt like a rented mule! Is Mercer's loss to Ole Miss also justification because one speculates that Chattanooga just might give Alabama a better game than Mercer gave Ole Miss?

Besides - Mercer @ FU was a 3 point game with less than 16 minutes to play and Chatt lost to WCU by 2....for those paying attention. WCU should be nearly as much of a "noose" for Chatt. as Furman is for Mercer...and then there's the 24 point and W vs. L difference in their game against their lone common opponent.

So...Nah - there are only 3 valid tests of Chattanooga vs. Mercer now...

1) Head to Head against North Alabama - Mercer CLEARLY ranks higher - and then apply the legitimate 'discount' one wants to apply (if any) to that difference because the game was X weeks ago...and the BS discount about Player X having a tummy ache during game Y and Cheerleader Z missing the game entirely. But that 'discount' should never turn this from being 'Advantage Mercer'....and it seems as if it has. FUBeAR keeps hearing it described as a "very unimpressive, almost a bad win for Mercer in Week0" and an "hard to understand loss for Chatt....but it was in the Week1...so it doesn't really matter" (WTF?)

University of North Alabama (http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partner-pub-0379030414683754:9954400133&ie=UTF-8&q=University%20of%20North%20Alabama%20Lions,%20Foo tball,%20College%20Football,%20Florence,%20AL&sa=Search&ref=#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=University%20of%20North%20Alabama%20Lions,%2 0Football,%20College%20Football,%20Florence,%20AL&gsc.page=1)Lions (https://masseyratings.com/mascots?m=Lions)


Date

Opponent

Result
PF
PA


Sat 08-26
vs
Mercer (https://masseyratings.com/cf2023/4649)Montgomery AL
(4-2)
L (https://masseyratings.com/game.php?gid=938287259)
7
17


Sat 09-02

Chattanooga (https://masseyratings.com/cf2023/7809)
(4-2)
W (https://masseyratings.com/game.php?gid=938287305)
41
27




2) Records - Mercer has 1 FCS Loss to a Top 5 Team. Chattanooga has 2 FCS Losses - 1 to a Top 10-15 Team and one to an Unranked 2-4 Team

3) The EYE TEST - Subjectively, how you think these 2 Teams have looked against the variety of competition that you have seen them play against.


If you tell FUBeAR, you just think Chatt looks better....that's fine. The records/resumes don't support that subjective opinion to which each voter is certainly entitled...but these 2 Teams can work all that out on Saturday.

[wcugrad95]

To clear it up, I started out playing football at Furman a long time ago in a galaxy far-far away. I ended up transferring to WCU and not playing. As my username states, I am a WCU grad. And as my posts show, I am a WCU fan :)

I also in sharing my poll said I honestly want to be a better voter. As long as people aren't just slamming us, we should all feel comfortable posting them and learning from the feedback. I am not going to take any of this as some kind of personal attack. Unless of course it comes from FUBeAR.

[Mike296]

Youngstown would roll the Rattlers

I know that realistically, FAMU is borderline T25 at all. My thought process was that unless they lay a dud in conference I kind of have no reason not to rank them. Yes Youngstown is the better team. But I couldn’t justify myself putting Youngstown higher than they are. They look like a decent team. But they also lost to a UNI team I don’t particularly rate highly. I have no way of knowing who’s win a SIU-UNI matchup since they don’t play this year.

[MR. CHICKEN]

Hello MR. CHICKEN,

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 8:09:18

Your vote is listed below.


1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: North Dakota State Bison
6: Sac State Hornets
7: Incarnate Word Cardinals
8: Western Carolina Catamounts
9: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
10: South Dakota Coyotes
11: Southern Illinois Salukis
12: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
13: Holy Cross Crusaders
14: William & Mary Tribe
15: North Carolina Central Eagles
16: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
17: Albany Great Danes
18: Montana Grizzlies
19: Youngstown State Penguins
20: Central Arkansas Bears
21: Eastern Washington Eagles
22: Villanova Wildcats
23: Florida A&M Rattlers
24: Harvard Crimson
25: Mercer Bears

MR. CHICKEN

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Southern Illinois Salukis
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Colonial Athletic Association

[MSUBobcat]

I brought this up last week and again on the Stats poll thread which doesn't seem to get much traffic: What is the reasoning for UIW being as high as they are, and especially in relation to UCA, without using "last year" in the response?

FBS game: UIW lost by 14 to UTEP, UCA lost by 14 to OK State; edge - UCA (OK State is better)
Non-counter: UIW thumped North American, UCA thumped Texas College; who cares.
Common opponent: UIW gets 7pt road win, UCA cruised to 35pt home win; edge - UCA (home vs. road doesn't account for 28 points)
Similar FCS #1: UIW pounded NoCo by 35 on the road, UCA eked out 2pt road victory over a decent SUU; draw (or slight edge UIW)
Similar FCS #2: UIW takes 7pt home win over SELA, UCA take 5pt home win over SEMO; edge - UCA (SEMO is better than SELA)
Extra game: UCA lost @NDSU by 19; edge - UIW (not playing NDSU in Fargo is usually much better than playing NDSU in Fargo xlolx)

UCA has 2, if not 3, wins better than anything UIW has and has a better performance against FBS, but the loss in Fargo seems to be a lead weight. If UIW only beat ACU by 7 on the road, I don't think they do any better in Fargo than the Bears did. And now, Massey has UIW with no less than a 79% chance to win against the weak remaining schedule, so the Cardinals likely get a seed based on (checks notes....) a 7 point road win in Abilene.... yep, only the 8 best FCS teams could possibly muster a quality win such as this...xrolleyesx I get that you can only play the teams on your schedule, but if it's this weak, I'd like to see some "style points" in the W's, not eking out 7 point home wins over a winless SELA. HCU beat them by 15 on SELA's own field, FFS.

I'm not pushing for UCA to be ranked ahead of UIW, but resumes side by side without a name on top and they would be very similarly ranked IMO, making UIW overrated.

[Catbooster]

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: South Dakota Coyotes
6: Sac State Hornets
7: North Dakota State Bison
8: Western Carolina Catamounts
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Incarnate Word Cardinals
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
13: Albany Great Danes
14: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
15: Chattanooga Mocs
16: Youngstown State Penguins
17: Harvard Crimson
18: Holy Cross Crusaders
19: Northern Iowa Panthers
20: Eastern Washington Eagles
21: Villanova Wildcats
22: Eastern Illinois Panthers
23: Southern Illinois Salukis
24: Central Arkansas Bears
25: Mercer Bears

Catbooster

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Elon Phoenix
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Big Sky Conference

[SeattleCat]

For you flaming pleasure.

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Incarnate Word Cardinals
5: Furman Paladins
6: Sac State Hornets
7: Western Carolina Catamounts
8: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
9: North Dakota State Bison
10: Holy Cross Crusaders
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
13: South Dakota Coyotes
14: Harvard Crimson
15: Southern Illinois Salukis
16: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
17: Eastern Washington Eagles
18: Albany Great Danes
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Elon Phoenix
21: Eastern Illinois Panthers
22: Youngstown State Penguins
23: Villanova Wildcats
24: Chattanooga Mocs
25: Montana Grizzlies

SeattleCat

The Most Significant Win: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks
The Most Significant Loss: Southern Illinois Salukis
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Big Sky Conference

[dbackjon]

Interesting NAU only got 3 votes. While I don't personally think they should be ranked, I thought they would have gotten more. They are a very strange case.

Loss to Utah Tech is a killer...


I don't think they are top 25, but I would rank them ahead of EWU.

EWU beat an 0-6 team, and 3-3 UC Davis
NAU beat a 5-1 team, and a 3-3 Weber, plus a one-point road loss to #4 Sac State (and also lost to ranked UND)

[bwbear]

I brought this up last week and again on the Stats poll thread which doesn't seem to get much traffic: What is the reasoning for UIW being as high as they are, and especially in relation to UCA, without using "last year" in the response?

FBS game: UIW lost by 14 to UTEP, UCA lost by 14 to OK State; edge - UCA (OK State is better)
Non-counter: UIW thumped North American, UCA thumped Texas College; who cares.
Common opponent: UIW gets 7pt road win, UCA cruised to 35pt home win; edge - UCA (home vs. road doesn't account for 28 points)
Similar FCS #1: UIW pounded NoCo by 35 on the road, UCA eked out 2pt road victory over a decent SUU; draw (or slight edge UIW)
Similar FCS #2: UIW takes 7pt home win over SELA, UCA take 5pt home win over SEMO; edge - UCA (SEMO is better than SELA)
Extra game: UCA lost @NDSU by 19; edge - UIW (not playing NDSU in Fargo is usually much better than playing NDSU in Fargo xlolx)

UCA has 2, if not 3, wins better than anything UIW has and has a better performance against FBS, but the loss in Fargo seems to be a lead weight. If UIW only beat ACU by 7 on the road, I don't think they do any better in Fargo than the Bears did. And now, Massey has UIW with no less than a 79% chance to win against the weak remaining schedule, so the Cardinals likely get a seed based on (checks notes....) a 7 point road win in Abilene.... yep, only the 8 best FCS teams could possibly muster a quality win such as this...xrolleyesx I get that you can only play the teams on your schedule, but if it's this weak, I'd like to see some "style points" in the W's, not eking out 7 point home wins over a winless SELA. HCU beat them by 15 on SELA's own field, FFS.

I'm not pushing for UCA to be ranked ahead of UIW, but resumes side by side without a name on top and they would be very similarly ranked IMO, making UIW overrated.

Not bad logic.

But, speaking as UCA fan, in the 20's is probably where we belong at best. This team is explosive on both sides of the ball. But, this team is also very undisciplined. Penalties are killers. I'm amazed they have been able to win the way they have giving up over 100 yards in penalties in at least two games now. Penalties hurt us in Fargo (like NDSU needed any help). Penalties cost us at least 1 score at OKST. If this team does not learn to play controlled and less penalized, then we'll be (at best) a one and done in the playoffs.

So I have no problem with UIW, or other teams with similar resumes being ranked above.

[caribbeanhen]

95 has Paladin roots. He's of much stronger stock than your typical kitten. He'll be fine.

good to know

[caribbeanhen]

Caribbeanhen ,

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/9/2023 6:31:51

Your vote is listed below.


1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: Incarnate Word Cardinals
6: Sac State Hornets
7: South Dakota Coyotes
8: North Dakota State Bison
9: Western Carolina Catamounts
10: Harvard Crimson
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: Youngstown State Penguins
13: Holy Cross Crusaders
14: Southern Illinois Salukis
15: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
16: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
17: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
18: Central Arkansas Bears
19: Montana Grizzlies
20: William & Mary Tribe
21: Eastern Washington Eagles
22: Albany Great Danes
23: Austin Peay Governors
24: Northern Iowa Panthers
25: Villanova Wildcats

[mvemjsunpx]

Previous week in parentheses…


1. South Dakota St. (1)
2. Idaho (2)
3. Montana St. (3)
4. Delaware (6)
5. North Dakota St. (7)
6. Western Carolina (9)
7. Furman (5)
8. Sacramento St. (8)
9. Albany (10)
10. NC Central (11)
11. South Dakota (12)
12. Youngstown St. (NR)
13. Southern Illinois (4)
14. Eastern Kentucky (14)
15. Incarnate Word (13)
16. Harvard (16)
17. Holy Cross (17)
18. Florida A&M (18)
19. North Dakota (20)
20. Tennessee-Martin (21)
21. Villanova (24)
22. Eastern Washington (19)
23. Austin Peay (22)
24. Elon (15)
25. William & Mary (23)

Dropped - Tennessee-Chattanooga (25)


W - Youngstown St.
L - Southern Illinois

[Puddin Tane]

I brought this up last week and again on the Stats poll thread which doesn't seem to get much traffic: What is the reasoning for UIW being as high as they are, and especially in relation to UCA, without using "last year" in the response?

FBS game: UIW lost by 14 to UTEP, UCA lost by 14 to OK State; edge - UCA (OK State is better)
Non-counter: UIW thumped North American, UCA thumped Texas College; who cares.
Common opponent: UIW gets 7pt road win, UCA cruised to 35pt home win; edge - UCA (home vs. road doesn't account for 28 points)
Similar FCS #1: UIW pounded NoCo by 35 on the road, UCA eked out 2pt road victory over a decent SUU; draw (or slight edge UIW)
Similar FCS #2: UIW takes 7pt home win over SELA, UCA take 5pt home win over SEMO; edge - UCA (SEMO is better than SELA)
Extra game: UCA lost @NDSU by 19; edge - UIW (not playing NDSU in Fargo is usually much better than playing NDSU in Fargo xlolx)

UCA has 2, if not 3, wins better than anything UIW has and has a better performance against FBS, but the loss in Fargo seems to be a lead weight. If UIW only beat ACU by 7 on the road, I don't think they do any better in Fargo than the Bears did. And now, Massey has UIW with no less than a 79% chance to win against the weak remaining schedule, so the Cardinals likely get a seed based on (checks notes....) a 7 point road win in Abilene.... yep, only the 8 best FCS teams could possibly muster a quality win such as this...xrolleyesx I get that you can only play the teams on your schedule, but if it's this weak, I'd like to see some "style points" in the W's, not eking out 7 point home wins over a winless SELA. HCU beat them by 15 on SELA's own field, FFS.

I'm not pushing for UCA to be ranked ahead of UIW, but resumes side by side without a name on top and they would be very similarly ranked IMO, making UIW overrated.

dang, you and your anti UIW campaign! They can only beat who is on the schedule. Until they lose to fcs, Im ranking them high.

Mt st aint exactly been having to run thru a juggernaut of a schedule so far. 1 tuff game and ya lost it. Stetson? UtahDixieStPoly? rapidly crashing Webernators? Portlandia? And the “style points “ you speak of ? I dunno..is giving up 20 points to stetson and the others stylish?


Let he who is without crap on the schedule cast the first stone

[caribbeanhen]

Previous week in parentheses…


1. South Dakota St. (1)
2. Idaho (2)
3. Montana St. (3)
4. Delaware (6)
5. North Dakota St. (7)
6. Western Carolina (9)
7. Furman (5)
8. Sacramento St. (8)
9. Albany (10)
10. NC Central (11)
11. South Dakota (12)
12. Youngstown St. (NR)
13. Southern Illinois (4)
14. Eastern Kentucky (14)
15. Incarnate Word (13)
16. Harvard (16)
17. Holy Cross (17)
18. Florida A&M (18)
19. North Dakota (20)
20. Tennessee-Martin (21)
21. Villanova (24)
22. Eastern Washington (19)
23. Austin Peay (22)
24. Elon (15)
25. William & Mary (23)

Dropped - Tennessee-Chattanooga (25)


W - Youngstown St.
L - Southern Illinois

Most of me is thinking that everybody generally has Delaware ranked too high, they beat three bad teams and one average team (New Hampshire)

but part of me is saying something special might be brewing right before our eyes. They have a pretty good collection of WRs and a really good RB in Marcus Yarns. QB Ryan O’Conner is looking good too.

[Professor Chaos]

Couple teams reaching program highs in the AGS Poll recently that I haven't called out:

Western Carolina: Set their first new high water mark last week at #9 and set it again this week at #7
North Carolina Central: They've set new highs each of last 3 weeks at #17 in week 4, #15 last week, and #13 this week

[Chalupa Batman]

Slow playing my Cats on purpose. I want them to be underdogs. YSU was hard. In and out of the polls. That was an impressive win Saturday, so I certainly should have them at least a lot closer to Southern Illinois. I just felt like a 14-digit drop felt right for the Salukis and I had a hard time taking YSU from out of the polls all the way into the teens. I'll have no problem switching them if both teams look similar this weekend. I honestly also think William & Mary is too high in my own poll, but I didn't think punishing them for losing to an ACC team was right.

If you think your Catamounts should be ranked higher than #10 you should rank them as such. Purposely ranking a team in a spot you don't think they should be can take away from the integrity of the poll and the pride all the voters take in it. WCU was 1 point behind NDSU in the poll this week and moving up the Catamounts 1 spot puts them in a tie with the Bison, and 2 spots put you in front of NDSU.

If you did rank WCU where you truly felt they should be than you can disregard the above. I echo Professor Chaos's critique of your poll, but other than that you did a really good job with it!


I brought this up last week and again on the Stats poll thread which doesn't seem to get much traffic: What is the reasoning for UIW being as high as they are, and especially in relation to UCA, without using "last year" in the response?

FBS game: UIW lost by 14 to UTEP, UCA lost by 14 to OK State; edge - UCA (OK State is better)
Non-counter: UIW thumped North American, UCA thumped Texas College; who cares.
Common opponent: UIW gets 7pt road win, UCA cruised to 35pt home win; edge - UCA (home vs. road doesn't account for 28 points)
Similar FCS #1: UIW pounded NoCo by 35 on the road, UCA eked out 2pt road victory over a decent SUU; draw (or slight edge UIW)
Similar FCS #2: UIW takes 7pt home win over SELA, UCA take 5pt home win over SEMO; edge - UCA (SEMO is better than SELA)
Extra game: UCA lost @NDSU by 19; edge - UIW (not playing NDSU in Fargo is usually much better than playing NDSU in Fargo xlolx)

UCA has 2, if not 3, wins better than anything UIW has and has a better performance against FBS, but the loss in Fargo seems to be a lead weight. If UIW only beat ACU by 7 on the road, I don't think they do any better in Fargo than the Bears did. And now, Massey has UIW with no less than a 79% chance to win against the weak remaining schedule, so the Cardinals likely get a seed based on (checks notes....) a 7 point road win in Abilene.... yep, only the 8 best FCS teams could possibly muster a quality win such as this...xrolleyesx I get that you can only play the teams on your schedule, but if it's this weak, I'd like to see some "style points" in the W's, not eking out 7 point home wins over a winless SELA. HCU beat them by 15 on SELA's own field, FFS.

I'm not pushing for UCA to be ranked ahead of UIW, but resumes side by side without a name on top and they would be very similarly ranked IMO, making UIW overrated.

I said this last week but I honestly have no idea where to rank UIW. They haven't really done anything "bad" to cause me to drop them, but haven't really done anything "good" to cause me to raise them up. Every week I go back and forth with them.....I leave them in the 10-12 range and don't really feel good about it, so then I move them down some but I don't feel good about that either. It's no fault of theirs and unless they lose they'll probably just end up hovering in the 8-12 range for the rest of the year.

[Gil Dobie]

Still a lot of voters think NDSU us better than USD. Not what I saw at the game. There have been fluke Bison losses in the past, due to turnovers or injured QBs. This was a better team coming in and dominating.

[caribbeanhen]

I had them SIU<Youngstown<UNI. I hammered SIU this week because i thought they looked sort of bad against a bad MoSt team and got completly dominated by YSU. I watched that game and it was men against boys it seemed to me. But that UNI loss to Weber at UNI is a real bad loss for UNI, Weber sucks balls and not in a good way.

this!

you gotta watch games

[Professor Chaos]

Still a lot of voters think NDSU us better than USD. Not what I saw at the game. There have been fluke Bison losses in the past, due to turnovers or injured QBs. This was a better team coming in and dominating.
Come on now let's not act like USD bulldozed NDSU. I've seen teams beat NDSU at their own game but that's not what USD did. NDSU outgained them on the ground and overall and had a 10 minute TOP advantage. USD won the explosive plays on both sides (forcing their own and preventing the Bison from getting them) - that was the main difference.

Winning in the Fargodome isn't easy though so I do agree though that USD should be ranked in front of NDSU right now. I'd love to see a rematch.

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

Still a lot of voters think NDSU us better than USD. Not what I saw at the game. There have been fluke Bison losses in the past, due to turnovers or injured QBs. This was a better team coming in and dominating.


The only game/games I've seen in person where NDSU was dominated were UNI games. First game down in Cedar Falls in 08 and then again in 15.

In '15 Wentz hurt his ankle but UNI controlled the LOS easily.

[Pards Rule]

I usually get a few raised eyebrows on my poll so I’m half expecting it this week.

Hello Mike296,

We have received your AGS Top 25 vote on 10/8/2023 1:0

Your vote is listed below.


1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: Furman Paladins
5: Sac State Hornets
6: Incarnate Word Cardinals
7: Western Carolina Catamounts
8: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
9: South Dakota Coyotes
10: Harvard Crimson
11: North Carolina Central Eagles
12: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
13: Holy Cross Crusaders
14: North Dakota State Bison
15: Albany Great Danes
16: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
17: Eastern Washington Eagles
18: Eastern Kentucky Colonels
19: Florida A&M Rattlers
20: Central Arkansas Bears
21: Austin Peay Governors
22: Youngstown State Penguins
23: Southern Illinois Salukis
24: William & Mary Tribe
25: Lafayette Leopards

Mike296

The Most Significant Win: Youngstown State Penguins
The Most Significant Loss: Chattanooga Mocs
Which Conference Does Your Team Play in?: Atlantic Sun Conference

Mike thanks so much for #25!! We appreciate it!

[Pards Rule]

Couple teams reaching program highs in the AGS Poll recently that I haven't called out:

Western Carolina: Set their first new high water mark last week at #9 and set it again this week at #7
North Carolina Central: They've set new highs each of last 3 weeks at #17 in week 4, #15 last week, and #13 this week

You know I love seeing "new" teams in the polling and doing well

[POD Knows]

Still a lot of voters think NDSU us better than USD. Not what I saw at the game. There have been fluke Bison losses in the past, due to turnovers or injured QBs. This was a better team coming in and dominating.
This x1000. There is zero reason for ranking NDSU ahead of USD. They beat us handily in our own freaking building on homecoming. They were more physical which sort of surprised me but this is the least physical Bison team I have seen in the this run.

[Bisonator]

Come on now let's not act like USD bulldozed NDSU. I've seen teams beat NDSU at their own game but that's not what USD did. NDSU outgained them on the ground and overall and had a 10 minute TOP advantage. USD won the explosive plays on both sides (forcing their own and preventing the Bison from getting them) - that was the main difference.

Winning in the Fargodome isn't easy though so I do agree though that USD should be ranked in front of NDSU right now. I'd love to see a rematch.
This. USD had a couple big plays offensively and NDSU had some stupid penalties. Outside of that NDSU controlled the game IMO. Credit USD for making the plays they needed to win the game.

[MSUBobcat]

dang, you and your anti UIW campaign! They can only beat who is on the schedule. Until they lose to fcs, Im ranking them high.

Mt st aint exactly been having to run thru a juggernaut of a schedule so far. 1 tuff game and ya lost it. Stetson? UtahDixieStPoly? rapidly crashing Webernators? Portlandia? And the “style points “ you speak of ? I dunno..is giving up 20 points to stetson and the others stylish?


Let he who is without crap on the schedule cast the first stone

You didn't answer the question. Without using "because last year" as a reason, what are you seeing that says they are a top 8 team? So far they have lost to a bad UTEP team, thumped a cellar-dweller Big Sky team, and edged 2 mediocre teams (Massey #44 and #67, respectively) by one score. The "style points" is beating the **** out of inferior opponents, like a top 10 team should. So far only one game has gone the way I would expect for a top 8 - the whooping of NoCo. A top 8 team should not lose to UTEP; they should beat their ass like Idaho did to Nevada (Massey has Nevada 1 spot above UTEP). Last year's UIW team WAS beating the **** out of bad opponents, showing they were deserving of a seed. This year's team has been very underwhelming.

MSU has nothing to do with why UIW is, IMO, overrated. But lets take a look. Utah Tech is looking better than the blowouts at the start of the year portrayed them, beating NAU on the road and SFA (was RV and #39 in the AGS poll prior to UTU beating them), and MSU blew them out. Next was defending FCS champ and unanimous #1 SDSU... MSU let it slip through their fingers with continuous false starts in the red zone. Stetson is terrible, so the Bobcats thumped them. Weber is falling, no doubt, but they are STILL RV and #31 in AGS even after the NAU loss, and the Bobcats crushed them 40-0 in their own house. Weber is probably better than anyone UIW will face this year, except maybe UTEP who they lost to by 2 TD. Portland State is mediocre team (Massey has them 1 spot above ACU, which is UIW's best win) and we beat them by 16 and took 2 knees from their 6 yard line. We also have the AGS #5 Sac State, #3 Idaho (both on the road), RV NAU, #24 EWU and #19 UM in Wa-Griz Stadium as remaining games (along with cupcake Cal Poly). Even with the 2 OOC cupcakes, Montana State's SOS is light years from UIW's. These schedules are nowhere near each other, neither to date nor in total.

[ElCid]

You didn't answer the question. Without using "because last year" as a reason, what are you seeing that says they are a top 8 team? So far they have lost to a bad UTEP team, thumped a cellar-dweller Big Sky team, and edged 2 mediocre teams (Massey #44 and #67, respectively) by one score. The "style points" is beating the **** out of inferior opponents, like a top 10 team should. So far only one game has gone the way I would expect for a top 8 - the whooping of NoCo. A top 8 team should not lose to UTEP; they should beat their ass like Idaho did to Nevada (Massey has Nevada 1 spot above UTEP). Last year's UIW team WAS beating the **** out of bad opponents, showing they were deserving of a seed. This year's team has been very underwhelming.

MSU has nothing to do with why UIW is, IMO, overrated. But lets take a look. Utah Tech is looking better than the blowouts at the start of the year portrayed them, beating NAU on the road and SFA (was RV and #39 in the AGS poll prior to UTU beating them), and MSU blew them out. Next was defending FCS champ and unanimous #1 SDSU... MSU let it slip through their fingers with continuous false starts in the red zone. Stetson is terrible, so the Bobcats thumped them. Weber is falling, no doubt, but they are STILL RV and #31 in AGS even after the NAU loss, and the Bobcats crushed them 40-0 in their own house. Weber is probably better than anyone UIW will face this year, except maybe UTEP who they lost to by 2 TD. Portland State is mediocre team (Massey has them 1 spot above ACU, which is UIW's best win) and we beat them by 16 and took 2 knees from their 6 yard line. We also have the AGS #5 Sac State, #3 Idaho (both on the road), RV NAU, #24 EWU and #19 UM in Wa-Griz Stadium as remaining games (along with cupcake Cal Poly). Even with the 2 OOC cupcakes, Montana State's SOS is light years from UIW's. These schedules are nowhere near each other, neither to date nor in total.

And it isn't going to get any easier evaluating UIW. Their schedule is pitiful. Per Massey, #73 schedule right now. Predicted to be #85 at end of season. Lots of teams play to their competition. It's unfortunate when good teams do so. If they end up 10-1, which is highly likely, they will get a top 8 seed and it won't be until then that a good evaluation can be made. If they stumble, a 9-2 UIW probably won't get a seed due to their very weak schedule.

[Professor Chaos]

And it isn't going to get any easier evaluating UIW. Their schedule is pitiful. Per Massey, #73 schedule right now. Predicted to be #85 at end of season. Lots of teams play to their competition. It's unfortunate when good teams do so. If they end up 10-1, which is highly likely, they will get a top 8 seed and it won't be until then that a good evaluation can be made. If they stumble, a 9-2 UIW probably won't get a seed due to their very weak schedule.
I'd practically guarantee that a 9-2 UIW won't be seeded. The SLC is historically bad this year - outside of UIW the conference has 0 D1 wins outside the SLC. They've only got 2 more chances left with HCU hosting PV A&M this week and Nicholls hosting SEMO in a few weeks. So any loss UIW would potentially take will look like a bad loss by season's end and their only chance for a decent win is if Abilene Christian can make waves in the UAC (which isn't looking promising so far).

It's not outside the realm of possibility that a 10-1 UIW ends up unseeded IMO but their run to the semifinals last year probably gives them a nudge that would keep them in the seeds if they go undefeated against FCS competition when any other SLC team in the similar situation wouldn't get that benefit of the doubt.

[MSUBobcat]

I'd practically guarantee that a 9-2 UIW won't be seeded. The SLC is historically bad this year - outside of UIW the conference has 0 D1 wins outside the SLC. They've only got 2 more chances left with HCU hosting PV A&M this week and Nicholls hosting SEMO in a few weeks. So any loss UIW would potentially take will look like a bad loss by season's end and their only chance for a decent win is if Abilene Christian can make waves in the UAC (which isn't looking promising so far).

It's not outside the realm of possibility that a 10-1 UIW ends up unseeded IMO but their run to the semifinals last year probably gives them a nudge that would keep them in the seeds if they go undefeated against FCS competition when any other SLC team in the similar situation wouldn't get that benefit of the doubt.

But why? According to the "Returning Production" (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_-EesqhYj7aFV_DaS92Qeq93odL4L4o2O5xpBFjZbKk/edit#gid=1958495797) spreadsheet put together by MikeyLoBets earlier this year, they bring back almost nothing from last year's team (22.26% of offensive production, 26.34% of defensive production). This is a completely different team from 2022 and I believe that explains why the team that dump trucked the inferior opponents last year is struggling to pull away from the middling teams this year. There's turnover every year in college athletics, but returning less than 25% of your team from the previous year is incredibly low.

[crusader11]

I'd practically guarantee that a 9-2 UIW won't be seeded. The SLC is historically bad this year - outside of UIW the conference has 0 D1 wins outside the SLC. They've only got 2 more chances left with HCU hosting PV A&M this week and Nicholls hosting SEMO in a few weeks. So any loss UIW would potentially take will look like a bad loss by season's end and their only chance for a decent win is if Abilene Christian can make waves in the UAC (which isn't looking promising so far).

It's not outside the realm of possibility that a 10-1 UIW ends up unseeded IMO but their run to the semifinals last year probably gives them a nudge that would keep them in the seeds if they go undefeated against FCS competition when any other SLC team in the similar situation wouldn't get that benefit of the doubt.

Are we sure that 9-2 UIW (assuming they don't win the Southland) gets an at-large? Their signature win would be Abilene Christian, who may or may not be a sub .500 team.

I could see UIW losing on the road to either Lamar or Houston Christian.

[Gil Dobie]

Come on now let's not act like USD bulldozed NDSU. I've seen teams beat NDSU at their own game but that's not what USD did. NDSU outgained them on the ground and overall and had a 10 minute TOP advantage. USD won the explosive plays on both sides (forcing their own and preventing the Bison from getting them) - that was the main difference.

Winning in the Fargodome isn't easy though so I do agree though that USD should be ranked in front of NDSU right now. I'd love to see a rematch.

USD took it to the Bison in the first half, and basically coasted to the win in the second half. The Bisonesque drive at the end sealed the game for the Yotes. The second half stats make it look better for the Bison. USD Punted, 8 minute drive for the FG, and ran out the last 36 seconds in the 2nd half. First 2 drives in the game for USD, prior to the INT, were 75 and 78 yard TD's, and 54 yards after the INT. Their last scoring drive was an 8 min drive for the final FG, to go up by 11.

[TheKingpin28]

I had NAU at 24 and I believe that if they had a more "recognized name" they'd get a few more votes. For reference, I had EWU at 21.

Sent from my SM-A546U1 using Tapatalk

[ElCid]

I had NAU at 24 and I believe that if they had a more "recognized name" they'd get a few more votes. For reference, I had EWU at 21.

Sent from my SM-A546U1 using Tapatalk

I think they'd get more votes if they weren't 2-4. After 6 games, my bottom limit is 3-3. And it better make sense schedule wise. Sure, every schedule is different, but the L from Utah Tech is a mill stone around their neck currently. For reference, I don't have E Wash in at all yet.

[Puddin Tane]

You didn't answer the question. Without using "because last year" as a reason, what are you seeing that says they are a top 8 team? So far they have lost to a bad UTEP team, thumped a cellar-dweller Big Sky team, and edged 2 mediocre teams (Massey #44 and #67, respectively) by one score. The "style points" is beating the **** out of inferior opponents, like a top 10 team should. So far only one game has gone the way I would expect for a top 8 - the whooping of NoCo. A top 8 team should not lose to UTEP; they should beat their ass like Idaho did to Nevada (Massey has Nevada 1 spot above UTEP). Last year's UIW team WAS beating the **** out of bad opponents, showing they were deserving of a seed. This year's team has been very underwhelming.

MSU has nothing to do with why UIW is, IMO, overrated. But lets take a look. Utah Tech is looking better than the blowouts at the start of the year portrayed them, beating NAU on the road and SFA (was RV and #39 in the AGS poll prior to UTU beating them), and MSU blew them out. Next was defending FCS champ and unanimous #1 SDSU... MSU let it slip through their fingers with continuous false starts in the red zone. Stetson is terrible, so the Bobcats thumped them. Weber is falling, no doubt, but they are STILL RV and #31 in AGS even after the NAU loss, and the Bobcats crushed them 40-0 in their own house. Weber is probably better than anyone UIW will face this year, except maybe UTEP who they lost to by 2 TD. Portland State is mediocre team (Massey has them 1 spot above ACU, which is UIW's best win) and we beat them by 16 and took 2 knees from their 6 yard line. We also have the AGS #5 Sac State, #3 Idaho (both on the road), RV NAU, #24 EWU and #19 UM in Wa-Griz Stadium as remaining games (along with cupcake Cal Poly). Even with the 2 OOC cupcakes, Montana State's SOS is light years from UIW's. These schedules are nowhere near each other, neither to date nor in total.

i dont know how good Uiw is. I also have no idea if mt st is any good. Hell, maybe they are both overated? Got no clue on Sdsu either! Going off history and recent success.

I will say, ive seen Idaho against a team with no pass rush, (and a new coach’s first game and about 22 new starters) and SD against same team with no run defense. Was more impressed with Idaho.

the webinators travel to setex next year

Maybe its Stetsons year? Who really knows didly squat right now?

Did the nuns smack your knuckles with a ruler when you were young? Trying to figure out the uiw hate…

[dbackjon]

I think they'd get more votes if they weren't 2-4. After 6 games, my bottom limit is 3-3. And it better make sense schedule wise. Sure, every schedule is different, but the L from Utah Tech is a mill stone around their neck currently. For reference, I don't have E Wash in at all yet.

No argument here - NAU needs to win the next two to sniff the rankings.

That being said, NAU deserves votes more than EWU :)

[MSUBobcat]

i dont know how good Uiw is. I also have no idea if mt st is any good. Hell, maybe they are both overated? Got no clue on Sdsu either! Going off history and recent success.

I will say, ive seen Idaho against a team with no pass rush, (and a new coach’s first game and about 22 new starters) and SD against same team with no run defense. Was more impressed with Idaho.

the webinators travel to setex next year

Maybe its Stetsons year? Who really knows didly squat right now?

Did the nuns smack your knuckles with a ruler when you were young? Trying to figure out the uiw hate…

We're half way through the season. We should be able to start seeing the cream rise to the top. Also, when you're "going off history and recent success", you would assume that many of the key components for that historical success are part of the current team. With SDSU, they returned a *****load. Montana State and Idaho returned over 80% of their offensive production, but less so of their defensive production. UIW returned next to none of their production, so IMO they shouldn't get as much of the "they were good last year so they're probably good this year" boost.

I definitely didn't go to a school emphasizing the teachings of a cloud monster and I have nothing against UIW. They were a fun team to watch last year. But looking at the results of the games THIS YEAR, I'm not impressed. I've also expressed my thoughts on W&M being overrated. It's not because of their ties to the British monarchy. xrolleyesx

[MSUBobcat]

No argument here - NAU needs to win the next two to sniff the rankings.

That being said, NAU deserves votes more than EWU :)

Dropping that UTU game is going to haunt NAU. I can see them possibly going 4-1 to end the year, only to finish 6-5 due to that snafu. They really need to run the table for a playoff berth and going to Bozeman is a pretty tall order.

[dbackjon]

Dropping that UTU game is going to haunt NAU. I can see them possibly going 4-1 to end the year, only to finish 6-5 due to that snafu. They really need to run the table for a playoff berth and going to Bozeman is a pretty tall order.


Yup - that could be a killer.

If, and big if, we go 4-1 to end the season, we have an outside shot, since all 6 wins will be FCS full schollie, and we can point to the change in QB as a primary driver in the push.

But NAU will need a lot of help.

[Mike296]

Mike thanks so much for #25!! We appreciate it!

I had like 5 teams I could have put there but in the end decided to go with Lafayette.

[MSUBobcat]

Yup - that could be a killer.

If, and big if, we go 4-1 to end the season, we have an outside shot, since all 6 wins will be FCS full schollie, and we can point to the change in QB as a primary driver in the push.

But NAU will need a lot of help.

Going 6-2 over your last 8 with both losses being to (probable) playoff teams, one of which was a 1pt road game, they'll have a shot for a berth at 6-5 depending on how things shake out. UND upsetting NDSU and Tech stringing together some wins would go a long way in helping your cause.

[ElCid]

No argument here - NAU needs to win the next two to sniff the rankings.

That being said, NAU deserves votes more than EWU :)

They are in my close watch list for sure. Their Ws are very good. And even the one close L. If they win their next two, obviously depending on the entire field, they will probably sneak in my poll. The weird thing I always have to look at is their overwhelming home advantage. You guys play way better at home usually.

[dbackjon]

They are in my close watch list for sure. Their Ws are very good. And even the one close L. If they win their next two, obviously depending on the entire field, they will probably sneak in my poll. The weird thing I always have to look at is their overwhelming home advantage. You guys play way better at home usually.


This year has been weird - lost to Utah Tech at home, did beat Montana at home.

Lost to Sac St by one and beat Weber on the road.

Next two are at home

[ElCid]

This year has been weird - lost to Utah Tech at home, did beat Montana at home.

Lost to Sac St by one and beat Weber on the road.

Next two are at home

I would expect you to smoke both, at home. I get the feeling you underestimated Utah Tech as a home opener. It happens. Unfortunately I don't see a 6-5 getting in. Gotta beat MSU.

[Puddin Tane]

We're half way through the season. We should be able to start seeing the cream rise to the top. Also, when you're "going off history and recent success", you would assume that many of the key components for that historical success are part of the current team. With SDSU, they returned a *****load. Montana State and Idaho returned over 80% of their offensive production, but less so of their defensive production. UIW returned next to none of their production, so IMO they shouldn't get as much of the "they were good last year so they're probably good this year" boost.

I definitely didn't go to a school emphasizing the teachings of a cloud monster and I have nothing against UIW. They were a fun team to watch last year. But looking at the results of the games THIS YEAR, I'm not impressed. I've also expressed my thoughts on W&M being overrated. It's not because of their ties to the British monarchy. xrolleyesx

UIW brings in a whole bunch of supposed studs. They have around 25-30 FBS Transfers, (yes, not a guarantee that they are good), they arent young, they start 15 grad students. They are the new Sam houston when it comes to recruiting.

[dbackjon]

I would expect you to smoke both, at home. I get the feeling you underestimated Utah Tech as a home opener. It happens. Unfortunately I don't see a 6-5 getting in. Gotta beat MSU.

We changed Quarterbacks mid game against Utah Tech - we mounted a comeback, but too little, too late.

[MSUBobcat]

UIW brings in a whole bunch of supposed studs. They have around 25-30 FBS Transfers, (yes, not a guarantee that they are good), they arent young, they start 15 grad students. They are the new Sam houston when it comes to recruiting.

Soooo... when do the "supposed studs" with all this maturity and experience show themselves? Cuz losing to UTEP by 2 TD and a 1 TD home win over 0-6 SELA ain't it.

[Chalupa Batman]

i dont know how good Uiw is. I also have no idea if mt st is any good. Hell, maybe they are both overated? Got no clue on Sdsu either! Going off history and recent success.

I will say, ive seen Idaho against a team with no pass rush, (and a new coach’s first game and about 22 new starters) and SD against same team with no run defense. Was more impressed with Idaho.

the webinators travel to setex next year

Maybe its Stetsons year? Who really knows didly squat right now?

Did the nuns smack your knuckles with a ruler when you were young? Trying to figure out the uiw hate…

Who has thought that South Dakota is more impressive than Idaho?

[TheKingpin28]

I think they'd get more votes if they weren't 2-4. After 6 games, my bottom limit is 3-3. And it better make sense schedule wise. Sure, every schedule is different, but the L from Utah Tech is a mill stone around their neck currently. For reference, I don't have E Wash in at all yet.I just find it hard to rank EWU and then leave NAU off the list. If they lose their next game, they are gone, but if they win their next game, you'd be hard pressed to leave them off, especially if Montana beats Idaho and/or Weber St beats UCD.

Sent from my SM-A546U1 using Tapatalk

[Redbird 4th & short]

General observation ... this back and forth is what makes the AGS poll the best subjective poll bar none. Between this and computer polls for things like relative SOS, this is the way to do a poll .. using a forum to challenge/explain rankings in a very transparent way. By week 8 and beyond, it's inevitably starts to get closer and closer to something far more reasonable than anything else out there. Well done to this board admin and all the voters.

[caribbeanhen]

Who has thought that South Dakota is more impressive than Idaho?

Corn Palace vs Potato Palace

[crusader11]

The Utah Tech loss just sticks out like the sorest of thumbs. The only reason why I couldn't rank NAU above EWU.

Plus, EWU's 34-31 loss to Fresno looks pretty good with Fresno being a fringe top 25 team. NAU was housed by Arizona.

[NY Crusader 2010]

I almost did a poll since it was a holiday weekend but ended up having to work Monday.

I would have had both Harvard and Albany ahead of Holy Cross FWIW.

[dbackjon]

The Utah Tech loss just sticks out like the sorest of thumbs. The only reason why I couldn't rank NAU above EWU.

Plus, EWU's 34-31 loss to Fresno looks pretty good with Fresno being a fringe top 25 team. NAU was housed by Arizona.

In defense of NAU:

Wins - over ranked Montana, and ranked (in some polls) Weber
EWU has a win over ranked (in some polls) UC-Davis and winless SELA

The Weber and UC Davis wins are equal, but the Montana win >>>> SELA win.



But I wouldn't rank either, yet.

[crusader11]

In defense of NAU:

Wins - over ranked Montana, and ranked (in some polls) Weber
EWU has a win over ranked (in some polls) UC-Davis and winless SELA

The Weber and UC Davis wins are equal, but the Montana win >>>> SELA win.



But I wouldn't rank either, yet.

Good points.

We can evaluate losses, too, right?

EWU three point OT loss to Fresno > NAU 35 point loss to Arizona

EWU eight point loss to Idaho > NAU 14 point loss to Utah Tech (in a game that's closer than it looked...was 50-15 midway through the 4th).

All that adds up to EWU being ahead of NAU, IMO.

[dbackjon]

Good points.

We can evaluate losses, too, right?

EWU three point OT loss to Fresno > NAU 35 point loss to Arizona

EWU eight point loss to Idaho > NAU 14 point loss to Utah Tech (in a game that's closer than it looked...was 50-15 midway through the 4th).

All that adds up to EWU being ahead of NAU, IMO.

And a 1 point loss to #4 Sac State ;)

[Preferred Walk-On]

You know we have a pretty decent poll when the discussion basically funnels itself down to how to rank teams 23-25 and where Incarnate Word should be. Nice job, everybody! xdrunkyx

[clenz]

Hold up - I don't give a **** what name is on the uniform

Why is there any discussion about ranking a team 2-4 half way through the season?

On top of that, a team that lost to Utah Tech. A team that is 2-4 this year and was 2-7 against full D1 programs last year - 3-7 if you count Tarleton State who was still a D2 transition IIRC. A team that went 0-9 in 2021 against FCS teams - 0-10 if you want to count D2 transition Tarleton State.

Ranked based on the fact that Montana is "ranked" when everyone agrees they are insanely over ranked/valued based largely on the name on the uniform giving them every benefit of the doubt and a win over Weber State who is 2-3 against D1 teams this year including a 40 point shut out loss to Montana State, a 1 score win against UNC, and then the loss to otherwise 1 win NAU.

I...what?

[dbackjon]

Hold up - I don't give a **** what name is on the uniform

Why is there any discussion about ranking a team 2-4 half way through the season?

On top of that, a team that lost to Utah Tech. A team that is 2-4 this year and was 2-7 against full D1 programs last year - 3-7 if you count Tarleton State who was still a D2 transition IIRC. A team that went 0-9 in 2021 against FCS teams - 0-10 if you want to count D2 transition Tarleton State.

Ranked based on the fact that Montana is "ranked" when everyone agrees they are insanely over ranked/valued based largely on the name on the uniform giving them every benefit of the doubt and a win over Weber State who is 2-3 against D1 teams this year including a 40 point shut out loss to Montana State, a 1 score win against UNC, and then the loss to otherwise 1 win NAU.

I...what?

We have a 2-3 team ranked, so why not?

I clearly stated I didn't think NAU SHOULD be rated, but they were more deserving than EWU, and the conversation spun from there.


And since there doesn't seem to be much other discussion on the poll, why not?

[caribbeanhen]

Northern Arizona should not be ranked at this juncture

next

[clenz]

We have a 2-3 team ranked, so why not?

I clearly stated I didn't think NAU SHOULD be rated, but they were more deserving than EWU, and the conversation spun from there.


And since there doesn't seem to be much other discussion on the poll, why not?

UNI is 3-2 with a win over YSU. Might as well try to justify them somehow


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mvemjsunpx]

NAU, Davis, Weber, Montana… none of those teams should be ranked right now IMO.

Montana has the best case of those four, but their 5-1 resume isn't any better than, say, Lafayette's.

[POD Knows]

NAU, Davis, Weber, Montana… none of those teams should be ranked right now IMO.

Montana has the best case of those four, but their 5-1 resume isn't any better than, say, Lafayette's.
Montana would beat Lafayette by 40.

[SeattleCat]

NAU, Davis, Weber, Montana… none of those teams should be ranked right now IMO.

Montana has the best case of those four, but their 5-1 resume isn't any better than, say, Lafayette's.

I think NAU is close, I had UM at 25 in my poll. NAU has the head to head, but its was at home, had it been in missoula the griz would never sniff the 25 again this year. I have the griz ahead of NAU due to their record and possibly are figuring out some offense, it looks like their finally sticking with the QB i thought they should have from the first game.

[mvemjsunpx]

Montana would beat Lafayette by 40.

Having watched all of UM's games this season, I find that very hard to believe. I mean, the Griz only beat Butler by 15, Idaho State by 8, and Ferris State by 7 (all at home).

[POD Knows]

Having watched all of UM's games this season, I find that very hard to believe. I mean, the Griz only beat Butler by 15, Idaho State by 8, and Ferris State by 7 (all at home).
Dude, it is Lafayette, they didn't all of the sudden get good. Yea, they are 5-1 and struggled to win some of those games against really low hanging fruit. If big, bad Montana of the BSC cannot roll them then you have to take a hard look at what the hell is really going on.

[NY Crusader 2010]

Montana would beat Lafayette by 40.

Wrong. I don't think they're Top 25 material just yet but Lafayette is legit this year. We're lucky to be playing them at home 10 days from now. If the game were in Easton, I'd have the Leopards as very slight favorites personally.

[POD Knows]

Wrong. I don't think they're Top 25 material just yet but Lafayette is legit this year. We're lucky to be playing them at home 10 days from now. If the game were in Easton, I'd have the Leopards as very slight favorites personally.
They were 4-7 last year and 3-3 in the Patriot. Did they get a bunch of transfers in or something. This is a serious question.

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

They were 4-7 last year and 3-3 in the Patriot. Did they get a bunch of transfers in or something. This is a serious question.

They hired a proven head coach who happens to be an alum. John Troxell is the real deal and Lafayette is likely heading back to their 2000's self....

[ElCid]

Montana would beat Lafayette by 40.

Not sure. Maybe. But Massey has it at a 17 point win in Easton, and since in most of Montana's games they have come up short on points by an average of almost 7 points, might not be a slam dunk. Sure it's just the computer, but on average ...... probably not 40.

[mvemjsunpx]

Not sure. Maybe. But Massey has it at a 17 point win in Easton, and since in most of Montana's games they have come up short on points by an average of almost 7 points, might not be a slam dunk. Sure it's just the computer, but on average ...... probably not 40.

Massey also has Montana as the #7 team in FCS, so even that 17-point margin seems a bit inflated.

[caribbeanhen]

Having watched all of UM's games this season, I find that very hard to believe. I mean, the Griz only beat Butler by 15, Idaho State by 8, and Ferris State by 7 (all at home).

and Butler would get rolled by Lafayette

Not buying Montana beating them by 40 at all

[kdinva]

1: South Dakota State Jackrabbits
2: Montana State Bobcats
3: Idaho Vandals
4: North Dakota State Bison
5: Furman Paladins
6: Sac State Hornets
7: Western Carolina Catamounts
8: Incarnate Word Cardinals
9: Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
10: Holy Cross Crusaders
11: Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks
12: South Dakota Coyotes
13: North Dakota Fighting Hawks
14: William & Mary Tribe
15: Southern Illinois Salukis
16: North Carolina Central Eagles
17: Albany Great Danes
18: Villanova Wildcats
19: Chattanooga Mocs
20: Harvard Crimson
21: Montana Grizzlies
22: Florida A&M Rattlers
23: Rhode Island Rams
24: Weber State Wildcats
25: Youngstown State Penguins


The Most Significant Win: Western Carolina Catamounts
The Most Significant Loss: Weber State Wildcats

[POD Knows]

and Butler would get rolled by Lafayette

Not buying Montana beating them by 40 at allOK, I will amend the 40 point deal because I don't know if Montana's offense can score 40 but it would be a 3 touchdown game. I am not buying into any freaking hype on Lafayette, this happens all the time on here, some team that has wandered through the wilderness forever suddenly catches a little spark and the folks that long for the old days think that team is the second coming or something. Lafayette may be a decent team in the Patriot but that doesn't mean they are positioned well against the rest of the country. I am now fairly interested in the HC Lafayette game, we will see how that shakes out.

[UAalum72]

Massey also has Montana as the #7 team in FCS, so even that 17-point margin seems a bit inflated.
Not everyone likes Jeff Sagarin's ratings, especially for FCS, but his various methods favor Montana over Lafayette by from seven to ten points
http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

[Preferred Walk-On]

Not everyone likes Jeff Sagarin's ratings, especially for FCS, but his various methods favor Montana over Lafayette by from seven to ten points
http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

Looking forward to these two non-seeded teams duking it out in Missoula on Thanksgiving weekend. ;)

[crusader11]

OK, I will amend the 40 point deal because I don't know if Montana's offense can score 40 but it would be a 3 touchdown game. I am not buying into any freaking hype on Lafayette, this happens all the time on here, some team that has wandered through the wilderness forever suddenly catches a little spark and the folks that long for the old days think that team is the second coming or something. Lafayette may be a decent team in the Patriot but that doesn't mean they are positioned well against the rest of the country. I am now fairly interested in the HC Lafayette game, we will see how that shakes out.

How do you explain Montana's 15 point win against always-tough Butler (a game in which they were losing late in the 3rd quarter)?

Or their eight point win against 1-4 Idaho State at home?

Or their touchdown victory over Ferris State (yes, I know they are a very good D2 team)?

I think you might be falling into the trap with Lafayette that you are with Montana. You're get clouded by the fact Montana IS Montana (traditionally, one of the top FCS teams year in and year out), and Lafayette is a little Patriot League who's been dog ***** for the past 15 years.

On a neutral field, I'd guess Montana would be 5-8 point favorites.

[caribbeanhen]

OK, I will amend the 40 point deal because I don't know if Montana's offense can score 40 but it would be a 3 touchdown game. I am not buying into any freaking hype on Lafayette, this happens all the time on here, some team that has wandered through the wilderness forever suddenly catches a little spark and the folks that long for the old days think that team is the second coming or something. Lafayette may be a decent team in the Patriot but that doesn't mean they are positioned well against the rest of the country. I am now fairly interested in the HC Lafayette game, we will see how that shakes out.

ok some truth here and definitely funny
I had Lafayette 26

can you here them knocking

[Go Lehigh TU Owl]

How do you explain Montana's 15 point win against always-tough Butler (a game in which they were losing late in the 3rd quarter)?

Or their eight point win against 1-4 Idaho State at home?

Or their touchdown victory over Ferris State (yes, I know they are a very good D2 team)?

I think you might be falling into the trap with Lafayette that you are with Montana. You're get clouded by the fact Montana IS Montana (traditionally, one of the top FCS teams year in and year out), and Lafayette is a little Patriot League who's been dog ***** for the past 15 years.

On a neutral field, I'd guess Montana would be 5-8 point favorites.

Well said! Rep points for you!

[POD Knows]

How do you explain Montana's 15 point win against always-tough Butler (a game in which they were losing late in the 3rd quarter)?

Or their eight point win against 1-4 Idaho State at home?

Or their touchdown victory over Ferris State (yes, I know they are a very good D2 team)?

I think you might be falling into the trap with Lafayette that you are with Montana. You're get clouded by the fact Montana IS Montana (traditionally, one of the top FCS teams year in and year out), and Lafayette is a little Patriot League who's been dog ***** for the past 15 years.

On a neutral field, I'd guess Montana would be 5-8 point favorites.
Montana just beat a pretty good Davis team in Davis, and it seems like Montana has settled on a QB and they look better now than they did early in the year. My prediction on the game would be a home game for Montana as I cannot ever see them playing Lafayette away. I am going to admit that I have a pretty negative bias against NE FCS schools at this point in time. And I am particularly biased at some team that has done nothing for as long as I can remember somehow, suddenly, being relevant. I understand that we are living in the bizarro world right now and I need to change my thinking maybe

[POD Knows]

ok some truth here and definitely funny
I had Lafayette 26

can you here them knockingI have them in my top 35, and when they lose big to HC and I will drop them out for the remained of the year.

[wcugrad95]

Not a direct comparison given some of the wins WCU has this year, but both teams are 5-1. WCU is getting a lot of love and we have had a history of "not good" and have been irrelevant for years now.

And funny the mention of scheduling came up. WCU plays at Montana next season in what was supposed to be a home-and-home. But Montana had already backed out of the return trip in 2025. They did that before Western showed the kind of life we have last year and this season, so not insinuating anything there. But it still felt a little bait-and-switchy that the Griz get the home game and Western probably got some small buyout to then have to figure out a future replacement.

[POD Knows]

Not a direct comparison given some of the wins WCU has this year, but both teams are 5-1. WCU is getting a lot of love and we have had a history of "not good" and have been irrelevant for years now.

And funny the mention of scheduling came up. WCU plays at Montana next season in what was supposed to be a home-and-home. But Montana had already backed out of the return trip in 2025. They did that before Western showed the kind of life we have last year and this season, so not insinuating anything there. But it still felt a little bait-and-switchy that the Griz get the home game and Western probably got some small buyout to then have to figure out a future replacement.You are in a better conference than the Patriot, that counts for a lot actually. I do think you guys are a little overhyped but you have 2 or 3 quality wins, Lafayette has none.

[Chalupa Batman]

Montana just beat a pretty good Davis team in Davis, and it seems like Montana has settled on a QB and they look better now than they did early in the year. My prediction on the game would be a home game for Montana as I cannot ever see them playing Lafayette away. I am going to admit that I have a pretty negative bias against NE FCS schools at this point in time. And I am particularly biased at some team that has done nothing for as long as I can remember somehow, suddenly, being relevant. I understand that we are living in the bizarro world right now and I need to change my thinking maybe

I'm sure a lot of people felt the same way about Holy Cross 4 or 5 years ago, now the Crusaders are one of the top teams in the country the last 2 years and there's only a small handful of teams they have no realistic expectation of beating (unless they got a ton of breaks). Don't know that the Leopards are going to end up being as good as Holy Cross, but wouldn't be surprised to see them at the level Fordham was last year.

[KPSUL]

I have them in my top 35, and when they lose big to HC and I will drop them out for the remained of the year.

I get being slow to jump on the Lafayette band wagon, they do have more to prove before I'd say they are a solid top 25 team. But I wouldn't say they've beaten no one. With wins over Monmouth and Princeton they've shown some potential.
Playing Lafayette @ Fisher Stadium should not be beneath Montana or any other FCS team. It is a very nice venue with a capacity of over 13,000. I think the NCAA should take steps to prevent the scheduling of money games where a mediocre, or worse, FCS team takes a one way trip to another FCS school that wants to buy an easy Div 1 win. We've got enough FCS @ FBS games that are like that already.

[crusader11]

I have them in my top 35, and when they lose big to HC and I will drop them out for the remained of the year.

Damn, so the 20ish ranked team is beating the 35ish team by 40?

[Sader87]

This thread needs Bogey Megapardaus' presence xdrunkyx

[POD Knows]

Damn, so the 20ish ranked team is beating the 35ish team by 40?I changed my position, it is a 3 td win at Missoula. I don't get the allure of Lafayette.

[POD Knows]

I get being slow to jump on the Lafayette band wagon, they do have more to prove before I'd say they are a solid top 25 team. But I wouldn't say they've beaten no one. With wins over Monmouth and Princeton they've shown some potential.
Playing Lafayette @ Fisher Stadium should not be beneath Montana or any other FCS team. It is a very nice venue with a capacity of over 13,000. I think the NCAA should take steps to prevent the scheduling of money games where a mediocre, or worse, FCS team takes a one way trip to another FCS school that wants to buy an easy Div 1 win. We've got enough FCS @ FBS games that are like that already.
That comment about Montana playing an away game at Lafayette was more of a dig at Montana than at the Pards. xnodx Princeton and Monmouth, I wouldn't call those quality wins. xlolx

[KPSUL]

That comment about Montana playing an away game at Lafayette was more of a dig at Montana than at the Pards. xnodx Princeton and Monmouth, I wouldn't call those quality wins. xlolx

"Quality" is highly subjective and I didn't use the word. If I thought they had 2 truly quality wins, being 5-1, I'd have them ranked. But Lafayette has a better 2023 OOC schedule than most FCS teams are playing. Princeton has been in the hunt for the Ivy title every season for a long time, to include when this game was scheduled. Monmouth has been a playoff team a couple of times over the past 5 seasons and they still have the leading FCS RB in yardage from last season. The Pards played a very good Duke team and I don't see any Div 2 opponents on their schedule.

[crusader11]

This Northern Arizona ranking business can finally stop. I never understood it.