LFN: Lambert Power Rankings, 10/11/2008

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://lehighfootballnation.blogspot.com/2008/10/lambert-power-rankings-10112008.html

Seven of the members of the Top 10 in the Lambert Power Rankings this week are members of the CAA, though Lafayette and/or Liberty have a golden opportinuty to move up the rankings with a win this weekend.

xthumbsupx

[Tribe4SF]

Not sure why you place Villanova where you do, but it draws your system into doubt. At this point they are clearly the #2 team.

[gophoenix]

What dictates teams for the Lambert Poll? If it is based on conference affiliation, then Liberty is South. If it is based on geographic location, then JMU, Richmond, W&M, Liberty and VMI are South. So.... what are the guidelines for the teams in it?

[Tribe4SF]

The Lambert technically includes teams from PA, NJ, NY, and New England, but also includes teams from MD, DE, and VA that play a significant portion of their schedule against teams from the Northeast. My guess is that Liberty is not part of the official poll this year, or they would surely be ahead of Sacred Heart.

[DFW HOYA]

The official Lambert ratings used to be schools within the ECAC, but that may not apply anymore.

[appfan2008]

of course the CAA will dominate those rankings against the patriot NEC and Ivy

[JMU DUUUKES]

Haha wow these are just silly. I bet JMU is also #1 in the FCS Virginia poll, haha. Oh wait no, Hampton will somehow probably still be 1

[Lehigh Football Nation]

What dictates teams for the Lambert Poll? If it is based on conference affiliation, then Liberty is South. If it is based on geographic location, then JMU, Richmond, W&M, Liberty and VMI are South. So.... what are the guidelines for the teams in it?

The Lambert Poll's criteria, broadly, are as follows:

* You're north of the Virginia/North Carolina border.
* You're east of the Pennsylvania/Maryland/Virginia border.
* You play more than 50% of your games versus teams from the East.

By these criteria, Liberty, VMI, and half the MEAC teams don't count for the official Lambert poll since they don't fit the third one.

I think, though, that if you include the Virginia teams then you ought to have them also represented. It's not their fault that they are in leagues that have a lot of Southern teams. That's why I include Liberty in my ratings. I also think it ludicrous that Delaware and JMU can win the Lambert Cup, but Delaware State cannot. That's not right.

Realistically, this only really affects Liberty. The MEAC teams thus far haven't beaten enough highly-ranked teams to force their way into the rankings.

This week, 'Nova I think was victimized by the fact that they had a bye week while UMass had a big win over N'Eastern. Do I think they are better than #5 in the east? Yes, and my votes in the various polls reflect that. But these rankings are based on a formula and this is what the formula dictates. Keep in mind that two of their wins were against 2-3 Lehigh and 2-2 Penn, both teams who haven't exactly torn up the LPR.

My rankings are a lot like Massey's - they are indicative of past performance and schedule strength, not future performance. If 'Nova wins, they will climb up the rankings fast, bank on it.