should a FCS team drop in a poll?

[grizzpaw]

after last years cal-poly "good loss" to a very avg. big ten team, and NOT drop in the poll xsmhx, should ANY FCS team drop in the poll after a FBS loss?

[smallcollegefbfan]

after last years cal-poly "good loss" to a very avg. big ten team, and NOT drop in the poll xsmhx, should ANY FCS team drop in the poll after a FBS loss?

95 percent of the time I say no they should not. Now, the exception to that rule would be if a top 2-4 FCS team faces one of the bottom 10-15 FBS teams and they get beat. If that happens I would drop them 1-3 spots, depending on what others did. If ASU loses to ECU or UCA loses to Hawaii, Weber St loses to Wyoming, etc. I won't drop those teams. I know this sounds funny but I expect Villanova to beat Temple but I won't drop Villanova unless they lose that game by a couple touchdowns or more.

[Ronbo]

That's odd because typically teams have dropped in the TSN and AGS poll most years. Montana for example dropped 2-3 spots after losses to both Iowa and Oregon which were top ten FBS teams at the time. I think Oregon went 10-2 the year we played them.

[grizzpaw]

ron, i think every team has dropped until cal-poly last year!

[smallcollegefbfan]

That's odd because typically teams have dropped in the TSN and AGS poll most years. Montana for example dropped 2-3 spots after losses to both Iowa and Oregon which were top ten FBS teams at the time. I think Oregon went 10-2 the year we played them.

I am one of the few voters who doesn't always drop a team for a FBS loss. Now, if #2 loses to an FBS and #3 defeats one then I would move #3 ahead of #2, depending on who the loss was to, but I would likely not move #4 up as well unless they beat a FBS team.

I would say 80 percent of the voters will drop any team for any loss. I look at where the game was played, who he loss was to, how bad, and if there were any major injuries that likely made it worse than it would have been. I am one of the few who does not always drop a team just because they lost. I just think that say Weber State loses to Wyoming that they should not be punished in the poll because they should lose to Wyoming anyway. Just like ASU should lose to ECU, UCA should lose to Hawaii, etc.

[BEAR]

If only 10% of FCS teams beat their FBS opponents, and most likely those are lower level FBS teams that get beat, then realisticly most FCS fans can expect an FBS loss. With this as a given, then FCS teams shouldn't expect a drop in the FCS polls IMO. If the polls are oranges to oranges, then you should see FCS vs. FCS. There are no FBS teams in the FCS polls so the FCS pollls should only be based on how the FCS teams have done vs. FCS teams. Pretty simple if its an FCS poll, not an FCS who played an FBS poll. xlolx

[TexasTerror]

It depends on the outcome of the game and the teams involved. If a team just gets shellacked by an awful FBS team and there's several FCS teams right behind them deserving of a move up, I'm going to drop them.

More times than not, a drop won't be drastic since it is an FBS, but I'm willing to drop a team in my two ballots (TSN, AGS) if the need arises...

[grizzpaw]

If only 10% of FCS teams beat their FBS opponents, and most likely those are lower level FBS teams that get beat, then realisticly most FCS fans can expect an FBS loss. With this as a given, then FCS teams shouldn't expect a drop in the FCS polls IMO. If the polls are oranges to oranges, then you should see FCS vs. FCS. There are no FBS teams in the FCS polls so the FCS pollls should only be based on how the FCS teams have done vs. FCS teams. Pretty simple if its an FCS poll, not an FCS who played an FBS poll. xlolx

d-1 football is d-1 football FBS or FCS

[appfan2008]

it totally depends on the teams involved... if our number one loses badly to the worst fbs team then they should drop!

[OhioHen]

Position in the poll depends on how each team performs. Wins are important. Some wins are worth more than other wins based on (perceived) quality of opponents. Some losses hurt less than others, again based on the (perceived) quality of the opponents.

Movement up or down from the pre-season poll (and to a lesser extent within the first few weeks of the season) happens because expectations (pre-season) and reality (on the field) don't always match.

[ur2k]

It depends on the situation (who did you play, how did you play) and what other teams did that week who may be able to jump your position.

If UR loses 56-3 against Duke, that would merit a demotion in my opinion. lose 21-20 and that may be a different story. Or if UR wins against Duke and App loses to ECU - App should go down and UR to 1.

There are too many different variables to come up with a blanket solution for this.

[BEAR]

d-1 football is d-1 football FBS or FCS

True. No one is arguing that. But how many FBS teams do you see in the FCS polls? I've seen FCS teams in the FBS rankings, but I can't recall an FBS team in the FCS top 25. There's a reason for that. xnodxxthumbsupx

[McNeese75]

it totally depends on the teams involved... if our number one loses badly to the worst fbs team then they should drop!

xrolleyesx
And the margin of victory xnodx

[McTailGator]

after last years cal-poly "good loss" to a very avg. big ten team, and NOT drop in the poll xsmhx, should ANY FCS team drop in the poll after a FBS loss?


ANY FCS that lets a SunBelt team beat it deserves to drop. Same with MOST (maybe not all) of the MAC.

[89Hen]

The other factor that hasn't been mentioned is the surrounding teams in the poll. If the teams immediately behind the losing team do something special that same week, the loser may drop. xpeacex

[EmeryZach]

I only drop a team after a loss against an FBS team only if I believe they performed so poorly that they deserve to be dropped. I have a 30 point rule. If the loss is by 30 or more I drop them, and if it is less than 30 They stay the same.

[GeauxColonels]

It depends on the outcome of the game and the teams involved. If a team just gets shellacked by an awful FBS team and there's several FCS teams right behind them deserving of a move up, I'm going to drop them.

More times than not, a drop won't be drastic since it is an FBS, but I'm willing to drop a team in my two ballots (TSN, AGS) if the need arises...
I think it also depends on what other teams ranked around the team in question do.

[GeauxColonels]

The other factor that hasn't been mentioned is the surrounding teams in the poll. If the teams immediately behind the losing team do something special that same week, the loser may drop. xpeacex
Doh, beat me to it. xthumbsupx

[JDC325]

after last years cal-poly "good loss" to a very avg. big ten team, and NOT drop in the poll xsmhx, should ANY FCS team drop in the poll after a FBS loss?

Depends on the FBS and how bad the loss was. For a ranked FCS team losing to Temple by 40 is a lot different to losing to Florida by 40.

[JSU02]

Unfortunately, I have a feeling JSU is gonna drop out of the polls after the first 2 games, despite them both being top 20 FBS teams (Georgia Tech & Florida State) :(

[Redbird Ray]

It depends on the outcome of the game and the teams involved. If a team just gets shellacked by an awful FBS team and there's several FCS teams right behind them deserving of a move up, I'm going to drop them.

More times than not, a drop won't be drastic since it is an FBS, but I'm willing to drop a team in my two ballots (TSN, AGS) if the need arises...

As said here, when it comes to FCS/FBS, I think common sense needs to prevail over raw stats. A FCS team that beats a D2 squad by 20 should not be rewarded the same as a FCS team that plays within a point of a top 10 FBS squad. On the other hand, a FCS team that loses by 40 to Utah State should be penalized more than a FCS team that loses by 1 to App St.