Is Jacksonville State the #1 FCS Team?

[WestCoastAggie]

Should Jax. State be Ranked #1 in the FCS Polls next week?
xchinscratchx

[theasushow]

xeyebrowx

[TokyoGriz]

No.

Come back in 3 weeks then lets see what there is to see.

[kardplayer]

When I was a voter, I would have put them #1 (assuming there are no bigger wins this week).

[superman7515]

Should Jax. State be the #1 Seed in the FCS Polls next week?
xchinscratchx

#1 Seed? I didn't even know the tournament was starting already.

[theasushow]

No.

Come back in 3 weeks then lets see what there is to see.

agreed, awesome win over a mediocre SEC team, but not awesome enough to jump like 18 places in the polls to number 1.

[WestCoastAggie]

#1 Seed? I didn't even know the tournament was starting already.

Correction, Ranked #1.

[TexasTerror]

How many people actually had them in their top 25?

They were No. 17 in the AGS Preseason Poll, so figure they were in some and out of others. I have a hard time believing they will be top five. Top 10 is more realistic.

[kardplayer]

agreed, awesome win over a mediocre SEC team, but not awesome enough to jump like 18 places in the polls to number 1.


They may not still be there in 3 weeks, but they'll have the best resume after week 1.

Mississippi was predicted to finish last in the SEC West though, so take that with a grain of salt.

[Big Dawg]

They should get a pretty decent jump in the polls, as anytime you beat an FBS squad(an SEC squad at that) you should receive quite a bit of respect.

[TTUEagles]

Yes. at least after only 1 week - they should get some votes at least recognize a huge win over an SEC school.....Tennessee Tech leads Arkansas 3 -0 midway throught the 1st, by the way!!!!!

[JSU02]

tHEY WILL BE MY NUMBER 1

[SaintDK10]

I'm sorry, but anyone who says JSU doesn't even deserve consideration for No. 1 ranking needs to put down the pipe and watch the replay of the Ole Miss game. The Cody B kid, a true freshman mind you, is about as legit as they come. I don't care what Ole Miss was "projected" at this year; they are an SEC team full of 4-star players. To put up 48 points on them is nothing short of staggering. JSU will lay 70+ points on Georgia State in two weeks, there is no doubt about it. I'll be happy if we walk way with a field goal.

[blackfordpu]

a good jump but not #1. great win though.

[yosef1969]

Very interesting game next week against UTC...

[AppAlum2003]

I'm sorry, but anyone who says JSU doesn't even deserve consideration for No. 1 ranking needs to put down the pipe and watch the replay of the Ole Miss game. The Cody B kid, a true freshman mind you, is about as legit as they come. I don't care what Ole Miss was "projected" at this year; they are an SEC team full of 4-star players. To put up 48 points on them is nothing short of staggering. JSU will lay 70+ points on Georgia State in two weeks, there is no doubt about it. I'll be happy if we walk way with a field goal.

Georgia State fans have already learned to Sandbag! Congrats! Welcome to the club!

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

I'm sorry, but anyone who says JSU doesn't even deserve consideration for No. 1 ranking needs to put down the pipe and watch the replay of the Ole Miss game. The Cody B kid, a true freshman mind you, is about as legit as they come. I don't care what Ole Miss was "projected" at this year; they are an SEC team full of 4-star players. To put up 48 points on them is nothing short of staggering. JSU will lay 70+ points on Georgia State in two weeks, there is no doubt about it. I'll be happy if we walk way with a field goal.


Doesn't neccesarily mean they are number one. Remember last year very nearly upset Florida State and they weren't even the best team in the OVC.

[Squealofthepig]

I guess this is a question of reality vs. probability. :)

Will some voters vote them #1? Yes - even Lou Holst is giving the Gamecocks praise on national tv.

Will enough voters vote them #1 for them to get the overall #1? Probably not, and almost definitely not. Villanova may have lost, but they lost to an FBS team and played incredibly well the entire time. Montana played a crappy team, but absolutely crushed them. App State may have pulled out a squeaker, but they did so on the road against a much improved Chattanooga team, and the Mountaineers had to dig deep to win. Add the track record of these three teams over the last decade (which, I know, is a bit unfair) and seeing a #1 ranking for JSU is probably not going to happen.

As one voter, I had Jacksonville in my preseason at #14, and was a bit surprised to see them down at #17, given their record last year and very competitive playoff loss at the Rock. There are games to play before I finalize my ballot, but can't imagine they'll be lower than five or six on my ballot, and possibly higher. I also said in my preview of this week's top 25 games that JSU is one team I never want the Griz to see in the playoffs, and their stunning play today showed why!

[superman7515]

Remember, Duke gets a single vote at #25 every pre-season... Anything is possible.

[IaaScribe]

Doesn't neccesarily mean they are number one. Remember last year very nearly upset Florida State and they weren't even the best team in the OVC.

Yes they were. They had the best record in the OVC last year. They just weren't playoff eligible because of APR.

[theasushow]

I guess this is a question of reality vs. probability. :)

Will some voters vote them #1? Yes - even Lou Holst is giving the Gamecocks praise on national tv.

Will enough voters vote them #1 for them to get the overall #1? Probably not, and almost definitely not. Villanova may have lost, but they lost to an FBS team and played incredibly well the entire time. Montana played a crappy team, but absolutely crushed them. App State may have pulled out a squeaker, but they did so on the road against a much improved Chattanooga team, and the Mountaineers had to dig deep to win. Add the track record of these three teams over the last decade (which, I know, is a bit unfair) and seeing a #1 ranking for JSU is probably not going to happen.

As one voter, I had Jacksonville in my preseason at #14, and was a bit surprised to see them down at #17, given their record last year and very competitive playoff loss at the Rock. There are games to play before I finalize my ballot, but can't imagine they'll be lower than five or six on my ballot, and possibly higher. I also said in my preview of this week's top 25 games that JSU is one team I never want the Griz to see in the playoffs, and their stunning play today showed why!

competitive playoff loss at the rock?? i'm confused.

[TTUEagles]

[QUOTE=Squealofthepig;1547612]I guess this is a question of reality vs. probability. :)

Will some voters vote them #1? Yes - even Lou Holst is giving the Gamecocks praise on national tv.

Will enough voters vote them #1 for them to get the overall #1? Probably not, and almost definitely not. Villanova may have lost, but they lost to an FBS team and played incredibly well the entire time. Montana played a crappy team, but absolutely crushed them. App State may have pulled out a squeaker, but they did so on the road against a much improved Chattanooga team, and the Mountaineers had to dig deep to win... QUOTE]

Yes, But Jacksonville St. also won on the road, and, I'd say that Ole Miss might be better than Temple. I don't see how, after only 1 game, we can really compare teams at this point, anyway. I said that JSU a least deserves consideration, maybe not the overall #1. But, we all agree gets HIGH praise for it's FCS over S E C win!

[Squealofthepig]

competitive playoff loss at the rock?? i'm confused.

yeah, oops, brain fart on my part there. Apologies! :)

[Squealofthepig]

Yes, But Jacksonville St. also won on the road, and, I'd say that Ole Miss might be better than Temple. I don't see how, after only 1 game, we can really compare teams at this point, anyway. I said that JSU a least deserves consideration, maybe not the overall #1. But, we all agree gets HIGH praise for it's FCS over S E C win!

Oh, agree... until week 3 or 4 it's really just throwing darts. :) I agree they deserve consideration - unfortunately at the moment, I think fair arguments could be made for probably a dozen or two dozen FCS teams at this point. JSU's argument is stronger than most though.

[GrizBowl]

Of course they should be #1, come on guys, they have the biggest win of FCS to date. What else could compete?

Sure Montana crushed a DII, but its still a DII team. Appy State played with class, but it still doesn't compare to this FBS upset

[JSUBison]

How many people actually had them in their top 25?
They were No. 17 in the AGS Preseason Poll, so figure they were in some and out of others. I have a hard time believing they will be top five. Top 10 is more realistic.

I had them in the top 25. 15ish if I remember right. They movin' on up though like Wheezy and George.

[Squealofthepig]

It's also hard to judge how Ole Miss would have prepared for other FCS programs. If they were playing, say, Villanova, they would probably have a lot more tape available, have a bit more trepidation and maybe don't ease off and play it safe in the second half (as Mississippi did). Could Nova have beaten Ole Miss today? Maybe. It's hard to say. But JSU did, and as TT said, some voters probably had them in the top 25, others didn't. After this performance, I can't imagine any voter not including them in the top 25, which in itself is a major turnaround over the last couple of years. (See numerous JSU/Elon/SC State threads).

JSU earned tons of respect today. One could argue it's overdue, but I don't think there's a single voter that wasn't impressed with the win.

[Cocky]

agreed, awesome win over a mediocre SEC team, but not awesome enough to jump like 18 places in the polls to number 1.

App sure did milk their victory over an awful Michigan for all it was worth.

For the record I won't vote us one because if we are no. 1 it will be oblivious in TX

[thmst30]

App sure did milk their victory over an awful Michigan for all it was worth.

For the record I won't vote us one because if we are no. 1 it will be oblivious in TX

You really want to compare this Ole Miss team to that Michigan team? No one is disrespecting JSU here.

[texcap]

You men that "awful Michigan" team that finished 9-4, second in the Big Ten and beat Florida in the Capital One Bowl?

[JSU02]

I know i don't. The Michigan win was bigger IMHO, but it was an SEC school ;)

[thmst30]

I know i don't. The Michigan win was bigger IMHO, but it was an SEC school ;)
Very true. I agree beating any SEC team is huge. It was an AWESOME game! Congrats.

[Squealofthepig]

It'll be hard to compare the two games until we see how Mississippi recovers.

Michigan was just plain Michigan when the Mountaineers kicked the chair out from under them. They never entertained the thought of losing to, scoff, a I-AA team (I'm sure they didn't make the FCS/FBS distinction), especially not in front of 100,000 fans. It was not just a loss, but a humiliation, and the Michigan team didn't really recover, and it gave ASU a lot of confidence and experience that guided them to a national championship.

Ole Miss is a big six power conference member... but they're not a perrenial ten game winner, like Michigan was (to that point), and they're not expected to contend for a national championship. Maybe an SEC championship as a dark horse.

It's a great, great JSU game. But I don't think it'll eclipse the Mountaineers win at Michigan. But I don't think it should. I think it should be what Jacksonville State uses to rally their team THIS year, and not worry about comparisons. This is a great win for the program, and they shouldn't start measuring up to past games. They should use it to build a successful season.

[TTUEagles]

Also, wasn't Michigan ranked #5 at the time? I think that's the big difference.

[PantherRob82]

I think top 10 or 15. Wish I could've watched the game. Congrats JSU.

[Squealofthepig]

Also, wasn't Michigan ranked #5 at the time? I think that's the big difference.

Yep, ranked #5. Also was one of the very first games broadcast by the Big Ten Network. Insert your own sardonic comment about that as you will. :)

Oh and the link for anyone who feels nostalgic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Appalachian_State_vs._Michigan_football_game

[GrizBowl]

I think your argument is valid, but none the less, this is the biggest FCS victory so far this season. #1 is mandated...

[Franks Tanks]

Also, wasn't Michigan ranked #5 at the time? I think that's the big difference.

Michigan was ranked number 5 with Chad Henne and other quality players. They also ended that season by beating FLorida in a bowl game.

[Squealofthepig]

I think your argument is valid, but none the less, this is the biggest FCS victory so far this season. #1 is mandated...

I don't think so. I'll have JSU way up in my ballot, and possibly #1, but 'mandated' is not a good word to throw around when it comes to rankings. Rankings are subjective, so aren't really subject to, well, such edicts. And really, if you know human nature, telling people "you have to put JSU at #1!" is counterproductive, as most people love disregarding such commands any time they can.

And do agree it's the biggest FCS victory, so far, but you also have to remember that there are at least two distinctive groups in any group who is voting. You have the "body of work" voters - who would be most likely to have JSU as a #1, as they could argue, with not much detraction, that JSU has the best body of work so far. But there's also a subjective, "how good is the team?" contingent, who will base their votes on much more subjective, fuzzy feels for how good they think teams are. These voters may or may not vote JSU #1 (I'll admit I'm in this camp) as they want their vote to reflect who they feel is the best team, not who has the best wins.

(And as a fellow Griz fan, I always hate having a #1 ranking anyway, as it seems to make the Griz complacent and vulnerable - give me a team with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove any day!)

[JaxSinfonian]

I'm a poll voter. I'll need to review everyone else's results, but I can see slotting Jax State in around 9 or 10. This is a HUGE leap forward for the program, but the Gamecocks still have some work to do to claim a place atop the FCS heap.

Having said the above ...

THAT WAS SO FREAKING AWESOME! GO COCKS!

[JBB]

How can Jacksonville State be #1 if NDSU is?

[Cocky]

Masoli isn't a quality player? He was a Heisman candidate according to ESPN.
The mediocre comment was just a typical comment with a team not from one of the chosen conferences involved in a big win. Is Ole Miss, Michigan? No not on a national scale but a med level SEC school would be a top level Big Ten team.
And do I believe we are Natl Championship material no but just let us enjoy a big win without the below the belt remarks of a mediocre team or they would have played Nova different (most people in the south don't even know Nova has a team) or they didn't have Chad Henne.

[Squealofthepig]

Oops, didn't mean to belittle this win for the Gamecocks in any way! Was just saying that there's a subjective methodology to voting, and it's hard to make qualitative judgments on who is the "best" team because not everyone has the same schedule, and not every team would prepare for different teams the same. So you're always voting without all the information you would ideally want. That is what it is.

And if Ole Miss did prepare for you guys differently than a Nova - which I think they did - it certainly worked to their detriment, and underlines what a great job your coaches did of getting you ready for this game.

[soccerguy315]

they have the best win... so if you rank all the 1-0 teams ahead of all 0-1 teams, then they should be number 1.

if you have 0-1 teams ahead of 1-0 teams in your ranking, then there is room for debate.

[GrizBowl]

I don't think so. I'll have JSU way up in my ballot, and possibly #1, but 'mandated' is not a good word to throw around when it comes to rankings. Rankings are subjective, so aren't really subject to, well, such edicts. And really, if you know human nature, telling people "you have to put JSU at #1!" is counterproductive, as most people love disregarding such commands any time they can.

And do agree it's the biggest FCS victory, so far, but you also have to remember that there are at least two distinctive groups in any group who is voting. You have the "body of work" voters - who would be most likely to have JSU as a #1, as they could argue, with not much detraction, that JSU has the best body of work so far. But there's also a subjective, "how good is the team?" contingent, who will base their votes on much more subjective, fuzzy feels for how good they think teams are. These voters may or may not vote JSU #1 (I'll admit I'm in this camp) as they want their vote to reflect who they feel is the best team, not who has the best wins.

(And as a fellow Griz fan, I always hate having a #1 ranking anyway, as it seems to make the Griz complacent and vulnerable - give me a team with a chip on their shoulder with something to prove any day!)

fine, not mandated; but "perhaps should be strongly considered for said spot"

As for the Griz, I'm reserving judgement for at least another week. the last few seasons have been filled with poor competition while our CAA friends have challenged themselves...

[Squealofthepig]

fine, not mandated; but "perhaps should be strongly considered for said spot"

As for the Griz, I'm reserving judgement for at least another week. the last few seasons have been filled with poor competition while our CAA friends have challenged themselves...

Agree. Definitely in consideration - I wouldn't have any objection to anyone voting for JSU as a #1 team, and I would only have some umbrage with someone voting for NDSU as a #1, as the same reasoning to vote for NDSU as #1 should lend a bit more credence to vote for JSU as a #1.

And agree on the Griz - will be good in coming seasons when we're playing McNeese and ASU and even a certain team in some other mountains from the SEC. :)

[Franks Tanks]

they have the best win... so if you rank all the 1-0 teams ahead of all 0-1 teams, then they should be number 1.

if you have 0-1 teams ahead of 1-0 teams in your ranking, then there is room for debate.

The team with the best win of the week isnt necessarily the best team... that doesnt make sense. Perhaps Montana is still better, but they didnt have chance to beat an SEC team.

Maine beat Miss. State a few years ago and nobody ranked them number 1.

[Cocky]

I don't really understand how you could rank us #1. We won one game, albeit a big one, but our coaching staff has always found a way to lose a game we shouldn't. I do believe we are around a #10 team but until we win some playoff games about 5 is as high as we deserve but only after a few more wins.

[Redbirdz]

J'ville State is for real guys. We will see you in the playoffs.

[Gil Dobie]

Big wins by JSU and NDSU, but Montana still looks great.

[Twentysix]

lets both win more games kthnxbai

[App-a-latch-un]

Very interesting game next week against UTC...

Agree, verrrrry interesting.

Great game regardless, not #1 but a serious and earned jump in rankings!

Congrats guys, enjoy it!