Early Preseason Top 25

[GrizFamily]

I don't know why Weber State is given such respect? When they came to Fargo last year they didn't look very good at all. 41-0 Maybe they just had a bad game. Time will tell!

You raise a good point, I had forgotten about that game. I was surprised and impressed with that win for the Bison. But later in the season you guys seemed to fade when the Wildcats really came on, IMHO just like the respect that Furman is now getting for the improvements they made in the second half of the season. Only time will tell. No disrespect intended, I'd love to see the Bison make a climb in the rankings and get a chance to prove itself in the playoffs. Are you guys playoff eligible now?

[colgate13]

If #1 loses, even if it's to a competitive I-A, they will drop. Fact of life. Some individuals would keep them high, but in general, polls don't reward a team that loses just because it's to a I-A when a closely ranked I-AA went to the trouble to actually win a game.

[Spider]

The interesting question for anyone who votes either ASU or UNH #1 is what to do with the teams after they lose their I-A openers. Obviously, if they don't, they'll stay #1, but what kind of performance would it take to stay #1 with a loss?
I don't think it's how you start the year, it's how strong you finish. you know how we finished last year......

[FargoBison]

My very early preseason Top 25

1. App St
2. Montana
3. UNI
4. UNH
5. Cal Poly
6. Furman
7. JMU
8. Illinois State
9. Youngstown State
10. McNese St
11. Richmond
12. Delaware
13. UC Davis
14. NDSU
15. Georgia Southern
16. Texas St
17. Colgate
18. Weber St
19. Coastal Carolina
20. Nicholls St
21. South Carolina Sate
22. Eastern Illinois
23. Hampton
24. Idaho St
25. Harvard

Also recieving consideration: Eastern Washington, Lehigh, EKU, Lafayette, SIU, UMASS, Jacksonville St, and WCU

[GrizFamily]

If #1 loses, even if it's to a competitive I-A, they will drop. Fact of life. Some individuals would keep them high, but in general, polls don't reward a team that loses just because it's to a I-A when a closely ranked I-AA went to the trouble to actually win a game.

I agree that in general that is the case. I was answering the question as to how I would vote, if by some strange quirk of fate I got to do that.

[Bison77]

You raise a good point, I had forgotten about that game. I was surprised and impressed with that win for the Bison. But later in the season you guys seemed to fade when the Wildcats really came on, IMHO just like the respect that Furman is now getting for the improvements they made in the second half of the season. Only time will tell. No disrespect intended, I'd love to see the Bison make a climb in the rankings and get a chance to prove itself in the playoffs. Are you guys playoff eligible now?

2008 - The wait Sucks! Actually only had 1 bad game against Cal Poly - Played S. Ill to 0-9 game with our backup qb (first string torn up his knee) in the second half last game of season.

[GrizFamily]

2008 - The wait Sucks! Actually only had 1 bad game against Cal Poly - Played S. Ill to 0-9 game with our backup qb (first string torn up his knee) in the second half last game of season.

I stand corrected. It's amazing how much people remember the bad things and forget the good things, eh?

[SunCoastBlueHen]

My very early preseason Top 25

1. App St
2. Montana
3. UNI
4. UNH
5. Cal Poly
6. Furman
7. JMU
8. Illinois State
9. Youngstown State
10. McNese St
11. Richmond
12. Delaware
13. UC Davis
14. NDSU
15. Georgia Southern
16. Texas St
17. Colgate
18. Weber St
19. Coastal Carolina
20. Nicholls St
21. South Carolina Sate
22. Eastern Illinois
23. Hampton
24. Idaho St
25. Harvard

Also recieving consideration: Eastern Washington, Lehigh, EKU, Lafayette, SIU, UMASS, Jacksonville St, and WCU

That looks pretty reasonable to me.

[GrizzlyEdd]

Ya know, I just don't see the Griz at #2 to start the season. I would maybe put them between 5 and 10 but not any higher. Too many unproven players and a fairly intricate offense to pick up in just Spring and Fall practices.

By the end of the season I might agree on a top 5... course depending on how the new guys grow during the season and how badly the Griz get beat up by Iowa!

[CatFan22]

My very early preseason Top 25

1. App St
2. Montana
3. UNI
4. UNH
5. Cal Poly
6. Furman
7. JMU
8. Illinois State
9. Youngstown State
10. McNese St
11. Richmond
12. Delaware
13. UC Davis
14. NDSU
15. Georgia Southern
16. Texas St
17. Colgate
18. Weber St
19. Coastal Carolina
20. Nicholls St
21. South Carolina Sate
22. Eastern Illinois
23. Hampton
24. Idaho St
25. Harvard

Also recieving consideration: Eastern Washington, Lehigh, EKU, Lafayette, SIU, UMASS, Jacksonville St, and WCU

I would not put Weber St. that high this early. I would, however, put MSU above them.

[GrizFamily]

I would not put Weber St. that high this early. I would, however, put MSU above them.

I think you're half right!! :nod: xlolx :p

[GrizFamily]

Ya know, I just don't see the Griz at #2 to start the season. I would maybe put them between 5 and 10 but not any higher. Too many unproven players and a fairly intricate offense to pick up in just Spring and Fall practices.

By the end of the season I might agree on a top 5... course depending on how the new guys grow during the season and how badly the Griz get beat up by Iowa!

I had them at 5 on mine and I'm very, uhh, how do we say, Biased.

[ekufbfan]

EKU???? Are you drunk? Worst school ever. They have to start beating us to get ranked that high xlolx

But seriously...UNH should be ranked in top 10 not EKU.
wkukidddddddd (such an appropriate name)
Worst school ever?HA! a billytopper talking trash!!!

******************EDITED FOR SMACK**********************

No smack on the discussion board please.

[LEHIGH61]

Harvard will go down hard like they did last season against Lehigh. Not puting Lehigh in the Top 25 is a mistake. See you next season. Threat, Fay, Thompson, Royce Morgan. Don't ever forget the mountainhawks ,who were "snakebitten" last season, plain and simple.

[mikebigg]

Haven't seen Grambling listed anywhere... I think we will be one of the top teams in the country next year. We open up with Hampton and also are in talks with Univ of Houston for our other out of conference game.


Grambling starters (Bayou Classic 2 deep)

Back:

8/11 Offense
WR Henry Tolbert, All-American
(Didn't make all conference, but was All-American)
RG Andre’ Bennett, All-Conference
TE Tim Abney, All-Conference
TB Ab Kuuan, All-Conference
C Tavarus Cockrell
FB Ruben Mayes
WR Clyde Edwards
RT Derrek Governor


Gone:

QB Bruce Eugene, All-American
LT Jonathan Banks, All-American
LG Charles Wilson
WR Moses Harris

Back:

6/11 Defense
MLB Dimitri Carr, All-Conference
CB Greg Fassitt, All-Conference
DT Jason Banks
DT Michael Matthews (true freshman)
WLB Joshua Bester
SLB Lucas Jackson
SS DeMichael Dizer (I thought he should have been all-conference...will play on Sundays)

Gone:

DE Jason Hatcher, All-American
DE Matt Duhe’, All-Conference
FS Jermaine Mills, All-Conference
CB Marques Binn

Back:

3/3 Special Teams
PK/P Tim Manuel
KR Keantwon Gray
PR Landry Carter

[arranger101]

I guess I will be the 1st to list a complete 25!

HERE GOES(in no particular order).........

E. KENTUCKY
APP. STATE
FURMAN
YOUNGSTOWN STATE
TEXAS STATE
SCSU
S. ILLINOIS
CAL POLY
NEW HAMPSHIRE
N. IOWA
RICHMOND
JAMES MADISON
MONTANA
COASTAL CAROLINA
GEORGIA SOUTHERN
COLGATE
DELAWARE
HAMPTON
ILLINOIS STATE
GRAMBLING
SACRAMENTO STATE
PORTLAND STATE
MCNEESE STATE
WOFFORD
WEBER STATE

I think there might be a few surprises in the final pre-season polls, but I don't see it too far from this! Carry on AGS Familyxcoffeex

[SochorField]

E. KENTUCKY
APP. STATE
FURMAN
YOUNGSTOWN STATE
TEXAS STATE
SCSU
S. ILLINOIS
CAL POLY
NEW HAMPSHIRE
N. IOWA
RICHMOND
JAMES MADISON
MONTANA
COASTAL CAROLINA
GEORGIA SOUTHERN
COLGATE
DELAWARE
HAMPTON
ILLINOIS STATE
GRAMBLING
SACRAMENTO STATE
PORTLAND STATE
MCNEESE STATE
WOFFORD
WEBER STATE


You have got to be kidding me with Sac State. They have been a 2-9 team for the last I dont know how many years. THey have a brutal schedule-- .500 at BEST.
Plug UC Davis into that spot perhaps. I think the Aggies deserve to be in the top 25 over Sac State. I think even Hornet fans could agree with this one.

[WCU LawCat]

I really think that WCU deserves top 25 consideration right now. At least as much as SC State and McNeese. More than Sac St. Wofford, and Weber. Wofford will have to suprise some teams before they get back in the top 25. UTC deserves more thought than Sac St. and Weber. They have not done anything in the last few years in the Big Sky.

[CatFan22]

You have got to be kidding me with Sac State. They have been a 2-9 team for the last I dont know how many years. THey have a brutal schedule-- .500 at BEST.
Plug UC Davis into that spot perhaps. I think the Aggies deserve to be in the top 25 over Sac State. I think even Hornet fans could agree with this one.

Portland St. doesn't have any business being on there either. MSU deserves in over Weber, Sac, and PSU.

[MYTAPPY]

I really think that WCU deserves top 25 consideration right now. At least as much as SC State and McNeese. More than Sac St. Wofford, and Weber. Wofford will have to suprise some teams before they get back in the top 25. UTC deserves more thought than Sac St. and Weber. They have not done anything in the last few years in the Big Sky.

I do agree that UTC should be in the top 25 this year. They are going to be a scary team. Nobody should overlook them. I maybe could see Western slide in there. But I think UTC will be a lock.

[OL FU]

I do agree that UTC should be in the top 25 this year. They are going to be a scary team. Nobody should overlook them. I maybe could see Western slide in there. But I think UTC will be a lock.

I wonder if that is because of the games we played against the other team. Based on last year, I would see it the other way around. We played Chattanooga at the end of the year. It was one of those games where the score was not indicative of the game. We moved the ball at will, they scored a lot but the outcome of the game was never in doubt. On the other hand ASU played that kind of game against WCU (although WCU did not score alot).

The past couple of years most of us have thought that Chatt is back and yet they continue to play very up and down. They have talent but I am not convinced they have it together as a team. We talk about Transfer U and Chatt seems to qualify. I will not be convinced that they are a Football Program that should be top 25 until they show it for at least a few games in a row. I guess I am not willing to stick my neck out and put them in the top 25 pre-season.

[lucchesicourt]

Sac State even being consideredd as a top 25 team is amazing to me. I know they are in the Big Sky, but they couldn't even beat UCD when we were non schollie D2. Now, we had the 2nd most difficult schedule last year, posted a winning record with fewer schollies than we will have this coming year, beat Stanford, and you think Sac is going to be better than UCD? You must know something I don't!!

[UNHWildCats]

I have put together my pre season poll, I included top 30 and also ranked the conferences.

http://www.geocities.com/tjliles04/iaapoll.html

[Tod]

I have put together my pre season poll, I included top 30 and also ranked the conferences.

http://www.geocities.com/tjliles04/iaapoll.html

I think I disagree with you on a lot of it, but great job in getting yours together and nice site. :nod:

[eagleskins]

I have put together my pre season poll, I included top 30 and also ranked the conferences.

http://www.geocities.com/tjliles04/iaapoll.html


GSU at 30? I need some of what you are smoking. We have basically everyone back on offense.

[TheValleyRaider]

GSU at 30? I need some of what you are smoking. We have basically everyone back on offense.

If you're trying to say that they should be higher, then I'd ask why shouldn't we be skeptical of a formerly option-only offense running something other than the option?

GSU is a great unknown this season, and while they are returning a number of athletes, the change in style may require a year or two to be properly implemented. They could do it quickly, and remain a legit contender in I-AA, or there could be a step-back period as adjustments are made. This remains to be seen.

I also harbor questions about JMU. I know they're talented, and they certainly strike me as legit contenders. However, they have a tendency to play lots of close games. They won them in 2004, and lost them in 2005. Live by the sword, die by the sword, I guess. With this being the case, I find ranking them in preseason particularly troublesome.

[colgate13]

I have put together my pre season poll, I included top 30 and also ranked the conferences.

http://www.geocities.com/tjliles04/iaapoll.html

Nice job getting that up.

Some thoughts:

Brown and Princeton ranked? I'm not sure they're going to finish in the top half of the Ivy. Brown lost a lot. Princeton hasn't done much lately.

Conferences:

You have the MEAC and the OVC ranked WAY too high. Check past years GPI.

[UNHWildCats]

Nice job getting that up.

Some thoughts:

Brown and Princeton ranked? I'm not sure they're going to finish in the top half of the Ivy. Brown lost a lot. Princeton hasn't done much lately.

Conferences:

You have the MEAC and the OVC ranked WAY too high. Check past years GPI.

On the Conference Rankings I just basically awarded points to each school on a reverse listing #1 got 30 points down to #30 getting one point. I know its not the best way to rank conferences.

[UNHWildCats]

The GSU ranking is mostly based on what I have read on here and a lot of peoples skepticism of wether they can be good this upcomming season after changing offenses. I will be reading more up on all the teams between now and august and my rankings could certainly change before then so bookmark it and check it out again later. Please give me input on your team to help me better understand why there ranking should be higher

[MYTAPPY]

I think you should have App at number one (deservingly) until they get knocked from it.....

[OL FU]

I think you should have App at number one (deservingly) until they get knocked from it.....

ASU is the 2005 national champion and always will be. That should be enough:smiley_wi

[Fordham]

UNH, kudos for putting it out there. It takes a set to throw up something up there for public review ... particularly so early. I'm sure the comments from the group will help you tweak it as well.

MYTAPPY, I tend to agree with you as I had JMU first last year but I can't argue with someone who takes a different approach by saying that it's ridiculously tough to repeat.

[MYTAPPY]

UNH, kudos for putting it out there. It takes a set to throw up something up there for public review ... particularly so early. I'm sure the comments from the group will help you tweak it as well.

MYTAPPY, I tend to agree with you as I had JMU first last year but I can't argue with someone who takes a different approach by saying that it's ridiculously tough to repeat.

Not saying that we will repeat and we will most likely be toppled from the number one spot, but till then.....

[youwouldno]

I don't buy it. Every season is a new season. App St v. 2005 was the National Champion.

App St v. 2006 is a different team.

[colgate13]

I don't buy that excuse either. The 2006 preseason #1 should be the team that you think will win the whole thing, not the incumbent waiting to be unseated.

[nlwwln]

with what app has returning I think its impossible not to rank them up there either 1 or 2. I think the offense will be just fine without richie. trey elder is very capable of excelling in that offense especially because all of the talent thats around him. very good WR, RB, TE. he will have plenty of weapons around him to work with, it will be much more of a well rounded offense than last years team. as for the defense its the same thing, they return a ton of talent and as for the DE spot left by hunter i guarentee theres 2 or 3 guys workin there tails off right now competin for that spot and whoever wins it will be more than ready to man that post, i wouldnt be surprised if they had some tricks up their sleeves and brought in a transfer, their LBs will be the best in the socon no doubt and quite honestly so will their DBs. if app wants to repeat all they have to do is stay hungry and work hard but as we all know those are the things that make a champion.

[WCU LawCat]

We all need to remember to post our teams returning starters on the thread at the top. That will help educate all of us on the upcoming seasons favorites and top 25. More of us can post our early top 25 with knowledge of other teams returning players and key loses.

[MYTAPPY]

I don't buy that excuse either. The 2006 preseason #1 should be the team that you think will win the whole thing, not the incumbent waiting to be unseated.

Texas probably won't repeat, but they'll be ranked number one. That is the way it is.

[putter]

My question with Cal Poly lies more with their coaches. Didn't they just lose their Offensive AND Defensive coordinators? That can hinder a team although they return quality personnel.

[AppGuy04]

Another thing I noticed:

Only 2 SoCon teams in there, and only 2 MEAC teams, surely you aren't suggesting....there's no way you could bexlolx

[UNHWildCats]

Theres 3 SoCon teams App St, Furman, and Ga Southern. Also who else in the MEAC is deserving to be ranked ahead of the other teams listed?

[AppGuy04]

Theres 3 SoCon teams App St, Furman, and Ga Southern. Also who else in the MEAC is deserving to be ranked ahead of the other teams listed?

top 25 is all that matters to me

and I honestly don't think that Hampton or SCSU could hang with Georgia Southern, even in a transition year

[UNHWildCats]

Rankings dont signify how teams would perform against one another but how the team will perform as a whole for the scheduled season they have.

[slostang]

My question with Cal Poly lies more with their coaches. Didn't they just lose their Offensive AND Defensive coordinators? That can hinder a team although they return quality personnel.
Cal Poly lost Ian Shields who was their co-offensive coordinator and Mike Hammerschmidt who was their linebacker coach. Cal Poly still has co-offensive coordinator Joe DuPaix and defensive coordinator David Brown. Coach Ellerson is stepping in as linebacker coach during spring practice and is looking to replace Hammerschmidt from outside of the program soon. Mike was a great coach but he was only here one year. David Brown is entering his sixth year on Ellerson's staff and his third as defensive coordinator. Associate head coach Gene McKeehan is the former offensive coordinator and he will be taking on Shield's responsibilities of coaching the running backs. Former offensive line coach Bill Trip has been rehired and will take over the offensive line duties from McKeehan.

Losing both Shields and Hammerschmidt will hurt some in that they are great coaches, but I think Cal Poly will do well in replacing them. It is easier to get good young coaches to come in now that Poly is a team on the rise. Cal Poly has proven that it is a good place for a young coach to gain experience that can take him to the next level in his coaching career.

[blukeys]

Theres 3 SoCon teams App St, Furman, and Ga Southern. Also who else in the MEAC is deserving to be ranked ahead of the other teams listed?

Did you notice the thrashing Richmond gave to Hampton? How about the stomping JMU gave to DelState???

No MEAC team should be ranked above UNH, Umass, UR, UD, W&M, JMU, Hofstra, Maine, Nova. I could also make an argument for the some other teams but that would be overkill.

[UNHWildCats]

What is the purpose of a poll? to do your best to rank the teams as a whole of how they perform against their schedule right?

Ok, to me what blukeys is saying is a teams ranking should be based upon how they perform against a individual team because Richmond beat them they should be ranked behind Richmond.

So UNH should be behind William & Mary because they lost to them. William & Mary should be ranked behind Rhode Island because they lost to them, and UNH should be ranked ahead of Rhode Island because UNH white washed them? wheres that leave us? a three way tie? Ok let me go change my poll and rank 121 teams all as # 1 because each will have beaten someone who beat someone who beat them.

[Tod]

Should ASU be ranked #1 if they lost 20 of 22 starters, lost their punter and kicker, and their entire coaching staff has been replaced?

If you say no, then you agree that the team you feel will be best in the country next year should be ranked #1.

If you say yes, then good luck with your poll. :rolleyes:

[colgate13]

What is the purpose of a poll? to do your best to rank the teams as a whole of how they perform against their schedule right?


No, not IMO. The purpose of a poll is to rank, in this case, the top 25 teams in the country. How they do against their schedule is one part of the equation, but there is also a subjective part of the decision making process that pits conferences against each other. Using your narrow view, San Diego deserves #1 consideration.

In many ways, the top 25 I-AA poll should be close to what you think the final 16 playoff teams will be, in addition to the bubble teams. Some autobids can screw with it from time to time, but that's how I see it.

[UNHWildCats]

Originally Posted by UNHWildCats
What is the purpose of a poll? to do your best to rank the teams as a whole of how they perform against their schedule right?


What I meant was How a team performs based against there schedule. Not saying if San Diego has the easiest schedule and goes undefeated they are #1 but taking into account the strength of schedule. A 8-3 Appalachian State who plays 2 i-a teams would be better then a San Diego team who was undefeated but whos schedule didnt include a team in the top say 75.

My argument was that you cant base a teams ranking on how they do against a single opponent. blukeys was making an argument that Richmond should be ranked ahead of Hampton because Richmond beat them.

Richmond lost to Lafayette, who lost to Harvard. Am I to assume Harvard is better then both Richmond and Lafayette based on a small sampling of results as opposed to the whole of the schedule?

I totally agree polls should always reflect an updated guess to where the teams will be when the final poll comes out, thus the top 16 should be who u expect to be in the playoffs.

[colgate13]

My argument was that you cant base a teams ranking on how they do against a single opponent. blukeys was making an argument that Richmond should be ranked ahead of Hampton because Richmond beat them.

No but... I think the point that blukeys was making is that Richmond was the only team from a playoff conference outside of their own that Hampton played. That is really the only team you could use as a barometer to gauge the strength of that team vs. the rest of I-AA.

[UNHWildCats]

And thats fine, but what happened in 2005 stays in 2005.

[colgate13]

And thats fine, but what happened in 2005 stays in 2005.

But like all modeling, you don't consider the past when trying to predict the future?

[blukeys]

What I meant was How a team performs based against there schedule. Not saying if San Diego has the easiest schedule and goes undefeated they are #1 but taking into account the strength of schedule. A 8-3 Appalachian State who plays 2 i-a teams would be better then a San Diego team who was undefeated but whos schedule didnt include a team in the top say 75.

My argument was that you cant base a teams ranking on how they do against a single opponent. blukeys was making an argument that Richmond should be ranked ahead of Hampton because Richmond beat them.

Richmond lost to Lafayette, who lost to Harvard. Am I to assume Harvard is better then both Richmond and Lafayette based on a small sampling of results as opposed to the whole of the schedule?

I totally agree polls should always reflect an updated guess to where the teams will be when the final poll comes out, thus the top 16 should be who u expect to be in the playoffs.


I give you credit for posting a poll at this early stage but I felt you rated MEAC and OVC teams to high.

I am not basing this conclusion on one game. I cited last year's Richmond - Hampton game as an example of a general trend regarding MEAC teams. JMU's beat down of the 3rd place MEAC team was a continuation of that trend. OVC teams have traditionally been the whipping boys of the Gateway conference. It appears that they are making progress but till the record gets a little more even between these two conferences I would not rank the OVC teams to the level of the Gateway, Southern or A-10 teams

I also base My argument on the fact that The A-10 teams I have seen over the years are consistently better than the MEAC teams I have seen over the years. Playoff records back this up.

Regarding Richmond's loss to Lafayette, They were a much better team after Stacy Tutt took over as QB in the third game of the season AFTER the Lafayette Loss. In fact in the first 2 losses without Tutt at QB, Richmond only scored 7 points total.

[UNHWildCats]

Sure, you can take into account player performances. But College Football isn't like say MLB. Too much changes.

For Instance, is a undefeated 2006 Hampton regular season team better then a 2005 undefeated Hampton regular season team? HELL YA! Should Hampton go undefeated in 2006 would my current ranking for them be justified?

Can i accuratly forecast Hamptons performance based on their 2005 schedule? No. If they were playing the same schedule with the same players then I could.

Richmond will not be as good as they were in 2005.

[colgate13]

Richmond will not be as good as they were in 2005.

Who gave them a chance to be as good as they were in 2005? :D

[UNHWildCats]

Who gave them a chance to be as good as they were in 2005? :D

Thats my point, no one can really know how good a team is gonna be except a few of the real powerhouse teams. Its hard to put together a poll before a game has been played or even until after a couple games have been played.

I went back and looked, and unfortunatly blukeys never posted his weekly polls on the Poll thread but you did.

For each of the last 4 regualar season polls, you had Hampton ranked ahead of Richmond, and infact ahead of every A10 team except New Hampshire. You based your placement on how they performed, sure Richmond had ground to make up all season long, but if you felt Richmond was better you should have ranked Richmond higher yet you didnt.

The poll I have made, is where at this moment I think teams will finish in the final regular season poll. It will change between now and August based on imput both from AGS posters, as well as information i continue to come across online.

In 2005 was Hampton better then Richmond? NO. Everyone was picking Richmond in the playoff game, yet they had Hampton ranked ahead of them in the final regular season poll.

Will Hampton be better then say Hofstra in 2006? I don't think so, but unless they play theres no realistic way to know for sure.

Some placements in last seasons pre season poll as a whole of AGS that turned out to be bad picks, but none the less they were how people felt before the season started.

1 James Madison
7 Deleware
8 Northwestern State
12 William and Mary
14 Sam Houston State
15 Harvard

[colgate13]

Hey - I don't think anyone can say with authority whose preseason picks are better than whose or who is right or wrong.

I'm just going with you on the logic of making those choices. In my specific poll, I gave Hampton a lot of credit for a strong playoff showing in 2004 since there were no other games to go on. I was hard on Richmond because they lost to Lafayette.

[UNHWildCats]

Did you think Richmond would beat Hampton in the playoff game?

[colgate13]

Did you think Richmond would beat Hampton in the playoff game?

Honestly, no. I thought Hampton would represent better than that, especially at home.

[GSUSpider]

Don't forget that New Hampshire(the powerhouse of the A10 in some people's minds) was very mediocre until Santos came along. Also, during the offseason last year many people thought that the 2006 season would be the year oft he Spiders. Well, they got here early and with everyone coming back they should be a force again next year. I am def. looking forward to the October matchup in Durham. Should be a good one!

[UNHWildCats]

Yea, so the Wildcats were mediocre before Santos, SO! The exposure the team has gotten with the rise of the team under Santos will help in recruiting, and with smart moves continue the rise of the Wildcats for years to come. At some point every great team was mediocre until a player changed the future for them.

[UNH_ORACLE]

Don't forget that New Hampshire(the powerhouse of the A10 in some people's minds) was very mediocre until Santos came along. Also, during the offseason last year many people thought that the 2006 season would be the year oft he Spiders. Well, they got here early and with everyone coming back they should be a force again next year. I am def. looking forward to the October matchup in Durham. Should be a good one!


so you're saying because of Santos UNH is a A-10 powerhouse? I never knew one player could have such an impact.

[MYTAPPY]

Yea, so the Wildcats were mediocre before Santos, SO! The exposure the team has gotten with the rise of the team under Santos will help in recruiting, and with smart moves continue the rise of the Wildcats for years to come. At some point every great team was mediocre until a player changed the future for them.

Hopefully the exposure will put some lights in your stadium as well.

[GannonFan]

so you're saying because of Santos UNH is a A-10 powerhouse? I never knew one player could have such an impact.

Well, really it's two players as Ball is pretty good as well. Of course one or two players could make an impact. Look at W&M with Lang Campbell in 2004 and their difficulties replacing him the following year. Same could be said of UD having to replace Andy Hall. Appy St will have that this year trying to replace their QB and their stud DE. These players are the difference between being an average team and being a great team. Santos and Ball make UNH a very, very good team. Without Santos or Ball, UNH would be back to 4-7 seasons and people questioning, unfairly in my opinion, how long the coach would last there.

[GannonFan]

Hopefully the exposure will put some lights in your stadium as well.

Eh, night games in the hinterlands of New England may be good in September, but night games in December aren't exactly something to hope for.