Week #9 USA Today FCS Sagarin Ratings

[Keenan]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt10.htm

1.Villanova
2.Delaware
3.William & Mary
4.Appalachian State
5.New Hampshire
6.Jacksonville State
7.Eastern Washington
8.Sacramento State
9.Wofford
10.Stephen F. Austin
11.Western Illinois
12.Montana State
13.Northern Arizona
14.Massachusetts
15.James Madison
16.Montana
17.Chattanooga
18.Northern Iowa
19.South Alabama
20.Jacksonville
21.Furman
22.Southern Utah
23.Robert Morris
24.North Dakota State
25.Richmond
26.Samford
27.Elon
28.Georgia Southern
29.Cal Poly-SLO
30.Weber State
31.Pennsylvania
32.Missouri State
33.South Dakota State
34.Sam Houston State
35.Indiana State
36.Maine
37.SE Missouri State
38.Liberty
39.Lehigh
40.McNeese State
41.Central Arkansas
42.Youngstown State
43.Old Dominion
44.Portland State
45.South Dakota
46.Central Connecticut
47.Southern Illinois
48.Dayton
49.North Dakota
50.Northwestern State
51.Grambling
52.Illinois State
53.Murray State
54.Texas State
55.Harvard
56.Rhode Island
57.Bethune-Cookman
58.UC Davis
59.Eastern Kentucky
60.Duquesne
61.Colgate
62.Albany-NY
63.Tennessee Tech
64.Yale
65.Texas Southern
66.Drake
67.Monmouth-NJ
68.Georgia State
69.Wagner
70.SE Louisiana
71.Bryant
72.Western Carolina
73.Northern Colorado
74.Brown
75.Jackson State
76.Tennessee-Martin
77.Fordham
78.Dartmouth
79.South Carolina State
80.Nicholls State
81.Holy Cross
82.Stony Brook
83.Prairie View A&M
84.Alabama State
85.Lamar
86.Columbia
87.Idaho State
88.San Diego
89.Coastal Carolina
90.Alcorn State
91.Sacred Heart
92.Towson
93.Eastern Illinois
94.Citadel
95.Arkansas-Pine Bluff
96.Tennessee State
97.Florida A&M
98.Georgetown
99.VMI
100.Saint Francis-PA
101.Morehead State
102.Austin Peay
103.Lafayette
104.Gardner-Webb
105.Hampton
106.Marist
107.Cornell
108.Presbyterian College
109.Princeton
110.Alabama A&M
111.North Carolina Central
112.Charleston Southern
113.Davidson
114.Butler
115.Campbell
116.Morgan State
117.Southern University
118.Bucknell
119.Norfolk State
120.Savannah State
121.Delaware State
122.Mississippi Valley State
123.Valparaiso
124.North Carolina A&T
125.Howard

[UNH Fanboi]

I really don't get why Sagarin keeps rating Northern Arizona and Sac St. so high. He had Northern Arizona at #2 a couple of weeks ago.

It's interesting that Jacksonville is so far ahead of BCU and SCSU.

[Keenan]

I really don't get why Sagarin keeps rating Northern Arizona and Sac St. so high. He had Northern Arizona at #2 a couple of weeks ago.

It's interesting that Jacksonville is so far ahead of BCU and SCSU.

I was thinking the same exact thing. I did not have Jacksonville ranked last week, but will have to take a serious look at them this week.

#20 JACKSONVILLE
#57 BETHUNE COOKMAN
#79 SC STATE

[JUDolphins]

Strength of schedule...

JU played the #1 team in the country and a highly ranked ODU team in non-conference (unlike BCU/SC State). Throw in that JU has trailed for only 3 minutes in PFL play all season and has dominated the league (which is a big factor in the Sagarin ratings).

JU's QB threw 7 TDs yesterday and had a passing efficiency rating of over 353 - the highest single-game performance in the country this season.

Just don't pigeon hole them in because they are a non-scholarship program. They have proven that they can compete against anyone in the country.

[appfan2008]

if asu wins out (highly unlikely obviously with uf) we would move up to number one bc I feel like the only thing holding us back at 4 is our sos...

[FargoBison]

Strength of schedule...

JU played the #1 team in the country and a highly ranked ODU team in non-conference (unlike BCU/SC State). Throw in that JU has trailed for only 3 minutes in PFL play all season and has dominated the league (which is a big factor in the Sagarin ratings).

JU's QB threw 7 TDs yesterday and had a passing efficiency rating of over 353 - the highest single-game performance in the country this season.

Just don't pigeon hole them in because they are a non-scholarship program. They have proven that they can compete against anyone in the country.

Did you really just put SOS and Jacksonville in the same post?

[JUDolphins]

When you compare JU to S.C. State and Bethune - then yes. Sagarin has the PFL ahead of the MEAC.

I know it isn't often that JU's schedule helps them in these conversations - but this is one of them.

[darell1976]

#49!!!!!!! That would put us #11 in the new BSC.xnodx

[BlueHenSinfonian]

I'd pick JU in a game against any MEAC program.

Poor Akron... ranked below Towson, Georgetown, Holy Cross, and Lamar...

[cderry]

11.Western Illinois


Big fan of this poll. :)

[WestCoastAggie]

Why doesn't the committee use this poll in the modified version of the GPI?

[WestCoastAggie]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbt10.htm

1.Villanova
2.Delaware
3.William & Mary
4.Appalachian State
5.New Hampshire
6.Jacksonville State
7.Eastern Washington
8.Sacramento State
9.Wofford
10.Stephen F. Austin
11.Western Illinois
12.Montana State
13.Northern Arizona
14.Massachusetts
15.James Madison
16.Montana
17.Chattanooga
18.Northern Iowa
19.South Alabama
20.Jacksonville
21.Furman
22.Southern Utah
23.Robert Morris
24.North Dakota State
25.Richmond
26.Samford
27.Elon
28.Georgia Southern
29.Cal Poly-SLO
30.Weber State
31.Pennsylvania
32.Missouri State
33.South Dakota State
34.Sam Houston State
35.Indiana State
36.Maine
37.SE Missouri State
38.Liberty
39.Lehigh
40.McNeese State
41.Central Arkansas
42.Youngstown State
43.Old Dominion
44.Portland State
45.South Dakota
46.Central Connecticut
47.Southern Illinois
48.Dayton
49.North Dakota
50.Northwestern State
51.Grambling
52.Illinois State
53.Murray State
54.Texas State
55.Harvard
56.Rhode Island
57.Bethune-Cookman
58.UC Davis
59.Eastern Kentucky
60.Duquesne
61.Colgate
62.Albany-NY
63.Tennessee Tech
64.Yale
65.Texas Southern
66.Drake
67.Monmouth-NJ
68.Georgia State
69.Wagner
70.SE Louisiana
71.Bryant
72.Western Carolina
73.Northern Colorado
74.Brown
75.Jackson State
76.Tennessee-Martin
77.Fordham
78.Dartmouth
79.South Carolina State
80.Nicholls State
81.Holy Cross
82.Stony Brook
83.Prairie View A&M
84.Alabama State
85.Lamar
86.Columbia
87.Idaho State
88.San Diego
89.Coastal Carolina
90.Alcorn State
91.Sacred Heart
92.Towson
93.Eastern Illinois
94.Citadel
95.Arkansas-Pine Bluff
96.Tennessee State
97.Florida A&M
98.Georgetown
99.VMI
100.Saint Francis-PA
101.Morehead State
102.Austin Peay
103.Lafayette
104.Gardner-Webb
105.Hampton
106.Marist
107.Cornell
108.Presbyterian College
109.Princeton
110.Alabama A&M
111.North Carolina Central
112.Charleston Southern
113.Davidson
114.Butler
115.Campbell
116.Morgan State
117.Southern University
118.Bucknell
119.Norfolk State
120.Savannah State
121.Delaware State
122.Mississippi Valley State
123.Valparaiso
124.North Carolina A&T
125.Howard

It REALLY sucks that 8 HBCUs are in the bottom 10 of this poll. Hurts my soul to see how these great programs have fallen.

[downbythebeach]

I have a friend who is an Akron coach, but I must say they are absolutely terrible

[Sycamore51]

There are 17 FBS schools below Indiana State on this list! Never thought I'd see it. On a side note, WKU is below ever MVFC team. It wasn't that long ago that they were winning national titles and very good in our conference. I wonder how they like their lovely FBS now?

[ST_Lawson]

There are 17 FBS schools below Indiana State on this list! Never thought I'd see it. On a side note, WKU is below ever MVFC team. It wasn't that long ago that they were winning national titles and very good in our conference. I wonder how they like their lovely FBS now?

Nice turnaround ISUb.

Just looked at (reported) attendance numbers this season so far.
WKU is averaging 16,762 per home game so far this season (112 out of 120 FBS teams).
If they were doing that while still in FCS, they'd be 11th out of the FCS teams and 2nd in the conference, just behind NDSU, and right ahead of YSU.
As for actual wins and losses, I don't know if they'd be winning the conference, but they'd be winning a lot more games overall than they are right now.

I've heard that average home attendance (as reported to the NCAA) is one of the requirements for staying FBS. Anyone know what the "cutoff" is, and if the NCAA would ever actually enforce something like that? I thought I heard 14K one time, which at this point, Ball State, Akron, and Idaho are all below.

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2010/Internet/attendance/FBS_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf
http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2010/Internet/attendance/FCS_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf

[WileECoyote06]

It REALLY sucks that 8 HBCUs are in the bottom 10 of this poll. Hurts my soul to see how these great programs have fallen.

And it is severely hampering SCSU and BCU. I see at least fifteen teams ahead of SCSU would beat rather easily. I normally believe very strongly in the Sagarin ratings; but I knew it was skewing wrongly when neither SCSU or BCU received any type of schedule boost after playing each other.

As much as I hate it, this exactly the type of argument that fuels the MEAC office wanting to abdicate their playoff spot in favor of the Legacy Bowl.

[danefan]

Why doesn't the committee use this poll in the modified version of the GPI?

Good question. Especially since it is a BCS component.

[MacThor]

And it is severely hampering SCSU and BCU. I see at least fifteen teams ahead of SCSU would beat rather easily. I normally believe very strongly in the Sagarin ratings; but I knew it was skewing wrongly when neither SCSU or BCU received any type of schedule boost after playing each other.

As much as I hate it, this exactly the type of argument that fuels the MEAC office wanting to abdicate their playoff spot in favor of the Legacy Bowl.

Winning OOC games is the only way to improve computer rankings. The MEAC's 5-14 mark in D-1 OOC (that doesn't include the D-2 loss!) hurts the teams at the top. It also doesn't help that the 5 wins are 2 x Savannah St, 2 x NCC, and MS Valley St. I cringe every time I put B-C in my poll.

[WileECoyote06]

Winning OOC games is the only way to improve computer rankings. The MEAC's 5-14 mark in D-1 OOC (that doesn't include the D-2 loss!) hurts the teams at the top. It also doesn't help that the 5 wins are 2 x Savannah St, 2 x NCC, and MS Valley St. I cringe every time I put B-C in my poll.

You've got to use some 'sight' value as well. BCU and SCSU are in the top forty of the FCS at worst. That's why the polls look much different from the ratings. Would you pick Wagner to beat SCSU in a game? I'd put a thousand on a Bulldog victory . . .

[MacThor]

You've got to use some 'sight' value as well. BCU and SCSU are in the top forty of the FCS at worst. That's why the polls look much different from the ratings. Would you pick Wagner to beat SCSU in a game? I'd put a thousand on a Bulldog victory . . .

Who said anything about Wagner? That's some cherry-picking, using a team whose Sagarin gets tossed from GPI for being too high - when SCSt's Sagarin gets tossed for being too low. So, Wagner is 30+ spots below SCSt after smoothing.

Choose another team above SCSt in the GPI - would you make the same $1000 bet against Ga Southern? Maine? Weber St.? None of them are ranked in the polls. How about ODU, who was behind SC St coming into this past weekend? They sure looked better at Hampton than SC St did at home.