IN<-------EWU------->OUT

[Grizzaholic]

What say ye?

[Milktruck74]

out. Two bad losses. 0-3??? gotta earn your way back. I said at the begining, "you are number one till you lose." they lost, and lost, and lost..OUT!

[Grizzaholic]

I got them in, barely.

[GSUhooligan]

I-A loss, bad loss, 3 pt loss in Missoula. If those were spread out over the course of the season, no biggie. But for now, I'd have to say they're out.

[bjtheflamesfan]

Out...0-3 you shouldnt be ranked

[Grizzaholic]

Using half of you fools thoughts on how win/loss should be done..

FBS loss by 3....no penalty
Forgettable loss to a seemingly game SD team... fall 10 or so
Loss to ranked Montana by 3 in Missoula...fall 6-9.

Still in the top 25

[Squealofthepig]

I struggled with this until a friend of mine reminded me last season that I had said something about not ranking anyone in week two who was 0-2, so why would I rank anyone after week three who was 0-3? She was right, so I left out EWU for this week, but anticipate they'll be back in the polls. The Eagles have a very tough road back, though - they open against McGhee and the MSU Bobcats this weekend in Cheney, and will have road games left at NAU, Sac State and Cal Poly (and an improving Idaho State). They can still get to seven D-1 wins, but that means they can have at most one bad game the rest of the season.

[Bison Fan in NW MN]

0-3......OUT!

[crusader11]

They're 0-3...this team shouldn't be in the top 25 this week. They very well may be a playoff team and ranked in the top 15 at the end of the regular season, but right now they are a winless. You are what you're record says you are, right?

[Grizzaholic]

I struggled with this until a friend of mine reminded me last season that I had said something about not ranking anyone in week two who was 0-2, so why would I rank anyone after week three who was 0-3? She was right, so I left out EWU for this week, but anticipate they'll be back in the polls. The Eagles have a very tough road back, though - they open against McGhee and the MSU Bobcats this weekend in Cheney, and will have road games left at NAU, Sac State and Cal Poly (and an improving Idaho State). They can still get to seven D-1 wins, but that means they can have at most one bad game the rest of the season.

I still have the 'Cats going to the Chipper this year....and that has them beating EWU.

[Ronbo]

You guys are hoping. I say they go 8-0 the rest of the season and make the playoffs.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

As has been said this is a tough one. They are a very good team. You can see that on the field but the losses have a cumulative effect and the simple fact of the matter is that even if you know they are a top 25 team (they are) it's pretty hard to reconcile having the zero win team in there.

They have a shot at the BSC auto bid but I wouldn't give them a great chance at that and to get an at large without the auto they basicall need to win out. They have only played one of the top 4 or 5 teams in the BSC at this point so the row is gonna be real tough to hoe.

What's gonna be really interesting is if they were to lose against the Cats next weekend and then go on a 7 game win streak. I think they still make it cuz the hot team on a big run gets the committee's attention even more than a team that starts off 2-0 and then stumbles in the last 1/2 of the season.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

You guys are hoping. I say they go 8-0 the rest of the season and make the playoffs.

Who's hoping? How do you know what anybody else is hoping for?

[bojeta]

Really tough call. I refuse to count a 3 point loss to WA as a negative. I have to believe that Montana is for real so I'm not dinging them too hard for that close game. The real question at this point is....... Is South Dakota that good?? Right now I have EW hanging on to the #20 spot. Irony is... their next two games are against teams I have ranked 3 and 11. Still, if they can't pull off a win this week, they've got to go.... all they way outside the top 25.

[Twentysix]

Out. Sac st is out too.

only the montana's remain from the big fluffy.

(They remain in quite good positions)

[Squealofthepig]

Out. Sac st is out too.

only the montana's remain from the big fluffy.

(They remain in quite good positions)

'Swhat I had, too. Meanwhile, an undefeated team from the Big Sky is not even close to my top 25! Holy cow! (Sorry, Vikings)

[bojeta]

Weber is the team that interests me the most from the Big Sky right now. Always tough and playing the spoiler even when they don't threaten to win the conference. This year I think they have a shot.

[BisonFan02]

Out. A convincing win over Mt. State would put them back in the conversation if not back in, but they need to win next week. Going 0-4 to start (0-2 in BSC), it would be time to hit the panic button.

[Squealofthepig]

Out. A convincing win over Mt. State would put them back in the conversation if not back in, but they need to win next week. Going 0-4 to start (0-2 in BSC), it would be time to hit the panic button.

Speaking of panic, here's the article from Spokane's 'Spokesman', one of the more cleverly worded picayunes out there: http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/sep/18/eags-fall-to-0-3/ This struck me as a bit too hard on the Eagles and didn't focus much on positives (e.g., holding Montana to 34 passing yards and stopping third downs consistently).

[frozennorth]

Were I voting, prob low 20's. Really hard to know what to think of a winless good team.

[Griz0383]

=IN= Defending national champs to 0 and 3 is very depressing! I will cut the eagles some slack! They are still very talented and dangerous!

[Ivytalk]

They're still in mine, although they dropped a lot. One more loss and they may be out.

[GoAgs72]

Nobody who is sane would give a 0-3 team any votes. They need to work their way back in with solid wins. It would unfair to teams that are actually playing well but under-appreciated to give them votes.

[PantherRob82]

I have no problem saying EWU is one of the Top 25 programs in FCS. If this was a contest to get the best record we would all play the Pioneer in OOC. We have yet to see how good USD is, but a close loss to an instate BCS opponent and a Big Sky rival on the road does not make me think EWU suddenly fell off. I am more impressed by two close losses to good opponents than blowing out sub D-I and cupcakes. I know more about EWU than NDSU, App, or W&M at this point.

[Squealofthepig]

I am more impressed by two close losses to good opponents...

First - Rob, this isn't a criticism, just using your statement as a good example of something I'm fascinated with in voting. :)

There are many ways to vote for your top 25 - the two most popular seem to be based on the subjective measure (how good you think a team is, regardless of record) vs. the objective measure (what you've actually accomplished on the field). These will always result in completely different lists - subjective voters will look at close losses and include teams that lose, but play superior competition; while objective voters will overvalue wins and are more likely to include teams with good records but poor schedules.

Neither approach is wrong I would posit; it's just different ways to measure a team, and accuracy is really a matter of luck. A team with two losses might actually be the third best team total if they happened to play the first and second best teams; while a team that's undefeated with a poor strength of schedule might still likewise be the third best team - they just haven't been able to demonstrate it yet.

The "best" rankings try to reconcile these two different approaches, I would guess, rewarding both the subjective (eye test) and objective (actual wins). We won't have that for a few weeks, and as Rob says, we still have a lot to learn, especially about teams like NDSU (easy schedule?), App State (maybe an easy schedule) and W&M (some curious results vs. sub-par competition).

[PantherRob82]

I agree.

[BisonFan02]

Hypothetically of course, if NDSU were to beat Minny next Saturday by a good margin (or even lose a good close game by a narrow margin), putting them at 3-0 (2-1 in the alternate scenario) for the season, where do you stick them in the top 25?

[Squealofthepig]

Hypothetically of course, if NDSU were to beat Minny next Saturday by a good margin (or even lose a good close game by a narrow margin), putting them at 3-0 (2-1 in the alternate scenario) for the season, where do you stick them in the top 25?

With a win, I think I'd probably have to vote them #1, unless another of my top 5 had a similarly impressive showing against a quality opponent: Montana State winning huge at EWU; Richmond humiliating UNH at home; or App smacking down the Mocs. I don't think Georgia Southern can do anything against Western Carolina (or Northern Iowa vs. WIU) that would trump an NDSU win at Minnesota. A close game I'd leave them as they are, and a big loss I doubt I drop them by much (as I said in the MVC pick'em thread, I expect Minnesota to double down on this game, as it is the only game they may win for the rest of the year).

[ngineer]

I don't care who you are. If you're 0-3 you shouldn't even be getting votes. smh.

[Squealofthepig]

I don't care who you are. If you're 0-3 you shouldn't even be getting votes. smh.

As a fan, I slightly disagree; but as a voter, it certainly makes it easier. EWU, Nova: Win games and get points.

On another note, any idea if Lehigh/Lafayette will be available online anywhere?

[JMUNJ08]

I don't care who you are. If you're 0-3 you shouldn't even be getting votes. smh.

Agree. New year, new team, new voting. Yes, they may be one of the top 25 best teams in the country but are winless through 3 weeks. 10 of the 12 SEC teams are probably top 25 at the FBS level too. Do you see any 1-2 or 0-3 teams ranked up there? No. Eventually you have to win. They may be 0-4 after next week and most teams would be at least 1-3 through the first 4 weeks they have.

I see no defense on saying there isn't 25 teams that have shown more than they have this year out of 120 plus FCS teams...

[wmmii]

I have no problem saying EWU is one of the Top 25 programs in FCS. If this was a contest to get the best record we would all play the Pioneer in OOC. We have yet to see how good USD is, but a close loss to an instate BCS opponent and a Big Sky rival on the road does not make me think EWU suddenly fell off. I am more impressed by two close losses to good opponents than blowing out sub D-I and cupcakes. I know more about EWU than NDSU, App, or W&M at this point.

I had them at #25 as they should get some credit for who they played. One more loss next week even against a tough team and out

[OhioHen]

I've had them out since the Week 1 loss. Nobody with a loss in my Top 25 for Week 1.

[WileECoyote06]

I had them at #25 as they should get some credit for who they played. One more loss next week even against a tough team and out

They are in the 20-25 range. I'm pretty consistent with my voting philosophy. Since they lost to Montana on the road, and Montana is ranked, I didn't put them out.

What a way to open the season, three straight road games. *whew*

[Go Apps]

If they finish 7-4 they are in - I think they lose again this weekend but no more

[WM2001]

The real issue isn't whether or not they should be in the top 25. The real question is how will they win 7 games to become playoff-eligible? I haven't looked at their schedule but I'm assuming they play 11 games.

[andy7171]

I dropped them from #11 to #25 this week.

[BISON Thunder]

I agree with whatever Screamin_Eagle has to say about this.

[msupokes1]

I have them in this week. I still think they are one of the top 25 teams in the country. they played an FBS, and two top 25 FCS. I still think they should be in there. I think they are better than some of the other teams in the top 25.

[AGSPoll]

Don't forget to vote this week.xprayx

[darell1976]

I have them ranked....towards the very bottom! One more loss and its goodnight.

[SideLine Shooter]

So quick from Penthouse to Outhouse!!!

[Eagle22]

I don't have the 21 year old newspaper clippings here in my office to look at, but in 1990 Georgia Southern started out in similar (not identical) fashion, going 1-3 in the first four games (opened with a win over D2 Valdosta State), before falling to MTSU, Florida State and Eastern Kentucky. Pretty sure MTSU and EKU were ranked at the time.

Georgia Southern had started high in the polls (after the perfect 15-0 season in 1989), and somehow stayed in the poll, barely ... and then reeled off eleven wins to capture their fourth national championship.

Not saying EWU can repeat that feat, but it is sort of interesting the similarities.

[ursus arctos horribilis]

I don't have the 21 year old newspaper clippings here in my office to look at, but in 1990 Georgia Southern started out in similar (not identical) fashion, going 1-3 in the first four games (opened with a win over D2 Valdosta State), before falling to MTSU, Florida State and Eastern Kentucky. Pretty sure MTSU and EKU were ranked at the time.

Georgia Southern had started high in the polls (after the perfect 15-0 season in 1989), and somehow stayed in the poll, barely ... and then reeled off eleven wins to capture their fourth national championship.

Not saying EWU can repeat that feat, but it is sort of interesting the similarities.

Exactly. If you are just voting on wins & losses in the first three weeks then good for you. You take the easy way out on your poll without giving it a lot of thought. I think App did close to the same thing in 2008 and came within a hair of making the NC game as well.