Coaches Poll 10/31

[GATA_Eagles]

Team (No. 1 Votes) 2011 Record Points Previous Ranking
1. North Dakota State (22) 8-0 693 3
2. Montana State (2) 8-1 654 4
3. Appalachian State 6-2 634 5
4. Georgia Southern (4) 7-1 602 1
5. Sam Houston State 8-0 571 7
6. Northern Iowa 6-2 570 2
7. Lehigh 7-1 541 6
8. Montana 7-2 493 8
9. Wofford 6-2 478 9
10. Maine 7-1 445 12
11. New Hampshire 6-2 442 11
12. Old Dominion 7-2 367 16
13. James Madison 5-3 308 10
14. Jackson State 7-1 263 17
15. Tennessee Tech 5-2 248 19
16. Indiana State 5-3 240 18
17. Towson 6-2 216 14
18. Jacksonville State 5-3 215 13
19. Delaware 5-4 201 20
20. Harvard 6-1 138 23
21. William & Mary 4-4 124 21
22. Liberty 6-3 111 24
23. South Dakota 5-4 101 15
24. Illinois State 6-3 85 NR
25. North Dakota 5-3 62 25

Others receiving votes: Cal Poly (52); Jacksonville (35); Norfolk State (34); Alabama State (24); Furman (20); Brown (19); Central Arkansas (19); Massachusetts (13); Youngstown State (11); Southern Utah (10); Northwestern State (9); Albany (6); Eastern Kentucky (5); Drake (4); Portland State (4); San Diego (3); Florida A&M (2); Pennsylvania (1).

[AppAlum2003]

How does GSU get 4 first place votes after losing? I agree they are top 5, but first place votes? Four of them?

[terrierbob]

Furman should be in top 20, at least.

[TTUEagles]

I'll admit it...TTU is too high. Top 25, yes, but, not 15th...

[youwouldno]

Furman should be in top 20, at least.

Well if the Paladins win out against App St, Elon, and Florida, then I think top 20 would be possible, but apparently not guaranteed. After all, right now the Paladins are behind heavyweights like Jacksonville and Norfolk State.

[mainejeff]

Maine finally cracks the Top 10!........but a 6-2 UNH almost passes them........LOL.

[danefan]

Oh my...Jackson State at 14.....

[RichH2]

Bothpolls seem out of wack from 15-25.Admit tough but no Calpoly or Cen Ark. W&M hanging on .Why?

[StorminASU]

How does GSU get 4 first place votes after losing? I agree they are top 5, but first place votes? Four of them?

Not to be cocky, but how do they get four and we don't get one? We did beat them, right?

[Squealofthepig]

How does GSU get 4 first place votes after losing? I agree they are top 5, but first place votes? Four of them?

It's worse than that:

3. Appalachian State 6-2 634 5
4. Georgia Southern (4) 7-1 602 1

GSU gets four first place votes with a loss, and App gets ZERO with a win (!)

Does one even have to have a college degree to be a SID? To be fair, it must be difficult for them to do a top 25 ranking when most of them need to take off their pants to count to eleven.

[BISON Thunder]

Bothpolls seem out of wack from 15-25.Admit tough but no Calpoly or Cen Ark. W&M hanging on .Why?

Hasn't Cal Poly beaten both Dakota schools from their conference (and ranked above them)?

[AppAlum2003]

Not to be cocky, but how do they get four and we don't get one? We did beat them, right?

I don't think ASU deserves any #1 votes, especially with two losses. But it's just odd that GSU receives first place votes directly after a loss.

[GSUhooligan]

A team can lose and still be thought of as the best team in the nation.

[Bison Dan]

Hasn't Cal Poly beaten both Dakota schools from their conference (and ranked above them)?

Yes they have and the funny part of it all Cal Poly is the only playoff eligible school of the three.

[Squealofthepig]

This one finally pissed me off enough to actually find who the hell is voting in these (or whose SIDs are).

Gentlemen, here are the disgraces that make up the Coaches' poll (source: http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/FCS/polls/2011/2011_FCS_Coaches_Poll/Voting_Panel.html )

Big Sky
Beau Baldwin, EWU
Marshall Sperbeck, Sacramento State

Big South
Chuck Priore, Stony Brook
Danny Rocco, Liberty

CAA
Sean McDonnell, New Hampshire
Jimmye Laycock, William & Mary

Great West
Ed Meierkort, South Dakota
Ed Lamb, Southern Utah

Ivy League
Al Bagnoli, Penn
Tim Murphy, Harvard

MEAC
Oliver Pough, SC State
Joe Taylor, FAMU

MVC
Trent Miles, ISUb
Mark Hendrickson, WIU

NEC
Kevin Callahan, Monmouth
Jeff McInerney, CCSU

OVC
Bob Spoo, EIU
Dean Hood, EKU

Patriot
Dick Biddle, Colgate
Joe Susan, Bucknell

Pioneer
Ron Caragher, San Diego
Dale Carlson, Valpo

Southern
Kevin Higgins, The Citadel
Russ Huesman, UTC

Southland
JC Harper, SFA
Mike Lucas, SE LA

SWAC
Karl Morgan, MS Valley State
Heishma Northern, Prairie View A&M

[StorminASU]

I don't think ASU deserves any #1 votes, especially with two losses. But it's just odd that GSU receives first place votes directly after a loss.

I don't think we deserve it either, just surprised not 1 person gave us a #1 vote after we beat #1.


A team can lose and still be thought of as the best team in the nation.

How could you still be considered number 1, when a two loss team beat you? I understand you staying number 1 if it was just you (after a loss to App) and an undefeated Patriot League (etc. etc.), but I don't understand how you would be #1 here.

[NoDak 4 Ever]

Give them some credit. They managed to figure out which North Dakota school to give the 1st place votes. Many honestly thought UND would get a couple.

[SLOSTYLE]

Poly has wins on the road verse UND, and a comeback win this past weekend at home to USD. At 5-3, their only losses are on the road to Montana, on the road to FBS Northern Illinois (5-3 record) and on the road at FBS San Diego St. (4-3). I'm not arguing they should be top 15 or even top 20, but to be behind USD and UND is beyond ridiculous.

[BISON Thunder]

Poly has wins on the road verse UND, and a comeback win this past weekend at home to USD. At 5-3, their only losses are on the road to Montana, on the road to FBS Northern Illinois (5-3 record) and on the road at San Diego St. (4-3). I'm not arguing they should be top 15 or even top 20, but to be behind USD and UND is beyond ridiculous.

Feel your pain, SLO...hope none of this affects CP's playoff chances. Would love to see the Mustang's in the FargoDome later this year!

[Squealofthepig]

Poly has wins on the road verse UND, and a comeback win this past weekend at home to USD. At 5-3, their only losses are on the road to Montana, on the road to FBS Northern Illinois (5-3 record) and on the road at San Diego St. (4-3). I'm not arguing they should be top 15 or even top 20, but to be behind USD and UND is beyond ridiculous.

And Cal Poly was competitive at Wa-Griz, and put up 51 points total in their two FBS losses. (I have the Mustangs solidly in my poll, fwiw, for exactly these reasons).

[BisonBacker]

Poly got screwed in this poll IMHO. Hope it doesn't come back to bite you in the end. Win out and hope for the best is all you can do.

[tingly]

Few coaches care where they're ranked, so I don't know why I should. Their main purpose is for the press to have something to write about. If I were a coach, I'd want to be undervoted for the bulletin board material.

I run a collegiate basketball coaches poll. Some of my voters don't pay a lot of attention to that weekend's scores, lag a week behind. xnonox I would have asked the Ga. Southern #1 voters if the ballot included GSU's loss, but used their ballots if they didn't fix it in time. If they were paying attention, which I doubt, the #1 votes mean that they think that GSU is still the best team, just got caught on a bad day.

As a lifelong Poly fan, they aren't far below where they should be. I'm thinking more like #22. South Dakota is still ahead of them because the gap between them was too large last week.

[JMUNJ08]

Only agree with the placement of 2 teams: NDSU & JMU


That is S-A-D

[mainejeff]

This one finally pissed me off enough to actually find who the hell is voting in these (or whose SIDs are).

Gentlemen, here are the disgraces that make up the Coaches' poll (source: http://www.soconsports.com/fls/4000/socon/FCS/polls/2011/2011_FCS_Coaches_Poll/Voting_Panel.html )

Big Sky
Beau Baldwin, EWU
Marshall Sperbeck, Sacramento State

Big South
Chuck Priore, Stony Brook
Danny Rocco, Liberty

CAA
Sean McDonnell, New Hampshire
Jimmye Laycock, William & Mary

Great West
Ed Meierkort, South Dakota
Ed Lamb, Southern Utah

Ivy League
Al Bagnoli, Penn
Tim Murphy, Harvard

MEAC
Oliver Pough, SC State
Joe Taylor, FAMU

MVC
Trent Miles, ISUb
Mark Hendrickson, WIU

NEC
Kevin Callahan, Monmouth
Jeff McInerney, CCSU

OVC
Bob Spoo, EIU
Dean Hood, EKU

Patriot
Dick Biddle, Colgate
Joe Susan, Bucknell

Pioneer
Ron Caragher, San Diego
Dale Carlson, Valpo

Southern
Kevin Higgins, The Citadel
Russ Huesman, UTC

Southland
JC Harper, SFA
Mike Lucas, SE LA

SWAC
Karl Morgan, MS Valley State
Heishma Northern, Prairie View A&M

Well, that explains Maine's lack of respect.......no coach that has faced Maine is voting and McDonnell (UNH) is one of the voters. And Laycock (who beat UNH) is the other CAA voter.......LOL. No wonder UNH almost passed Maine.

By the way, anyone notice that most of the voters coach at less than stellar programs?

[SLOSTYLE]

Feel your pain, SLO...hope none of this affects CP's playoff chances. Would love to see the Mustang's in the FargoDome later this year!

Reality is that we have to win out which will be tough but it is doable. I cannot wait until next year when we join a "real" conference and can eliminate that 2nd FBS game from our schedules. A rematch of the old Great west days at the fargo dome would be really a great treat for both teams, and hey, who knows, maybe Poly could come away with their second win in a North Dakota Dome this year???

[bojeta]

Gotta love this LOL!! All we needed in addition to North Dakota and South Dakota being ranked ahead of us was Southern Utah in there. Wow! Sweep your conference and wind up ranked behind them. Another fine week for the Zero Validity Poll.

[tribefan40]

Well, that explains Maine's lack of respect.......no coach that has faced Maine is voting and McDonnell (UNH) is one of the voters. And Laycock (who beat UNH) is the other CAA voter.......LOL. No wonder UNH almost passed Maine.

By the way, anyone notice that most of the voters coach at less than stellar programs?

You don't think the coaches actually vote, do you? Seriously? xeyebrowx

[tingly]

Poly's D2 game hurts Poly a lot more than a 2nd FBS game. With the way things are shaping up, it wouldn't surprise me if it keeps an 8-3 Poly out of the playoffs. Theyv'e been bit before by that, but they couldn't scare up an FCS opponent to save their lives. Big Sky will be much more handy there.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Well, that explains Maine's lack of respect.......no coach that has faced Maine is voting and McDonnell (UNH) is one of the voters. And Laycock (who beat UNH) is the other CAA voter.......LOL. No wonder UNH almost passed Maine.

By the way, anyone notice that most of the voters coach at less than stellar programs?

do you really think it's the coaches voting in this pole?

[SLOSTYLE]

Poly's D2 game hurts Poly a lot more than a 2nd FBS game. With the way things are shaping up, it wouldn't surprise me if it keeps an 8-3 Poly out of the playoffs. Theyv'e been bit before by that, but they couldn't scare up an FCS opponent to save their lives. Big Sky will be much more handy there.

couldnt agree more, but thats just the way things go when you live 3 hours from the nearest airport of any significance (no, im not counting the santa maria airport, even though they have great deals to vegas). You have to schedule road games against fbs teams, travel long distance with no reciprocity (south alabama this year, nwst, mcneese st, odu, in years past etc. ) and generally hope you can get any fcs team to come visit. This big sky move was long overdue if they wanted to save the football program from elimination, and im just happy the big sky let us (and davis) in without forcing us to leave the perfect situation in the big west that we enjoy in all other sports

[mainejeff]

do you really think it's the coaches voting in this pole?

Whatever........then the SIDs of programs that haven't faced Maine. There, you happy?

[AppAlum2003]

I would hate to face the Sudden Infant Death Syndromes of those schools. Scarey stuff.

[UNH Fanboi]

Whatever........then the SIDs of programs that haven't faced Maine. There, you happy?

Coach Mac or UNH's SID would probably be among the most likely people in the CAA to respect Maine. Maine is likely underrated because of the other 28 voters in the poll. UNH's and W&M's votes couldn't sabotage Maine even if they wanted to.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Whatever........then the SIDs of programs that haven't faced Maine. There, you happy?

No I'm not happy...i had to shovel snow this weekend;)

Maybe I'm wrong, but I read into your post that Coach Mac is out to screw Maine in the polls

[cannonballgsu]

The votes for GSU were obviously mistakes. They were trying to vote for ga state.




And honestly, GSU should not have received any 1st place votes. They lost - only by one touchdown in arguably the toughest atmosphere in the FCS in freezing temps (small exaggeration) to a #5 ranked App State - but they lost.

Just remember, rankings mean nothing. Also, just because you beat one team, doesn't mean you are the best. Just look at the Socon:

GSU < App State < Wofford < Furman < GSU

[SumItUp]

Maine falls under the category:

"Team that you would least like to face in their home stadium in the FCS playoffs"

FIFY

[darell1976]

This is obviously a stupid poll simply because USD's coach voted for USD that is why South Dakota is still alive in the polls. UND at least beat a FCS team (but IMO shouldn't be in). South Dakota has a bye, DII team, and then North Dakota. Sorry Cal Poly looks like USD will be above you forever. I do think Cal Poly should be not only ranked but around 15.

[Wildcat80]

Maine finally cracks the Top 10!........but a 6-2 UNH almost passes them........LOL.

No problemo....see you in Durham!!

[tingly]

To be a pedantic pain in the neck, the "automatic at-large" berths use polls as criteria. It exists just in case the Pioneer League champ is a top 20 team, but can't get a regular at-large berth. So, maybe twice a century, polls will matter. :)

[inpsite1919]

All FCS Polls don't make since. People complain about the FBS bowl system, but atleast there pools make aren't bias

[JMUNJ08]

All FCS Polls don't make since. People complain about the FBS bowl system, but atleast there pools make aren't bias

Don't you remember a few years ago where all the coaches made sure to vote themselves in the final poll and shuffled the top 10 like crazy to 'fix' the BCS championship game???

[GeauxLions94]

A team can lose and still be thought of as the best team in the nation.

See Delaware in final 2010 poll

[cpalum]

This poll is garbage......for all of the reasons already mentioned above. For whatever reason Cal Poly has been overlooked by a couple polls this year. I bit my tongue till now.... our only FCS loss of the year was on the road at Montana! How does a voter simulataneously say USD or UND (Or SDSU and SUU earlier in the year) are soo good that despite their loss to CP they will stay in the poll... meanwhile Cal Poly has beat all those teams and remains outside the top 25. Horse****!

[ThreadStopper]

What a joke!

[bojeta]

No ****, it's horse****!!! We know what's going on here. South Dakota's coach knew he'd be the only Great West rep voting and figured he'd get a jab in. If this vote is going to count in any way, someone needs to get on the horn to Walsh and make sure we're represented on this.


This poll is garbage......for all of the reasons already mentioned above. For whatever reason Cal Poly has been overlooked by a couple polls this year. I bit my tongue till now.... our only FCS loss of the year was on the road at Montana! How does a voter simulataneously say USD or UND (Or SDSU and SUU earlier in the year) are soo good that despite their loss to CP they will stay in the poll... meanwhile Cal Poly has beat all those teams and remains outside the top 25. Horse****!

[goyotes]

No ****, it's horse****!!! We know what's going on here. South Dakota's coach knew he'd be the only Great West rep voting and figured he'd get a jab in. If this vote is going to count in any way, someone needs to get on the horn to Walsh and make sure we're represented on this.

Have to throw the BS flag on this accusation. Agree the the Mustangs should be ahead of the Yotes and am sure Meierkort agrees and voted accordingly. Good luck the rest of the season. I hope you win out the rest of the regular season. If you do things will take care of themselves.

[slostang]

Have to throw the BS flag on this accusation. Agree the the Mustangs should be ahead of the Mustangs and am sure Meierkort agrees and voted accordingly. Good luck the rest of the season. I hope you win out the rest of the regular season. If you do things will take care of themselves.

I agree, and even if Meierkort did vote the Yotes ahead of the Mustangs (I could see where he would think this), it would take more than one coaches vote to have this happen.

[coover]

This poll is completely crazy. While most of the best teams are represented, the order makes absolutely no sense. And at the bottom of the poll, teams that should be in the top 15 - 25 are often found listed as also receiving votes.

I prefer Sagarin's "Predictor" poll, not really a poll, but a computer analysis in which wins and losses are not as important as who you played and the point difference in those games. Of course teams that do not pour it on and teams whose level of play from week to week depends on the competition, are rated a bit lower, but for the most part, it gives reasonable results.

Unfortunately, determining rank in Sagarin's Predictor takes some work so I did not try to get a Predictor Top 25. Actually, my analysis was to determine where my alma mater ranked, so it will be at the bottom of the list, 14th.

Here is Sagarin's Top 14 ...

1. North Dakota State
2. Northern Iowa
3. Georgia Southern
4. Wooford
5. Sam Houston Institute of Technology
6. Montana State
7. Montana
8. Southern Utah
9. Harvard
10. Chatanooga
11. App. State
12. Illinois State
13. Furman
14. Cal Poly

[goyotes]

Sagarin normally makes more sense the further you get into the season. Interesting to see Southern Utah at #8.

[dakota]

This poll is garbage......for all of the reasons already mentioned above. For whatever reason Cal Poly has been overlooked by a couple polls this year. I bit my tongue till now.... our only FCS loss of the year was on the road at Montana! How does a voter simulataneously say USD or UND (Or SDSU and SUU earlier in the year) are soo good that despite their loss to CP they will stay in the poll... meanwhile Cal Poly has beat all those teams and remains outside the top 25. Horse****!
yeah, wondered about that too

[coover]

Sagarin normally makes more sense the further you get into the season. Interesting to see Southern Utah at #8.

Poly was at home when they beat Southern Utah. A game at Southern Utah quite possibly would have been a SUU win. Sagarin thinks so! That is why the Thunderbirds are ranked higher than the Mustangs.

[bojeta]

Have to throw the BS flag on this accusation. Agree the the Mustangs should be ahead of the Yotes and am sure Meierkort agrees and voted accordingly. Good luck the rest of the season. I hope you win out the rest of the regular season. If you do things will take care of themselves.

Ya, I got a little over excited there. I agree, Meierkort probably only voted for the Yotes as would be expected. I guess my real frustration here is the lack of input from Cal Poly on this Poll. I'm no expert on how the final spots are chosen, but I'm hearing a lot of rumbling about these polls being involved in the final spots and, if so, we need input. If not, never mind :)

[JMUNJ08]

I prefer Sagarin's "Predictor" poll, not really a poll, but a computer analysis in which wins and losses are not as important as who you played and the point difference in those games. Of course teams that do not pour it on and teams whose level of play from week to week depends on the competition, are rated a bit lower, but for the most part, it gives reasonable results.

Unfortunately, determining rank in Sagarin's Predictor takes some work so I did not try to get a Predictor Top 25. Actually, my analysis was to determine where my alma mater ranked, so it will be at the bottom of the list, 14th.

Here is Sagarin's Top 14 ...

1. North Dakota State
2. Northern Iowa
3. Georgia Southern
4. Wooford
5. Sam Houston Institute of Technology
6. Montana State
7. Montana
8. Southern Utah
9. Harvard
10. Chatanooga
11. App. State
12. Illinois State
13. Furman
14. Cal Poly

You can see how bad this is as there is 0 CAA teams (Maine at LEAST) and then those above that are bolded should not be up this high...
Keep movin...nothing worth seeing here...

[youwouldno]

You can see how bad this is as there is 0 CAA teams (Maine at LEAST) and then those above that are bolded should not be up this high...
Keep movin...nothing worth seeing here...

I've said this before, but in case you missed it- if you are better at picking games than Sagarin you need to start betting. You will make a fortune.