Week one BlogPoll
by JazzyUte on Sep 2, 2008 11:55 AM MDT
in Football
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PrintI have submitted my top-25 and results should be posted tomorrow.
In the meantime, here is how I ranked 'em.
| Rank | Team | Delta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southern Cal | -- |
| 2 | Ohio State | -- |
| 3 | Florida |  1 |
| 4 | LSU | 1 |
| 5 | Georgia |  2 |
| 6 | Oklahoma | -- |
| 7 | Missouri | 1 |
| 8 | Auburn | 1 |
| 9 | Texas | 1 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 3 |
| 11 | Wisconsin | -- |
| 12 | Oregon | 5 |
| 13 | Kansas | 3 |
| 14 | Arizona State | 1 |
| 15 | Texas Tech | 1 |
| 16 | Utah | 7 |
| 17 | Alabama | 9 |
| 18 | South Florida | 2 |
| 19 | California | 6 |
| 20 | Brigham Young | 2 |
| 21 | Wake Forest | -- |
| 22 | Fresno State | 2 |
| 23 | Clemson | 11 |
| 24 | East Carolina | 2 |
| 25 | Virginia Tech | 12 |
I may be too high on Utah, but I think they deserve to shoot up in the rankings for defeating Michigan on the road. I dropped Georgia two spots because I wasn't as impressed with their win over an FCS team. This is why I also dropped BYU, Texas Tech and West Virginia.
Tennessee and Illinois dropped out of the rankings because of their losses, but I still am not ready to rank UCLA in the top-25 just yet, even though they did beat the Vols. East Carolina and Alabama both made this week's ballot, as they had impressive wins over ranked opponents, especially Alabama.
Clemson, losers to the Tide, fell 11 spots to 23rd, while I probably overrated Virginia Tech, who fell 12 spots in this week's ballot.
Anyway, there you have it, my ballot for week one. I didn't get a chance to ask for input because of yesterday being Labor Day, but hopefully I'm not too off in my choices.
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You dropped...
Texas Tech because they beat someone 49-24? Yes, Eastern Washington is a FCS team but a highly ranked one at that. Then you move Utah up for beating a medicore Michigan team, I have to question your judgement on that. I bet Eastern Washington could beat or at the very least give Michigan a good run. Yes I am a Tech fan but still, a drop seems unwarranted.
Being an accountant and famous don't go together. If you're a famous accountant, you probably did something wrong.
I disagree...
I don’t see any way Eastern Washington beats Michigan or gives them a run for their money.
And the reason I dropped Texas Tech was because they struggled for most of that game against the Eagles. I mean, Tech only led 28-17 at the half and 35-24 at the end of the third before putting it away in the 4th. Not an impressive victory.
I guess
I see where I disagree with you now. You say Tech struggled, but what I think you meant is they didn’t score 100 points on E Wash. They were never behind in this game nor was the outcome close. Yes, E Wash was within two touchdowns for a little while but that’s not really struggling. Tech only allowed 4.3 yards per play, which means on a mainly passing oriented team they weren’t moving anywhere. E Wash is not a horrible team and it was expected for them to score points. They mainly pass like Tech and with their basically not existent running game of course they had a bunch of passing yards.
Being an accountant and famous don't go together. If you're a famous accountant, you probably did something wrong.
That is not what I said at all.
There is a difference between scoring 100 points and soundly dominating a team from a lesser division. Were the Eagles going to win? No. Were they going to make it extremely close? No. But the fact Tech still only had less than a two touchdown lead entering the fourth and final quarter shows me they didn’t play as well as they could have.
Look across the country and compare Tech’s win over a FCS team to others. Teams like Oklahoma, Boise State, Penn State and others simply dominated more than Tech, Georgia and BYU did in week one. It doesn’t mean they’re bad teams, it just means they didn’t play as well as they could have.
It's not really fair
to compare E Wash to Chattanooga. That’s like comparing Missouri to Baylor. Of course OU should have dominated them. There’s a big difference between a good FCS team and a bad one.
Being an accountant and famous don't go together. If you're a famous accountant, you probably did something wrong.
I agree...
However, I also think there is a big difference between a really good FCS team and a middle of the road BCS team. Not saying Tech is middle of the road, because I think they easily win 10+ games this year. However, last Saturday, they just didn’t have that impressive of a victory.
Does it mean they’re bad? No. It just means I found it hard to bump them up with a win like that. I’m sure if they abuse Nevada, which I fully expect them to do, they’ll climb again.
Moved KU up 3 spots?
So, you moved Georgia, West Virginia, Texas Tech, and BYU down for not doing well enough (avg of 25 point win)against good FCS teams, but moved Kansas up 3 whole spots for beating a bottom feeder (literally) of the FBS in Florida International by a similar 30 points? I guess I kinda see the rationale, but I think it’s stretching it. FIU was 1-11 last season. EWU was a national title contender in the FCS.
I guess there’s no bright side for playing these good FCS teams, which are better than half of FBS teams. Beat ‘em, well you didn’t beat ‘em good enough. You lose, even by a hair, and you’re a laughing stock. I will expect you to move Texas Tech down again when they play UMass (#5 FCS) in a couple of weeks, win or lose.
Yes - Stop Playing so Many FCS Teams
Texas Tech’s non-conference schedule is a joke almost every year, and this year is no exception.
You are correct that “there’s no bright side for playing these good FCS teams.” Varsity squads are supposed to beat up on the J.V squads. Even if it is an above-average FCS team, it is still just a J.V. squad. There is no basis for your argument that good FCS teams are better than half of the FBS.
I definitely don’t like it when Utah plays FCS teams and I wish they never did.
Tulsa Cancelled late
and Texas Tech replaced them with EWU. I still don’t see how a Kansas team who beats Florida International gets moved up 3 spots while others who beat better FCS teams get moved down. FIU would be a middle of the pack FCS team. No argument that good FCS teams are better than some of the FBS? How about this:
Sagarin’s final computer rankings had the FCS Southern conference (60.50) rated ahead of three FBS conferences: Conference USA (59.54), Sunbelt (59.19) and MAC (54.99)
A sampling of the final Sagarin Rankings for 2007 (both FBS and FCS teams combined, total of 242 teams),
App State #44
N Iowa #62
Delaware #73
S Illinois #76
UMass #77
Villanova #93
Georgia Southern #97
McNeese State #100
Eastern Washington #110
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL #170
Facts will
usually put unresearched jibber jabber in its place. Nice posts djollie.
Being an accountant and famous don't go together. If you're a famous accountant, you probably did something wrong.
Not trying to change anybody's mind
because I know these things are just one person’s opinion, and really don’t mean anything. But what they do is generate discussion, which I think we’ve accomplished. Good luck to the Utes, and here’s to an exciting 2008 season!
That's One Computer's Analysis
You need more evidence than that. Last week only one FCS team beat a FBS team. If the best FCS teams are so good, why aren’t they beating more FBS teams?
More evidence?
So only one FCS team beat an FBS team last week? Well, that’s 1 more win than Florida International has had against FBS opponents in the last 2 years COMBINED.
I’ve already given statistical evidence with the Sagarin rankings and now winning percentage compared to FIU. How about now somebody gives me evidence that shows FIU is better than the top 25 FCS teams?
My argument is: Why does Kansas get moved up 3 spots while the others get moved down for beating teams that are better than FIU?
As far as history:
FCS Northern Iowa handled Iowa State last year 24-13. Two Big Ten teams lost to FCS teams and New Hampshire has a three game winning streak (Marshall, Northwestern and Rutgers) against FBS teams. N Dakota St beat Central Michigan along with Minnesota. Nicholls State over Rice. Plenty more where that came from.
correction
UNT is an FBS team. So FIU has exactly one win over an FBS opponent in the last 2 years. My argument still stands, though.
How about top-25 ranked FCS teams?
BYU (#16 FBS) 41-17 over Northern Iowa (#4 FCS) – 24 points; N. Iowa pulled within 27-17
Maryland 14-7 over Delaware (#8 FCS) – 7 points
Arkansas 28-24 over Western Illinois (#22 FCS) – 4 points
LSU (#7 FBS) 41-13 over Appalachian State (#1 FCS) – 28 points
West Virginia (#8 FBS) 48-24 over Villanova (#18 FCS) – 27 points
Georgia (#1 FBS) 41-24 over Georgia Southern (#17 FCS) – 24 points
North Carolina 35-27 over McNeese State (#10 FCS) – 8 points
EWU stayed close because of the school-record 18 penalties by TTU and the gift of an interception GH gave them which they ended up within ten yards of the end zone. EWU didn’t get a first down until the second quarter. Granted, we had our first-game jitters that were unacceptable, but we also held them to 23 yards on 22 rushes, and had 3 INT’s and 3 sacks on them, played 3 running backs and had 7 receivers get a catch (3 caught 9 each). This was an experiment game. Tried a few new things on offense and defense.
I know there is a lot of talk by Tech fans that we didn’t play as well as we should have, but for any other team, 25 points IS a blowout. We’ve been spoiled here playing SE Louisiana, NW State, Florida International, etc. which are bottom feeders of the FCS. 75-0 has been the norm for those FCS opponents.
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