Top 25 rankings

[K-Mack]

Self-promoter! 

Okay ... all six preseason polls are posted here:

http://bridgewaterfootball.com/d3rankings.html

[JT]

Since I'm behind due to a computer crash, I'm just gonna copy kid's code and change the font and colors.  I hope you don't mind there kid.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Not at all JT!

I thought no one would notice K-Mack 

[Mr. Ypsi]

Just saw the week 1 poll - nothing jumped out at me as a surprise except that Millikin only got 10 points after destroying #24 Wartburg!

Evidently the voters concluded that Wartburg was grossly overrated, rather than that Millikin was particularly good.

Wait a second - I'm a Titan and I'm defending the Big Blue??

[Ralph Turner]

Mr. Ypsi, I think that the implied dignity of the appellation of "Mr." is having a salutary effect upon you!

[Mr. Ypsi]

Ralph,

I "Applaud" for a great back-handed compliment!  (So, as cabonney I was a total thug?! )

[repete]

Linfield, which returns All-America quarterback Blake Elliott among 14 starters from last year's national title team, is followed by national runner-up Mary Hardin-Baylor. Mount Union, Hardin-Simmons and Ohio Northern round out the top five. Sports Weekly also names five players to watch.

I have no doubt he could play QB but I could never see Blake in putrid purple.

[Pat Coleman]

Yeah. I thought about editing the post but figured I should take my lumps for the typo.

[K-Mack]

Top 25s ... interesting. I'm definitely a voter that re-evaluates everything each week, as opposed to dropping anyone that loses a spot and bumping all the winners up to fill the holes.

I think there are too many teams in d3 for me to just give away top 25 votes to teams that aren't justifying being there. And sometimes I know a team will likely pass some test later in the season and get itself back in the poll, or a conference is so jumbled that even though I think it's a strong conference, I don't know which teams stands out and subsequently vote for none.

Preseason is a different animal entirely ... I had six or so of my teams drop completely out after this week. I usually rank 10 teams for my personal enjoyment (maybe an ATN feature?) after the top 25, and when I'm not impressed by a result and drop someone out as I re-evaluate, that's the group I move others up from.

If all that makes any sense.

I also try to avoid just looking at the score ... like that Penn State game in '94 when they were beating Indiana 35-14 and the scrubs gave up 2 late TDs and they fell from No. 1 to No. 2, and never caught Nebraska. And because it was dumb no-playoff-havin D1 they went unbeaten and won the rose bowl and were not champions ... well not that we have to worry about "creating the news" and similar injustices by voting in our poll, since the d3 playoff teams will all sort it out (and if you didn't make the playoffs, you had your shot) ... but I like to take the poll that seriously and look at more than scores.

Let's just say it doesn't thrill the wife when I take a significant amount of time to vote on Saturday nights/Sunday mornings when we're out of town or something ... won't say how long ... either I'm a wife-ignoring loser, or not spending long enough on it.

Do any of you out there have thoughts on the fluctuations in the d3 poll, or how it stacks up against the AFCA and other polls? Certainly my top 25 is not the top 25 we all end up with each week, which is probably good (Augustana who?) but also means I look at our own poll sometimes and shake my head in disagreement.

[repete]

Pat:
It was too easy to pass up, but in all seriousness, I have to say this is a very clean web site for large amount of copy and small crew putting it out.

K-Mack:
I think it's pretty clear that your ratings are the best ragarded of those available.The ESPN talking-head gig Pat gets for the playoff seedings is one indication, but more telling is the number of times your poll is cited by local media in markets where d3 ball is a big deal. Folks who know d3 ball know this is the No. 1 source of info by a long ways.

[Ralph Turner]

As we look at the vote totals for Week #2 from Week #1, we real consolidation for HSU at the #4 position.  Almost everyone else thru the Top 8 stayed the same.

• Linfield   1st 625 625
• UMHB 2nd  591  591 
• MUC 3rd 570 570
• HSU 4th 534  508
• ONU  5th 480  479
• Rowan   6th 477  473
• W&J  7th 464  469
• Oxy  8th 437  440

HSU gained 26 points from 25 voters over the last week, one rank per voter last week, and they didn't even suit up.

[K-Mack]

K-Mack:
I think it's pretty clear that your ratings are the best ragarded of those available.The ESPN talking-head gig Pat gets for the playoff seedings is one indication, but more telling is the number of times your poll is cited by local media in markets where d3 ball is a big deal. Folks who know d3 ball know this is the No. 1 source of info by a long ways.

Fine point, thanks for the kudos/reminder. It helps that we care at times other than the preseason and playoffs, but I don't want to appear that no one else could do a d3 poll that mattered ... it just takes some time to actually sit down and look at things closely.

Oh, and I thought you deserved some good karma for that.

[gordonmann]

Ralph:

This was one of the easiest ballots I've ever cast, for whatever that's worth.  I like it when the favorites all win and make my job easy. 

[Ron Boerger]

When's the last time, I wonder, that all Top 25 teams won?

[Pat Coleman]

I am not 100% sure it has ever happened in our poll.