Top 25 rankings

[Jonny Utah]

I put way too much stock into RPI last year (17 starters back, 11 on offense) and they let me down. 

yea, and we were just talking about how Sprinfield has all those offensive players back.

Springfield is, and only will be, a regular season team.  They run a gimmick offense that puts up points in the regular season under ideal conditions and then flops when the weather turns. They'll do nothing once they get to the playoffs, as usual, with no passing game.

I would say yes but Ive seen teams from other divisions run a similar offensive and do very well (GA Southern in 1-AA, and do I remember N. Alabama or Delta st. running it in d2?

[pg04]

I will vouch for Wesley and say they are deserving of a top 5 ranking.  However I think I would have put them at 5 behind UWW and fisher.  Just because they play bad against one team consistently doesn't mean they deserve to be dropped, As Pat said, they have beaten Mary Hardin Baylor. 

[frank uible]

Springfield "flops" at the end of the season because it is then that it is playing better teams with personnel better than it has - Springfield tends to lack team speed compared to those better teams - as a rule when it plays teams with comparable or lesser speed than it has, it wins on execution.

[@d3jason]

I will vouch for Wesley and say they are deserving of a top 5 ranking.  However I think I would have put them at 5 behind UWW and fisher.  Just because they play bad against one team consistently doesn't mean they deserve to be dropped, As Pat said, they have beaten Mary Hardin Baylor. 

I can see Wesley behind UWW, but I don't see Fisher having much more claim to step ahead of Wesley, other than the Mount game. Their only common opponent was Brockport. SJF beat Brockport 27-20 two weeks before Wesley beat the 48-17.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder who does carry it.

I spoke too soon!  It was at the B&N in Harrisonburg.  Excellent read!

My only gripe is to the layout editor - why the heck did they let the (Pa.) drop below W&J?!  Sorry, I used to do layout for my school's paper. I'm a stickler.

[Ralph Turner]

Yeah, I'm starting to wonder who does carry it.

I spoke too soon!  It was at the B&N in Harrisonburg.  Excellent read!

My only gripe is to the layout editor - why the heck did they let the (Pa.) drop below W&J?!  Sorry, I used to do layout for my school's paper. I'm a stickler.

The layout editor must have been a D-1 grad...     

[Pat Coleman]

Keith: Kansas or Howard?

Matt: I'm not feeling your sticklerness.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Matt: I'm not feeling your sticklerness.

It was printed like this:

...
16. Cortland State
17. Capital
18. Washington & Jefferson
(Pa.)
19. Christopher Newport
20. Linfield
...

[gordonmann]

Frank:

Well said.  I think that succinctly explains Springfield's ceiling.

[frank uible]

We aim to please.

[rowanlb92]

He needs a quicker release and a better move to first, too.

(As in, he was slow on the trigger and doesn't look off his primary target.)

Although Orihel sometimes locked on targets too, Rankin tended to look for Wr's that he threw to in JV and practice.  Since he runs the show this year, I hope that improves.  He'll be working with the whole bunch.

First four-year non transfer at QB since the 80's.  Warker only played two years. Hmmm... Ed Hesson (), Greg Lister (Univ of Maryland),  Gus Ornstein (ND, Mich St), Jeff Orihel (CW Post), Mike Warker (Rowan), Tony Racioppi (Tenn St), Mike Orihel (New Hampshire).

Still don't know if they'll be any surprises (transfers) at Wr, DB, DL.

I heard from another alum that Rowan has some nice recruits this year.  The list may contain a stud QB.  But we will see.

[JT]

He needs a quicker release and a better move to first, too.

(As in, he was slow on the trigger and doesn't look off his primary target.)

Although Orihel sometimes locked on targets too, Rankin tended to look for Wr's that he threw to in JV and practice.  Since he runs the show this year, I hope that improves.  He'll be working with the whole bunch.

First four-year non transfer at QB since the 80's.  Warker only played two years. Hmmm... Ed Hesson (), Greg Lister (Univ of Maryland),  Gus Ornstein (ND, Mich St), Jeff Orihel (CW Post), Mike Warker (Rowan), Tony Racioppi (Tenn St), Mike Orihel (New Hampshire).

Still don't know if they'll be any surprises (transfers) at Wr, DB, DL.

I heard from another alum that Rowan has some nice recruits this year.  The list may contain a stud QB.  But we will see.

Good to hear from you.  Looking forward to the NJAC media day.  We'll know more then.  See you in Sept.

[KennethK]

K-MacK..Wesley and LaCrosse are the head-scratchers for me.  Wesley has been discussed but how do you figure LX worthy of such a high ranking.  Didn't they graduate a bunch, including starting QB.  An opener in the heat of Texas at Hardin Simmons with many first timers..then AZ Pacific..followed by Whitewater..sounds like a 1 and 2 start to me. 

[K-Mack]

I don't pretend to know where UWW should be ranked and I believe more than most understand how much the graduated Warhawks did mean to the team for the last two years.............my point is simply that given all that Wesley should not be ranked ahead of Whitewater because simply Whitewater was and still is a much better team.

As long as you have your reasons and understand I have mine, I don't see why we can't agree to disagree.

[K-Mack]

K-MacK..Wesley and LaCrosse are the head-scratchers for me.  Wesley has been discussed but how do you figure LX worthy of such a high ranking.  Didn't they graduate a bunch, including starting QB.  An opener in the heat of Texas at Hardin Simmons with many first timers..then AZ Pacific..followed by Whitewater..sounds like a 1 and 2 start to me. 

I don't think any of those games are a gimme for any of those teams; ASC-WIAC matchups have traditionally gone the WIAC's way, except for Hardin-Simmons/Stevens Point last year. The ASC has also been competitive in some of the matchups. La Crosse won at Asuza 27-10 last year (assuming that was the one you were counting as the W) and they host Whitewater, which lost a lot as and will still be getting its bearings as well. LaCrosse wisely scheduled two weeks to prepare for its second and third game as well.

That said, you can definitely disagree with the rankings.

Considering last year's playoffs, returning talent and this year's schedules, seven teams emerged for me in sort of a top tier. In that tier, Mount Union, UMHB and Wesley each returned more of their key players than they lost; St. John Fisher had some big losses but also some key returners, and Whitewater, La Crosse and St. John's all lost a lot, but seemed to establish a level of play higher than their peers through last season. Capital belonged in that group too, but fell in the preseason top 25 because they have a conference team poised to leapfrog them, based on what was returning.

In any case, I didn't think La Crosse had enough back to be ranked higher than Whitewater, but I didn't know if Central or Hardin-Simmons deserved to be as high as 6 or 7.

The real trouble with doing the rankings in June is the lack of preseason rosters and previews available, so you can get a feel for who is back and who isn't. That left me to do a couple things to get those results, neither of which are foolproof: Go back and look at who started the team's last playoff game, and see how many of those players were listed as seniors (you could miss a key injury returnee this way; also been known to find "seniors" last season who play the next season) and look at all-conference teams and see what's gone and back; Lucky for me the WIAC goes first, second and HM with their team and Lax had a big presence on that team.

Among the key guys gone and back, via those methods, for UW-L, I got 10 gone, six back. St. John's was 7 gone, 4 back and UWW ... Lord have mercy, if I have to run that list back again.

Anyway, thanks to Pat and Gordon (I think), D3football.com top 25 voters get a more full report, broken down by position and including about 60 teams, on a spreadsheet in August. But even that is usually compiled after season previews shed some light on what each team has back, and possibly, knowing who's reporting/reported to camp in August.