East Region Fan Poll

[dlippiel]

No dlip doesn't think you are ExTart. Dlip thinks you make a good point here about a team dlip agrees is good and should be in the poll.

[wesleydad]

So, about Hobart running the table...

I'm probably asking for trouble just by pointing this out, but that Springfield team who just rolled off 35 points in the second half against the Statesmen lost to WNE by 20 points in week 1...does WNE get any transitive points here?  Not saying they should suddenly go up to #4 or something ridiculous, but can we at least agree that this solidifies them as a ranking-worthy team?  Or will we see someone manage to rank Springfield ahead of WNE this week?

They will be in mine.  Plenty of average teams in the east.  no reason they are not as good as or better than the average teams.  I have had them around almost all year.  Some teams have been in the poll based on past reputation, but have done little this year to stay.  I get it that the league they are in may not be that competitive, but they have blown out teams that are beating or competing with the prior reputation teams this year.

[bman]

Just submitted my poll.

I have to say that I am now officially almost clueless...

All I need no is Wesley to lose, and then I'll just pick names out of a hat....

[ExTartanPlayer]

I have to say that I am now officially almost clueless...

As we all are....LewDogg said it last week:

Weird year.  I like it.

This is going to set up lots of fun games as the season goes.  There's something to be said for a powerhouse undefeated team emerging, but it's also fun when two or three games each week have a legitimate impact on a league-title picture.  The Empire 8, Liberty League, and MAC are all going to have multiple title-affecting matchups over the next few weeks. 

[lewdogg11]

OK so the question on WNEC cracking the top 10 this week...I just inserted my poll.  Before sitting down and breaking down the ranking I was pretty sure they'd be at 10.  I actually started with them at 10.  However, they got knocked out to keep the 11 spot that they had a week ago for me.  I think I made a major mistake in not having Salisbury ranked until now, so they jumped WAY up for me.  I'm still not sold on the The Steve, but a close loss to DVC is a quality loss so i'm not ready to drop them out quite yet.  And I think St. Lawrence jumps in with their win this week.  So while I had RPI and Hobart drop out of the top 10, I had Salisbury and the Larries jump over WNEC.  Unfortunately, their schedule doesn't do them any favors in saying, 'now it's time to jump a few spots'.  They kind of just hover where they are until the end of the year for me.  They will probably finish somewhere around 9 or 10 in my poll after the regular season ends and depending on what they do in the playoffs, they will likely end around there unless they make a splash, which i'm not ruling out, I just don't have any real data to prove it.

So that's the discussion there.  There's still a solid amount of zero and 1 loss teams so until they filter out, it is what it is.

[ExTartanPlayer]

+K Lew.  Thanks for explaining the rationale.  I can buy that.

What I'm ready to jump on is if I see a poll with Springfield ranked ahead of WNE, with some bizarre rationale that Springfield beating Hobart this week is enough to override the fact that WNE beat Springfield head-to-head and hasn't lost yet. 

[bman]

I'm not so sure yet that the Stevenson loss was a quality loss.  I didn't treat it that way.  I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks...

[lewdogg11]

I'm not so sure yet that the Stevenson loss was a quality loss.  I didn't treat it that way.  I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks...

I can't say I completely disagree with you but last week I had The Steve ranked 7 and DVC 10 and DVC won 18-15.  So what exactly do I do?  DVC took 7 and The Steve dropped to 8 for me.  The PA teams are really tough for me because i've never seen any of them play in person, I just know there has been SOME success there in the playoffs over the past 15 years.  The LL/E8 teams tend to be tough as nails, can lose a crappy game to anyone in the regular season because the competition is pretty stiff, but tend to at least have some success each year in the playoffs.  DVC and Widener are really the 2 most recent to do it.  Albright possibly could be the real deal this year.  The Steve is an unknown.

I made mention last week that I wouldn't be crazy to look at Cortland's schedule and think they could finish 5-5.  Well, 1 game in, they proved me right so far.  They could still finish anywhere from 9-1 to 5-5.  Look out for Alfred and Utica to possibly throw a major wrinkle into the E8 this year!!!  If they don't, the Cortaca game might be something for the ages.

[PA_wesleyfan]

I wonder what effect the stabbing of one player by another at
Albright will have on the team going forward.

http://6abc.com/news/police-albright-player-stabs-teammate-with-corkscrew/1028891/

[bman]

I'm not so sure yet that the Stevenson loss was a quality loss.  I didn't treat it that way.  I guess we'll know in a couple of weeks...

I can't say I completely disagree with you but last week I had The Steve ranked 7 and DVC 10 and DVC won 18-15.  So what exactly do I do?  DVC took 7 and The Steve dropped to 8 for me.  The PA teams are really tough for me because i've never seen any of them play in person, I just know there has been SOME success there in the playoffs over the past 15 years.  The LL/E8 teams tend to be tough as nails, can lose a crappy game to anyone in the regular season because the competition is pretty stiff, but tend to at least have some success each year in the playoffs.  DVC and Widener are really the 2 most recent to do it.  Albright possibly could be the real deal this year.  The Steve is an unknown.

I made mention last week that I wouldn't be crazy to look at Cortland's schedule and think they could finish 5-5.  Well, 1 game in, they proved me right so far.  They could still finish anywhere from 9-1 to 5-5.  Look out for Alfred and Utica to possibly throw a major wrinkle into the E8 this year!!!  If they don't, the Cortaca game might be something for the ages.

Lycoming, Del Val and Widener would fit right in the mix in either the LL or E8 barring the odd down year.  Other than the early 2000s when WU had an incredible offense (with a sub par defense), many of the MAC games are gritty affairs...regardless of the scores...
I guess when I look at the DVU loss to Wilkes (and make the comparative result to Albright, I can't put either that high...
I have seen an E8 team in person (Cortland) but haven't seen a LL team in a long, long time (Hobart at WU in the early 2000s), but most of what I am using as basis is from watching the video feeds.  It's hard to get a real sense as to how teams compare from that...

[Jonny Utah]

If there is one thing we learned from The Wire, not messing with the Stevedores is one of them.  Never underestimate the Steves.


WNEC just hasn't played enough good/common opponents to put them in the top 10 I agree, although if you gave any other East team besides maybe Wesley the same schedule, the results would probably be the same, with maybe even a loss to SC.

[lewdogg11]

I wonder what effect the stabbing of one player by another at
Albright will have on the team going forward.

http://6abc.com/news/police-albright-player-stabs-teammate-with-corkscrew/1028891/

I don't think this will really affect the team on the field since they were both freshman, but this is just a sad state of affairs.  What the he!! is wrong with the world?  This story is ridiculous.  Hopefully the victim(whether innocent in this or not) will be ok.  I'll just be here shaking my head for a few hours. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

I wonder what effect the stabbing of one player by another at
Albright will have on the team going forward.

http://6abc.com/news/police-albright-player-stabs-teammate-with-corkscrew/1028891/

I don't think this will really affect the team on the field since they were both freshman, but this is just a sad state of affairs.  What the he!! is wrong with the world?  This story is ridiculous.  Hopefully the victim(whether innocent in this or not) will be ok.  I'll just be here shaking my head for a few hours.

Basically my reaction as well.  Can't imagine it will impact the team on the field that much - to be honest, I don't think most upperclassmen get to know the freshmen very well during the season except for kids who are making an immediate impact.  But, like Lew said, it's just a "WTF was he thinking? How could anyone think that was a good idea?" (the answer, of course, is that he didn't think at all)

[AUPepBand]

If there is one thing we learned from The Wire, not messing with the Stevedores is one of them.  Never underestimate the Steves.


WNEC just hasn't played enough good/common opponents to put them in the top 10 I agree, although if you gave any other East team besides maybe Wesley the same schedule, the results would probably be the same, with maybe even a loss to SC.

Alfred hasn't had a "breather" on its regular season schedule, at least in Pep's mind, in at least ten years. The only time Pep went into a game thinking the Saxons would easily win was, ironically, AU's NCAA first round game against an undefeated SUNY-Maritime in 2010. Even a year ago, last place Hartwick beat Pep's Saxons, while 8th place Frostburg State handed the AQ Bombers one of their two conference losses.

And, likewise, Pep doesn't think the Saxons have been looked upon by other Empire 8 teams as an "easy win" for at least as long. Pep would argue that the Saxons would likely put up similar scores as WNEC were they playing in the NEFC. And Pep believes his Saxons are "middle of the pack" in the Empire 8....which means they could be anywhere from #1 to #9!!!

[AUPepBand]

I wonder what effect the stabbing of one player by another at
Albright will have on the team going forward.

http://6abc.com/news/police-albright-player-stabs-teammate-with-corkscrew/1028891/

I don't think this will really affect the team on the field since they were both freshman, but this is just a sad state of affairs.  What the he!! is wrong with the world?  This story is ridiculous.  Hopefully the victim(whether innocent in this or not) will be ok.  I'll just be here shaking my head for a few hours.

Pep thinks a pretty girl was likely the cause. The world has been a mess ever since Eve.....