FB: Region 3 fan poll

[SaintsFAN]

FYI - Thomas More and W&J match up very well with one another.. You are talking like they've already lost to W&J and Mount St Joe..

You see, that's why I led that sentence with the phrase my feeling.  See how that works?  I provided an opinion for the approval of the group.  Your attempt to set me straight is certainly appreciated, however.

no sweat.

not a swipe at you... my feeling differs, thats all.  Enjoy

[Toby Taff]

One thing that may not be readily discernible is what the voters think would happen if UMHB and Miss College played 10 games on a neutral field.

We ASC fans are very aware of the marked variation of home field advantages, vis-a-vis the various pairings that occur in the ASC.

UMHB to Miss College is more than 500 miles.

Add to that that MC had 2 weeks to prepare and won on a very late field goal.  One call either way in this game really changes things

[wesleydad]

hsc85, it is much easier to correct positioning in a 10 team poll versus a 25 team poll.  I agree that it would seem that head to head should be the criteria for who is better, but if one team is ranked 3 and the other is only getting votes, it would be hard to justify having the second team jump over the first.  despite the head to head victory, the second team is inferior in the overall scheme of things based on the entire season.  that what makes polls so much fun, discussing and sometimes just cussing at them.

[Ralph Turner]

I think that you need quotation marks around your HCAC championships!

[DPU3619]

I would have liked to keep UMHB above Miss Coll, and had I had a team in between the two, I would have.  But, I had UMHB fall only to 3 in my poll and Miss Coll elevate all the way to 4.  If they're right next to each other, I really don't have much of a choice.  I do think UMHB is the better team.  I also think that if (probably when) they meet again in the first round, UMHB isn't going to lose again.

Same goes for Centre and DePauw at the bottom of my poll.  I do believe DePauw is the better football team right now, and I do believe they'll be ranked higher after a win on Saturday and a Centre loss at Millsaps, but for now, I can't very well put DePauw ahead of them due to the head-to-head result.  Centre is without their QB for the rest of the year.  I think that matters.

HSC85, I think the Wabash/Witt situation is a little different.  I think Witt is a great football team with a solid quarterback and one of the best defenses in the country.  They ought to be ranked above Wabash right now after what they did to that offense, even without Matt Hudson.  If they can do that to Wabash, there are not very many teams in the country that they can't handle.  I don't necessarily feel the same way about the two other scenarios I mentioned above.

[Ryan Tipps]

HSC85, I think the Wabash/Witt situation is a little different.  I think Witt is a great football team with a solid quarterback and one of the best defenses in the country.  They ought to be ranked above Wabash right now after what they did to Matt Hudson and company.  If they can do that to Wabash, there are not very many teams in the country that they can't handle.  I don't necessarily feel the same way about the two other scenarios I mentioned above.

Hudson was actually injured and didn't play Saturday-- but Witt was the favorite in my book either way. I know that Witt wasn't get much love in the poll before this game, and I hope that they get some more eyes on them now.

[DPU3619]

Yeah, I forgot.  I edited it between the time I posted and you posted.  Not the North region board, I don't think it mattered who was under center, honestly.  Witt's defense has destroyed everything in sight, and they'll probably keep doing that until they run into one of the big 3, I think.

[Ryan Tipps]

I don't think it mattered who was under center, honestly.  Witt's defense has destroyed everything in sight, and they'll probably keep doing that until they run into one of the big 3, I think.

I'm with ya here. ...

Not the North region board ...

... and here.

It's allowable to get off track every once in a while, though, isn't it?

[golden_dome]

Only because there aren't any other Mississippi College posters on here, I'll post a couple comments. You won't find anyone with more respect for UMHB than me. What they've done the last 7-8 years is remarkable and anytime a team other than UWW or Mount Union beats them, I consider it an upset. They are proven and the team I saw Saturday was extremely talented again, they are a great representative of the ASC every year.

But, MS College isn't coming out of nowhere.  Under Coach Joseph the team improved steadily from 2-8 in 05, to 5-5 in 06 and 8-2 in 07. MC was a field goal away against HSU in 2007 from a  9-1 regular season, playoff appearance and possible top 10-20 ranking. And the only loss this year is to a scholarship team that has been one of the better NAIA teams in the nation the last few years.

Last year for the Choctaws was a lot like HSU this year. We were ranked #25 in the preseason, played poorly in the opener against Millsaps, lost our All-America candidate QB on the 2nd play of the 2nd game, played a killer schedule, lost 7-8 starters to season-ending injury and managed to go 5-5. Of our five losses, four of them came against #3 UMHB, #7 HSU, #12 Millsaps and NAIA #6 Cumberlands. And playing with a freshman QB and depleted lineup, we played HSU and UMHB straight up on the road losing 35-27 at HSU and 26-14 in a hard-fought game at UMHB.

I think the MC coaches expected this year to happen last year, or at least the opportunity for a year like this to happen before it was derailed quickly by injury. In my opinion the ASC is one of the top 3 conferences in the nation and beating teams like HSU and UMHB is extremely difficult. Finishing #3 in it often is more impressive than winning a lot of the other conferences out there, these teams are talented and it's getting more competitive every year.

I'm happy to see the MC program under Coach Joseph pick back up where the 2007 season left off. It will be interesting to see how the players handle the rest of the season because it's been a while since we've been here.

[Ralph Turner]

Chris, I think that the good thing for Miss College for the near term is that Concordia-Austin will add football around 2011 and your Backyard Brawl will lock in your schedule.

We are unlikely to get a Pool C bid that often, unless our runner-up can get a good in-region non-conference win to go 9-1 in-region.

I wonder if Trinity and Austin College want to sign new two-year agreements with McMurry.

We may be in the position to have to travel for non-conference in-region games.  Filling only one instead of two will be easier.

(Maybe Huntingdon will come to Abilene!)

Good luck to the Choctaws.  The ASC rep needs to go deep in the playoffs.

[golden_dome]

Ralph,
Happy to see McMurry on a winning streak. If the Trinity and Austin games had gone the other way you could be 5-2 right now.  I'm anxious to see how Concordia-Austin does, that's a great location and they are building first-class facilities.

[Ralph Turner]

Ralph,
Happy to see McMurry on a winning streak. If the Trinity and Austin games had gone the other way you could be 5-2 right now.  I'm anxious to see how Concordia-Austin does, that's a great location and they are building first-class facilities.

Yes, but our defense is about 2-3 recruiting classes behind the cream (UMHB, MC, and a healthy HSU) of the league.  Like everyone else, we need linemen!

The McM-MC game was the game that brought the McMurry players back to earth.

The TU and AC games were close/woulda/shoulda/coulda games for many of us, and we knew it.

[Ralph Turner]

I hope that the southern sub-bracket has

#1 ASC Pool A MissColl
vs  Pool B Huntingdon

and

#2 SCAC Pool A Millsaps
vs Pool C UMHB

only because that bracket does not pair first round games against teams that have played in the regular season, and gets UMHB a Pool C bid. There is a potential for no plane flights, too.

[Toby Taff]

I hope that the southern sub-bracket has

#1 ASC Pool A MissColl
vs  Pool B Huntingdon

and

#2 SCAC Pool A Millsaps
vs Pool C UMHB

only because that bracket does not pair first round games against teams that have played in the regular season, and gets UMHB a Pool C bid. There is a potential for no plane flights, too.

That's no good Ralph.  If UMHB were to win in that scenario, I couldn't drive top Mississippi twice.  Finances are too tight.

[Ralph Turner]

I hope that the southern sub-bracket has

#1 ASC Pool A MissColl
vs  Pool B Huntingdon

and

#2 SCAC Pool A Millsaps
vs Pool C UMHB

only because that bracket does not pair first round games against teams that have played in the regular season, and gets UMHB a Pool C bid. There is a potential for no plane flights, too.

That's no good Ralph.  If UMHB were to win in that scenario, I couldn't drive top Mississippi twice.  Finances are too tight.

I cannot find a criterion that allows UMHB an argument to move a Pool C ahead of a Pool A, unless it is in-region record.

Maybe that would be it.

We'll know more about the SCAC this weekend.