FB: Region 3 fan poll

[jknezek]

Once again, all 7 teams are unanimously in the poll. Trinity continues to hold a unanimous #1. R-MC climbs back into a tie with Berry for 2nd on the back of a defensive domination of a Bridgewater team that was expected to be pretty decent. Belhaven creeps up to 4th, with Hardin-Simmons and UMHB both dropping one slot in games where they looked somewhat lackluster, at least on a historical basis. Howard Payne is steady in 7th.

We are very clear on the tiers. Trinity gets all the 1s, Berry and R-MC split all the 2s and 3s, Belhaven, Hardin-Simmons and UMHB split all the 4/5/6 except one, and Howard Payne gets all the 7s and a 5. Belhaven, Hardin-Simmons and UMHB separated by 3 points.

For this point in the season, this is about as unanimous a poll as I can remember. Not just because all 7 have been agreed on for 2 weeks, but because only UMHB even has a variance of as much as 3 places (4-7).

Region 3 (South Atlantic-Ish) Fan Poll Week 7

Conferences: ASC, ODAC, SAA, USASAC

Rank			School			Points			Weekly Change			Voter Breakdown
1			Trinity (TX) (6)			42			0			1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1
T2			Berry			33			0			2 , 3 , 3 , 2 , 2 , 3
T2			R-MC			33			1			3 , 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 2
4			Belhaven			19			2			4 , 6 , 5 , 5 , 5 , 4
5			Hardin-Simmons			17			-1			5 , 4 , 4 , 6 , 6 , 6
6			UMHB			16			-1			6 , 7 , 6 , 4 , 4 , 5
7			Howard Payne			8			0			7 , 5 , 7 , 7 , 7 , 7

Also Receiving Votes:


Newly Ranked: None
Dropped Out: None

1 = 1st Place Vote, 7 = 7th Place Vote in Voter Breakdown
Special Thanks to the Voters: jknezek, BSCpanthers, Wild Horse Rider, Ralph Turner, Cowboy2, Hawks88

[Ron Boerger]

So ... Region 3 now includes the Landmark Conference, according to p.27 of the 2023-4 Pre-Championship Manual (and mentioned on this morning's D3football ATN podcast).  You guys might want to be prepared to consider where an to-date undefeated Susquehanna falls into this picture. 

[jknezek]

So ... Region 3 now includes the Landmark Conference, according to p.27 of the 2023-4 Pre-Championship Manual (and mentioned on this morning's D3football ATN podcast).  You guys might want to be prepared to consider where an to-date undefeated Susquehanna falls into this picture.

That's unfortunate but it could be worse.

On the plus side, there are a few crossover results with ODAC teams. Susquehanna's stomping of Bridgewater week 1, R-MC's stomping of Catholic week 2, Moravian's narrow escape against Apprentice week 3 (not ODAC, but enough ODAC teams play Apprentice to use as a benchmark), and Shenandoah's stomping of Juniata week 4.

On the negative side, I won't be paying the conference for the ability to watch any of the remaining conference games, so I guess no eyes on Susquehanna (the only team probably in the mix) going forward this season.

Finally, the ODAC/Landmark will have a pair of bowl game end of season for the 2s and 3s for the next 4 years. The Chesapeake Challenge. Little late for the poll mostly, but interesting at least.

Anyone have any problems including the Landmark next week provided Pat gets confirmation?

[Ron Boerger]

Never mind, apparently this was an NCAA brain fart.

[crufootball]

Never mind, apparently this was an NCAA brain fart.

Who makes these decisions, I am not even trying to make this bigger than it is but is this a D3 problem, NCAA problem, something else?

[BSCpanthers]

Is this like when they added the ASC to us a couple years ago mid season, and it took me awhile to figure out UMHB was, and they won it all???

We have the SCAC joining next our region next year. 

[Ron Boerger]

Is this like when they added the ASC to us a couple years ago mid season, and it took me awhile to figure out UMHB was, and they won it all???

We have the SCAC joining next our region next year.

This is the first year the Landmark sponsored football as a conference sport (thanks to the NCAA only requiring six teams to qualify for an AQ, much like the SCAC they decided to sponsor it).   Football playing schools that were affiliates of other conferences had to return per conference bylaws (unlike the SCAC they didn't give them years to return).  The geographic footprint is much more Region 2 than 3 and the schools like Susquehanna and Catholic that moved back were in either Region 1 or 2 last year.  Some intern probably typed in the wrong number (hey, 1+2 is 3, right?) and nobody caught it until the D3 gang (Pat, Frank, etc) called them out on it.

The SCAC belongs squarely in Region 3 as half of the schools that will be members (TLU, McMurry, Austin) play in the ASC now, and the others (Centenary, Schreiner, Lyon) wouldn't fit anywhere else.   I still have my doubts about Schreiner actually fielding a team by next year as planned given their radio silence since the announcement.

[Wild Horse Rider]

Finally a weekend with some intrigue in Region 3.  I have had the same 7 teams in my weekly ballot since week 4 though the order has changed for some teams up until today.  I will self report that I dropped Howard Payne and replaced them with W&L so people do not assume it was JK.  I think that their loss in week one to Salisbury is not a terrible one considering it looks like Gulls are well on the way to a 7-3 record.  Week 9 gives us the HSU vs UMHB game to determine the ASC.  The Cowboys woke up last week just in time for the Cru to come to town.  Belhaven gets their only true road test when they head to Tennessee to play Maryville and their skilled signal caller.  Randy Mac I believe will get pushed by W&L and their run game but I believe that they still win the game but not by their normal 40+ point margin.  The SAA has been wrapped up for some time and in all likelihood the other three AQs will be sewed up before Halloween.

[jknezek]

R-MC returns to sole possession of 2nd place as they continue torching their schedule. Only Bridgewater has held them under 40 pts, and no one has scored more than 14 on the YellowJackets, also no one has kept the margin of victory under 35 this season. Hardin-Simmons and UMHB will get to settle their tie for 5th on the field this weekend, Howard Payne drops out, W&L enters, and we lose our uniformity on all 7 teams.

Couple big games on the docket, as UMHB travels to Hardin-Simmons in what is most likely the decider for the ASC. W&L travels to Ashland to face R-MC, and Belhaven takes a decent road trip to Maryville. Trinity should have an easy home week with Millsaps, Berry should have a lighter home game with a hard luck Hendrix team that has lost 4 games, 3 of them by 1 point each.

W&L is in the middle of a difficult stretch. They beat Hampden-Sydney on the road, they go to Ashland this week to face R-MC, then they are home for Bridgewater before hiking up to Shenandoah for the finale. No let up for the Generals, but the defense again held strong against H-SC after two early scores. They will need even more this weekend I suspect, see R-MC stats above.

Region 3 (South Atlantic-Ish) Fan Poll Week 8

Conferences: ASC, ODAC, SAA, USASAC

Rank			School			Points			Weekly Change			Voter Breakdown
1			Trinity (TX) (6)			42			0			1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1
2			R-MC			34			0			2 , 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 2
3			Berry			32			-1			3 , 3 , 3 , 2 , 2 , 3
4			Belhaven			20			0			4 , 5 , 5 , 5 , 5 , 4
T5			Hardin-Simmons			17			0			5 , 4 , 4 , 6 , 6 , 6
T5			UMHB			17			1			6 , 6 , 6 , 4 , 4 , 5
7			W&L			4			---			7 , 7 , 7 , 7

Also Receiving Votes:
Bridgewater, Huntingdon

Newly Ranked: W&L
Dropped Out: Howard Payne (Prev:7)

1 = 1st Place Vote, 7 = 7th Place Vote in Voter Breakdown
Special Thanks to the Voters: jknezek, BSCpanthers, Wild Horse Rider, Ralph Turner, Cowboy2, Hawks88

[Cowboy2]

Finally a weekend with some intrigue in Region 3.  I have had the same 7 teams in my weekly ballot since week 4 though the order has changed for some teams up until today.  I will self report that I dropped Howard Payne and replaced them with W&L so people do not assume it was JK.  I think that their loss in week one to Salisbury is not a terrible one considering it looks like Gulls are well on the way to a 7-3 record.  Week 9 gives us the HSU vs UMHB game to determine the ASC.  The Cowboys woke up last week just in time for the Cru to come to town.  Belhaven gets their only true road test when they head to Tennessee to play Maryville and their skilled signal caller.  Randy Mac I believe will get pushed by W&L and their run game but I believe that they still win the game but not by their normal 40+ point margin.  The SAA has been wrapped up for some time and in all likelihood the other three AQs will be sewed up before Halloween.

Mine stayed the same as last week with the exception of HPU falling out. I Thought about throwing Washington and Lee at 7th but Huntingdon lost only to Berry and Belhaven, which I think both would beat Salisbury, but unfortunately we won't know.

HSU could be higher if healthy again.

I'd expect Belhaven to keep rolling but Maryville could play spoiler, after seeing some upsets across D3 the last few weeks.

I'm anxious for the HSU/UMHB and RMC/W&L games this coming week!

[BSCpanthers]

The poll this week is going to be very interesting.

[jknezek]

An interesting week. Teams 4,T5 and 7 in last week's poll all lost. W&L pays the price despite losing to the second ranked team in the Region, Belhaven holds steady despite losing to an unranked team, and UMHB basically holds steady despite being beaten by a team in the bottom half of the poll.

W&L hosts Bridgewater this weekend. That should be interesting for the bottom of the poll but nothing else. Huntingdon sneaks in as their win against Maryville looks better, again something interesting for the bottom of the poll but not much else. Huntingdon, W&L and Bridgewater are all, barring unusual circumstances, out of running for conference titles and most likely far from making the playoff field. Belhaven is interesting. Are they good, or is the USASAC that bad? Their 2 OOCs are not good indicators of anything, so that leaves the games against Maryville and Huntingdon. Maryville probably has the best OOC win of the three teams, beating Shenandoah. Huntingdon has the best opponent, being hammered by Berry.

Not the best weekend for interesting games at the top of the poll. Trinity goes to an improving but still under .500 Sewanee, R-MC travels to a struggling Ferrum squad, Berry goes to a B-SC team that might be on it's last 2 games ever, Hardin-Simmons goes to an Austin team that probably can't wait to leave the ASC.

Belhaven faces a forever road trip to Southern Virginia where they should be able to sleep walk to a win, UMHB hosts ETBU in what record-wise looks like it could be a game. Not sure it actually is one given ETBU has yet to play UMHB of Hardin-Simmons and their OOC schedule didn't work out to be very good.

Bridgewater faces W&L for what may be second place in the ODAC and hosting duties for the first ever Chesapeake Challenge, and Huntingdon goes to Brevard for a chance to finish second in the USASAC, while Brevard tries to keep alive their conference title hopes, hard to believe for a squad that lost to Averett.

Region 3 (South Atlantic-Ish) Fan Poll Week 9

Conferences: ASC, ODAC, SAA, USASAC

Rank			School			Points			Weekly Change			Voter Breakdown
1			Trinity (TX) (6)			42			0			1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1
2			R-MC			34			0			2 , 2 , 2 , 3 , 3 , 2
3			Berry			32			0			3 , 3 , 3 , 2 , 2 , 3
4			Hardin-Simmons			24			1			4 , 4 , 4 , 4 , 4 , 4
5			Belhaven			17			-1			5 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 5 , 5
6			UMHB			7			-1			6 , 5 , 7 , 7
T7			Bridgewater			4			---			6 , 6
T7			Huntingdon			4						6 , 6

Also Receiving Votes:
W&L (3) , Howard Payne (1)

Newly Ranked: Bridgewater, Huntingdon
Dropped Out: W&L (Prev:7)

1 = 1st Place Vote, 7 = 7th Place Vote in Voter Breakdown
Special Thanks to the Voters: jknezek, BSCpanthers, Wild Horse Rider, Ralph Turner, Cowboy2, Hawks88

[BSCpanthers]

This week is one of the more enjoyable polls I've done in a month or more.  The top 4 was easy, no changes, the bottom 3 took a while to straighten it out.  Mine was close to what we have, but i can understand how it is what it is. 

[y_jack_lok]

Fwiw, this is how Logan Hansen sees Region 3 (and other regions') rankings shaping up:

https://twitter.com/LogHanRatings/status/1719344981658292359

[Wild Horse Rider]

So if Randy Mac beats Ferrum, which on paper they will, they lock up the AQ.  Clearly they will still want to beat Hampden-Sydney in the Game and to hopefully ensure a home playoff game.  Same goes for wins for Trinity and Hardin-Simmons to collect the AQ.  It will be interesting which of those two teams receives a home playoff game since I don't think both will.  The USAC still has a little intrigue with Belhaven, Brevard and Huntingdon still having chances.  Brevard and Belhaven control their own destinies and if either team wins out they are in.  Huntingdon needs a win this weekend and then will be pulling hard for Brevard in week 11 against Belhaven.  No team out of the USAC has a shot at a home game at this point.  As far as any Pool C bids I think that Berry is hoping Huntingdon is able to sneak into the back end of the regional rankings giving them a 1-1 record on the season against RR opponents.  That still may not be enough to get them in the dance but it at least gets them a place in the discussion.