FB: Region 3 fan poll

[crufootball]

So...McMurry doesn't get any love whatsoever and we are just ignoring the TLU-Trinity game? Seems odd.

I don't vote but I will ask you, where would you rank all of them.

[BSCpanthers]

I don't have McMurry, TLU or Trinity in my poll if that helps any.  But I do have Guilford in there.  Starting this week we get to see a slate of conference games, so things will inevitably change.

[TLU05SA]

So...McMurry doesn't get any love whatsoever and we are just ignoring the TLU-Trinity game? Seems odd.

I don't vote but I will ask you, where would you rank all of them.

I would have McMurry, at least, 7th.  Trinity would not be in my top 7 nor would TLU.

[Cowboy2]

Well Southwestern beat McMurry in week 1, so should they be in at 7?

In an early season of OOC games, each week teams have shown to beat a team who a team, that has beaten the team that beat the team. Follow? HSU is one of the only teams that's has dominated every game. Of course the competition has not been of what UMHB has had, or even a Berry or RMC, but looking back at some of the teams that a are currently 3-0, 3-1, 2-1; most have had wins against winless or 1-2 programs. To take it step further, most of the teams in question have been below or right .500 the past few years. Yes, it's a new year, but until on of these teams can win a conference and hold that title, or at least contend for it every year, it's hard to put them in one of the top 7 spots in a very balanced region that continually has a semifinalist.

There isn't really a front runner right now. Historically most of the fan poll has been in agreement, but this year the data is hard to peg one over the other with a region of parity at this point.

It will shake itself out in a few weeks when ASC and SCAC play their round robins as well as the other three conferences (ODAC, SAA, USAC) going head to head in conference play.

[TLU05SA]

Ok, so McMurry has lost a game but so has UMHB, Berry, Trinity, R-MC, and H-SC, yet they are ranked.

My real issue is that no one on the poll thinks that McMurry is a top 7 team? They don't even appear in the others receiving votes.  That just doesn't make sense.

[Hawks88]

Depending on how things go this week Hendrix may the closest to moving into my rankings as anybody. I was looking through this connected list of 1 loss teams where A beat B who beat C. etc., and it seems that Hendrix should be the highest ranked of the group behind ETBU? Of the other wins by the teams in the string, there isn't a lot of quality except maybe the Hendrix win over Huntingdon and Trinity over W&L. Of course, Huntingdon hasn't really shown a lot of consistency so far so the quality of that win is yet to be seen.


Trinity 2-1, loss to TLU
TLU 3-1, loss to McMurry
McMurry, 3-1 loss to Southwestern
Southwestern, 2-1 loss to Hendrix
Hendrix 3-1, loss to ETBU
ETBU 3-0

[Cowboy2]

I don't think no one thinks that they're not deserving it's just after 1-4 ranking slots there isn't really room to have 10 teams to include in the final 3 spots.

McMurry's best win was at Home vs. a 3-1 TLU that turned the ball over multiple times (similar to how to TLU beat Trinity).

UMHB is 1-1. Lost to a really athletic top 10 NAIA team. Watched the game. Bethel had speed all over their defense and a darn good RB. They beat the snot out of the No.3 at UWW.

Berry lost to a 4-0 Depauw that has shown to be top 10-15 worthy. They also beat R-MC on the road, and destroyed Huntingdon.

R-MC lost to a 2-1 Berry team by 4. Remember this is the same team that went to the semis last year less their QB and a few others.

Trinity is young but beat the USAC champ in Jackson handily. Looked like they were going to do the same to W&L (6-1 in ODAC last year) as well, but settled for 3 red zone FGs (two from the 1) and fumbled inside the 10 as well. W&L had only lost to top 10 Salisbury prior this meeting in the opener this year. Outside of the block punt (opening game) vs TLU they have been in control of almost every game.


H-SC is 2-1 and only lost to DelVal who is historically a 10 win conference champion. They also beat Centre (2-1) and Bervard (1-1) who have strong OOC wins this season.

With the long string of who beat and lost to each other, there is no clear view of this right now. Remember it's just a Fan Vote poll. We look at who beat who, common opponents, historical data on previous seasons, etc early in the season. Also keep in mind there's 5 teams in this poll who finished in the Top 25 last year representing 3 of the 5 R3 conferences.    It's still an early season, but until teams go out of their way to schedule early season top competition, and have favorable results, the teams on the fence may need to string together a few more wins or the teams in front of them lose.

[Cowboy2]

Depending on how things go this week Hendrix may the closest to moving into my rankings as anybody. I was looking through this connected list of 1 loss teams where A beat B who beat C. etc., and it seems that Hendrix should be the highest ranked of the group behind ETBU? Of the other wins by the teams in the string, there isn't a lot of quality except maybe the Hendrix win over Huntingdon and Trinity over W&L. Of course, Huntingdon hasn't really shown a lot of consistency so far so the quality of that win is yet to be seen.


Trinity 2-1, loss to TLU
TLU 3-1, loss to McMurry
McMurry, 3-1 loss to Southwestern
Southwestern, 2-1 loss to Hendrix
Hendrix 3-1, loss to ETBU
ETBU 3-0

^
That's the reason I voted for Hendrix 

[TLU05SA]

Yes, it is difficult to differentiate amongst the 1-loss teams but McMurry was better than TLU two weeks ago and better than what I have seen of Trinity. I feel like Trinity is getting by on reputation alone, not results. I don't get the complete exclusion of McMurry in favor of TLU receiving votes and Trinity being 5th.

I could nitpick at some others. My ranking, based on results this year would be 1. HSU, 2. ETBU, 3. UMHB, 4. Berry, 5. R-MC, 6. H-SC and 7. McMurry.

[jknezek]

Yes, it is difficult to differentiate amongst the 1-loss teams but McMurry was better than TLU two weeks ago and better than what I have seen of Trinity. I feel like Trinity is getting by on reputation alone, not results. I don't get the complete exclusion of McMurry in favor of TLU receiving votes and Trinity being 5th.

I could nitpick at some others. My ranking, based on results this year would be 1. HSU, 2. ETBU, 3. UMHB, 4. Berry, 5. R-MC, 6. H-SC and 7. McMurry.

ETBU at 2 is a tough sell for me. They have a win over Hendrix. The other two teams they played are... not great. UMHB has a win, on the road, over what was then the #3 team in the country and is still ranked very highly since they hold a win over John Carroll, who went toe to toe with UMU. That's the thing, looking at games or records in a vacuum is useless. There is no way ETBU holds a win anywhere near as impressive as UMHB, and with no common opponents so far, on what basis can you rank ETBU higher?

Hendrix looks good because they beat McMurry, ETBU looks good because they beat Hendrix. McMurry looks good because they beat TLU, but TLU looks good because they beat Trinity (TX). If any one of those teams simply had a good game or a bad game, for example TLU going 3 for 3 on lost fumbles while McMurry put the ball on the ground twice but recovered both(that's a 5 possession swing), plus one more possession on a pick, games look different. If TLU and McMurry play again, does McMurry go +4 in turnovers?

Against Southwestern, McMurry won the turnover battle and still lost, granted it was only 3:2 in turnovers. Looking at the stats, Southwestern had the ball for almost 40 minutes, and by just about any stat, Southwestern won, yards, yards per play, TOP, etc. So if they played again, is Southwestern likely to win given no real special circumstances?

Which game looks fluky and which game doesn't for McMurry, the surprise win, or the surprise loss? For me, the win looks more fluky, so I don't have them in my top 7 right now, but they probably are the odd team out.

I'm not convinced on Trinity or R-MC, despite having them both in my poll. R-MC is not the R-MC of the last couple years, not yet. And Trinity... well, it's a nice win against W&L but either they should have blown them out in the first half or W&L forgot to get off the airplane until the second half started. Not sure which is the right answer there, but Trinity is not the Trinity they were the last few years either.

I think there is a lot more parity this year. I think Hardin-Simmons is legit, though they will get a good test against Endicott this weekend. I think UMHB is legit, though they also could end up like last year where they gave UWW a game but forgot how to play for much of the rest of the season. We will get a great look at them against ETBU and Hardin-Simmons, twice, this year.

I think everyone else from the top 4 or 5 in the ODAC, basically all but Averett, Ferrum and Guilford, the top 4 in the SAA, Centre, Berry, Hendrix, and Trinity, the top 2 in the SCAC, McMurry and TLU, and Maryville, from the USAC, are scrapping for positions 3-7 in the poll right now. I think the parity this year, outside the top two from the ASC, is astonishing, and we've seen that in the results.

[TLU05SA]

The good news is that the games will tell us all what we want to know. This weekend's ETBU v. UMHB game will be revealing for both teams. We will also get another McMurry v. TLU game on Oct. 26 in Seguin due to the SCAC's double round robin format this year.

I am just glad that TLU's team is relevant enough to be discussed with these fan polls.  It has been a few years.

[BSCpanthers]

This is what makes this poll so great, it brings up some great conversation. 

[y_jack_lok]

Always interesting to read what you guys are thinking. Two games this week have the four ODAC teams receiving votes in your poll facing each other -- Guilford @ H-SC and RMC @ Shenandoah. Those results should make your task easier. The Bridgewater @ Ferrum and Averett @ W&L games might not be as revealing unless there is an upset or they are unexpectedly close. I will say I'm surprised to see Guilford receiving a vote.

[Cowboy2]

Well the whacky season across D3 continues. Like the old gunsmith in the movie SHOOTER says – "THE MOMENT YOU THINK YOU GOT IT FIGURED, YOU'RE WRONG."

🥴

[jknezek]

Region 3 (South Atlantic-Ish) Fan Poll Week 5

Conferences: ASC, ODAC, SAA, SCAC, USASAC

Some shuffling at the bottom of the poll. RMC climbs a couple spots on a narrow home win over Shenandoah. Trinity drops out of the poll. Centre re-enters.

Rank			School			Points			Weekly Change			Voter Breakdown
1			Hardin-Simmons (5)			35			0			1 , 1 , 1 , 1 , 1
2			UMHB			28			0			2 , 4 , 2 , 2 , 2
3			Berry			24			0			3 , 3 , 4 , 3 , 3
4			R-MC			18			2			4 , 5 , 5 , 4 , 4
5			ETBU			15			-1			5 , 7 , 3 , 5 , 5
6			H-SC			11			1			6 , 2 , 7 , 6
7			Centre			5			---			6 , 6 , 7

Also Receiving Votes:
Shenandoah (4)

Newly Ranked: Centre
Dropped Out: Trinity (TX) (Prev:5)

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

One really big game this week. 1vs2 as Hardin-Simmons travels to UMHB for the first of their two matchups this season.

All other poll members play teams outside the voters preferences. H-SC goes to W&L while Berry goes to Hendrix in what may be the most interesting of the bunch.