TOP 25

[K-Mack]

Sporting News 2009 Preseason Top 25. Let the bashing begin!!
1. Whitewater
2. Mount Union

I think they have #1 & #2 correct.  UWW has more returning than MUC.

Agree.

[K-Mack]

While No. 11 is high for Monmouth, I think they could be really good this year.  There are a lot of parallels between this year's Scots team and last year's Franklin team.

True.

I feel like I read that somewhere.

[K-Mack]

Some surprises there ... thanks for the link!

I thought it was pretty good.

Wouldn't be surprised if UW-SP doesn't end up anywhere close to No. 6, but that's a justified starting position.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Some interesting 'head-scratchers' in the second ten:

Apparently beating kickoff's #206 by 12 is much more impressive than beating #100 by 19, as Case rose 3 spots and jumped Monmouth who fell 2 slots.

Not all open dates are created equal - Wabash, Hobart, and Montclair St. are now 16-18, with Wabash rising 2, Hobart falling 2, and Montclair rising 3, all while not playing.

But the ultimate indignity goes to Bald-Wally - beating them is apparently WORSE than not playing, as Franklin was jumped by idle Montclair St!

[dc_has_been]

Here is where I have a problem .  I know Ohio Northern beat North Central.  But how do they go from receiving 0 votes to 9th in the top 25?  Really?  I think DIII should just abolish the top 25 poll & just have the top two poll & regional rankings.  MUC & UWW can sit at the top & everyone else can be judged based upon record & strength of schedule in their region. 
I know & understand North Central was number 4 in the top 25, but they were ranked that high based on previous years not by their potential for this year.  Yes I know their top qb, rb, & wr are back from last year too.
If ONU hangs with MUC for game 2 then I'll stand corrected, but other than that I will have 0 faith in the top 25!

[Pat Coleman]

Alright. I think you're overreacting -- the poll did a great job reacting to a good indicator game.

By the way, I think you've seen before that being No. 9 going against Mount Union doesn't mean very much. They can be blown out by Mount Union and still be No. 9 in the country. Heck, even higher.

[Mugsy]

By the way, I think you've seen before that being No. 9 going against Mount Union doesn't mean very much. They can be blown out by Mount Union and still be No. 9 in the country. Heck, even higher.

Sigh... don't we know it.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Here is where I have a problem .  I know Ohio Northern beat North Central.  But how do they go from receiving 0 votes to 9th in the top 25?  Really?  I think DIII should just abolish the top 25 poll & just have the top two poll & regional rankings.  MUC & UWW can sit at the top & everyone else can be judged based upon record & strength of schedule in their region. 
I know & understand North Central was number 4 in the top 25, but they were ranked that high based on previous years not by their potential for this year.  Yes I know their top qb, rb, & wr are back from last year too.
If ONU hangs with MUC for game 2 then I'll stand corrected, but other than that I will have 0 faith in the top 25!

Early season polls are (and should be) quite volatile, as 'potential' gets actually tested on the field.  (BTW, your contention that NCC's ranking was based on previous years and "not by their potential for this year" is belied by your next sentence - rightly or wrongly, their potential looked, and looks, mighty good.)  While I think the voters may have gone a bit TOO far (with both ONU and NCC), to say the poll has "0 credibility" is going WAY too far.

As I indicated in my earlier post, there are always some things that seem odd, but generally d3football.com gets the forecasts and polls a helluva lot better than any alternative media!

[dc_has_been]

Alright. I think you're overreacting -- the poll did a great job reacting to a good indicator game.

By the way, I think you've seen before that being No. 9 going against Mount Union doesn't mean very much. They can be blown out by Mount Union and still be No. 9 in the country. Heck, even higher.

I know I'm overreacting....some & I know if ONU keeps it within 4 or 5 scores they'll bump up to the top 5 too.  It is just bugs me when you see ONU make such a huge leap when there are teams like Capital that beat a school like Adrian (8-2 last year) & lose 18 points.  That is just one example.  
Does that mean BYU is going to be a top 5 team now in DI b/c they beat Oklahoma?   Maybe they'll work their way up, but not in just one week.  Again, we'll see what kind of team ONU pans out to be when they work their way through OAC action.

. 

[Pat Coleman]

I know if ONU keeps it within 4 or 5 scores they'll bump up to the top 5 too.

I challenge you to find one real-life example of a team losing by four or five scores, even to Mount Union, and jumping up anything like from No. 9 to the top five.

I doubt that would happen for BYU in beating Oklahoma, especially considering what shape Oklahoma was in. But Ohio Northern isn't a BYU, from a non-power conference. Ohio Northern is in the second-best conference in Division III.

[rams1102]

Pat :

Something has been bothering me and need some insight. As you know I am a Montclair fan and confused as to why we were ranked 21st in the Pre-Season and jumped to 18th this week. I know we went from 158 to 190 votes. Rowan was picked to win the NJAC with Montclair 3rd. They even got a mention for possible playoffs in the Preview. Montclairs "D" will be OK, the "O" will be I hope OK, but the jury is still out on our QB IMHO. I realize it's the end of week #1 but a loss to Wilkes and we will never be heard of again. Await your response.

[Teamski]

Pat :

Something has been bothering me and need some insight. As you know I am a Montclair fan and confused as to why we were ranked 21st in the Pre-Season and jumped to 18th this week. I know we went from 158 to 190 votes. Rowan was picked to win the NJAC with Montclair 3rd. They even got a mention for possible playoffs in the Preview. Montclairs "D" will be OK, the "O" will be I hope OK, but the jury is still out on our QB IMHO. I realize it's the end of week #1 but a loss to Wilkes and we will never be heard of again. Await your response.

I'm sure that is because some teams ahead of Montclair lost and were dropped down the chart.  Teams not playing weren't necessarily penalized for not playing.  Just my 2 cents.


-Ski

[rams1102]

Pat :

Something has been bothering me and need some insight. As you know I am a Montclair fan and confused as to why we were ranked 21st in the Pre-Season and jumped to 18th this week. I know we went from 158 to 190 votes. Rowan was picked to win the NJAC with Montclair 3rd. They even got a mention for possible playoffs in the Preview. Montclairs "D" will be OK, the "O" will be I hope OK, but the jury is still out on our QB IMHO. I realize it's the end of week #1 but a loss to Wilkes and we will never be heard of again. Await your response.

I'm sure that is because some teams ahead of Montclair lost and were dropped down the chart.  Teams not playing weren't necessarily penalized for not playing.  Just my 2 cents.


-Ski

Rowan (believe me I'm not in love them) picked 1st in the NJAC, mentioned in the preview as maybe in the playoffs and D3 has Montclair 7-2 in conference. I love the recognition, but trying to figure out why. I know, shut my mouth and take the bow. By the way nice monkey stomp on CNU.

[dc_has_been]

I know if ONU keeps it within 4 or 5 scores they'll bump up to the top 5 too.

I challenge you to find one real-life example of a team losing by four or five scores, even to Mount Union, and jumping up anything like from No. 9 to the top five.

I doubt that would happen for BYU in beating Oklahoma, especially considering what shape Oklahoma was in. But Ohio Northern isn't a BYU, from a non-power conference. Ohio Northern is in the second-best conference in Division III.

I was being sarcastic. BYU is also from a conference that has 3 teams currently ranked in the top 25.  Not bad considering they have 9 teams. 

[Pat Coleman]

Regardless, not a BCS conference and in a D-I voter's mind, not analogous to the OAC in a D-III voter's mind.