TOP 25

[HScoach]

The last 10 to 15 years has shown that the 2nd place OAC team usually good enough to be ranked somewhere around 10th.  Not always the case, but it's happened enough times that I think the D3 voter just assumes that whichever OAC team finishes 2nd behind Mount is good enough to be ranked ahead of teams like Case, Monmouth, W&J, Wooster, etc even those teams might be undefeated.

Then you couple that with beating #4 in convincing fashion early in the season when there isn't a big enoough sample to get a good read on the teams, you get a big jump in polls.  Honestly, I figured ONU would jump into the poll somewhere around 15th to 20th, but I can understand why people voted them higher than that after running the ball down NCC's throat.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Since the comparison of ONU and BYU has been made above, I find it an amazing coincidence that BYU is now also ranked ninth!

Granted, they didn't jump from zero points, but jumping from #20 is still quite a leap.

[dc_has_been]

Since the comparison of ONU and BYU has been made above, I find it an amazing coincidence that BYU is now also ranked ninth!

Granted, they didn't jump from zero points, but jumping from #20 is still quite a leap.

I agree.  OU was w/o their stud qb too for a large part of the game.  I do think though that BYU could go undefeated but do have a tough schedule w/ Flordia State, TCU & Utah.

In regard to ONU, I guess we'll see where they rank considering they will have to face Mount, Ott, Capital, & so on in the OAC.  Time will tell.

[SaintsFAN]

I agree.  OU was w/o their stud qb too for a large part of the game.  I do think though that BYU could go undefeated but do have a tough schedule w/ Flordia State, TCU & Utah.

I hear they also have Florida State on the schedule...

Don't be mad at Dean Paul's team, has_been!!!!!

[Mr. Ypsi]

I agree.  OU was w/o their stud qb too for a large part of the game.  I do think though that BYU could go undefeated but do have a tough schedule w/ Flordia State, TCU & Utah.

I hear they also have Florida State on the schedule...

Don't be mad at Dean Paul's team, has_been!!!!!

Yeah, but Flordia State has been sanctioned less than Florida State.

[redswarm81]

In the Week 2 Poll, I'm a little bit confused by St. John's leapfrogging Washington & Jefferson and ONU, especially considering that by all accounts, St. John's' game at home v. unranked UW-Eau Claire was touch-and-go pretty much right down to the wire.

Dickinson has the makings of a major sleeper.  With a season-opening loss to UW-Whitewater and a convincing win v. well-regarded Hobart, they could be pretty darned good for all we know.

D'oh!!  Thanks for setting the record straight, ADL.   

[John McGraw]

In the Week 2 Poll, I'm a little bit confused by St. John's leapfrogging Washington & Jefferson and ONU, especially considering that by all accounts, St. John's' game at home v. unranked UW-Eau Claire was touch-and-go pretty much right down to the wire.

Dickinson has the makings of a major sleeper.  With a season-opening loss to UW-Whitewater and a convincing win v. well-regarded Hobart, they could be pretty darned good for all we know.

This week was obviously a very difficult week to be a pollster with a lot of ranked teams that were fairly high losing. It's still very early and you could have some people just throwing out what they have and starting over since after the top five, it's almost a crap shoot in the upper half of the poll.

I don't necessarily have a problem with the Johnnies jumping over W&J. While W&J is a historically strong team, they play in a weaker conference and haven't been completely overpowering in wins over Oberlin and Frostburg State while St. John's has played and beaten two WIAC teams with one win at home and one on the road. The Johnnies have earned IMO a higher ranking and we'll get a great look at what they can do in the league this week at Concordia Moorhead.

[ADL70]

redswarm

Whitewater beat NAIA Dickinson (ND) State.  Dickinson (PA) beat Grove City in week 1.

[repete]

In the Week 2 Poll, I'm a little bit confused by St. John's leapfrogging Washington & Jefferson and ONU, especially considering that by all accounts, St. John's' game at home v. unranked UW-Eau Claire was touch-and-go pretty much right down to the wire.

Dickinson has the makings of a major sleeper.  With a season-opening loss to UW-Whitewater and a convincing win v. well-regarded Hobart, they could be pretty darned good for all we know.

D'oh!!  Thanks for setting the record straight, ADL.   

I was a bit surprised by the SJU jump, but a couple of factors: the MIAC is having another strong NC run (11-3) with some solid wins against the NWC, IIAC and WIAC, plus a rout of a top-15 NAIA school. One of the losses was a final play loss to No. 4 Wheaton.

And how many programs open their season with two NC games against the WIAC as SJU did again this year? It's the toughest top-to-bottom conference in d3's toughest region.

That said, there's a real chance that SJU could drop its rivalry game with Concordia up on the prairie this Saturday.

[DutchFan2004]

In the Week 2 Poll, I'm a little bit confused by St. John's leapfrogging Washington & Jefferson and ONU, especially considering that by all accounts, St. John's' game at home v. unranked UW-Eau Claire was touch-and-go pretty much right down to the wire.

Dickinson has the makings of a major sleeper.  With a season-opening loss to UW-Whitewater and a convincing win v. well-regarded Hobart, they could be pretty darned good for all we know.

D'oh!!  Thanks for setting the record straight, ADL.   

I was a bit surprised by the SJU jump, but a couple of factors: the MIAC is having another strong NC run (11-3) with some solid wins against the NWC, IIAC and WIAC, plus a rout of a top-15 NAIA school. One of the losses was a final play loss to No. 4 Wheaton.

And how many programs open their season with two NC games against the WIAC as SJU did again this year? It's the toughest top-to-bottom conference in d3's toughest region.

That said, there's a real chance that SJU could drop its rivalry game with Concordia up on the prairie this Saturday.

Yes SJU has had a good NC season as well as the MIAC I don't see why they wouldn't be ranked that high.  There is one school in D3 though that scheduled one of the defending WIAC CoChamps and beat them in the NC.   

[K-Mack]

In the Week 2 Poll, I'm a little bit confused by St. John's leapfrogging Washington & Jefferson and ONU, especially considering that by all accounts, St. John's' game at home v. unranked UW-Eau Claire was touch-and-go pretty much right down to the wire.

The Johnnies confound me a little bit too. They could easily be 0-2, but with regard to comparisons with W&J (who I have much lower), I think even two close losses against WIAC teams would tell us more about potential strength relative to the top 25 than wins against Oberlin and Frostburg State would.

[redswarm81]

In the Week 2 Poll, I'm a little bit confused by St. John's leapfrogging Washington & Jefferson and ONU, especially considering that by all accounts, St. John's' game at home v. unranked UW-Eau Claire was touch-and-go pretty much right down to the wire.

The Johnnies confound me a little bit too. They could easily be 0-2, but with regard to comparisons with W&J (who I have much lower), I think even two close losses against WIAC teams would tell us more about potential strength relative to the top 25 than wins against Oberlin and Frostburg State would.

Okay, so this is probably one of those nitpicky poll voter psychology issues that triggers my OCD.  ONU had 60 points on St. John's in the Week 1 Poll.  St. John's plays an unranked team (from a studly conference) at home, and comes away with a win that every poll voter had to know could pretty easily have gone the other way.

For that, St. John's winds up 43 points ahead of idle Ohio Northern, a total swing of over 100 poll points.  That much movement would seem to mean that it wasn't just a case of voters swapping St. John's and ONU between adjacent spots on their ballots.

[SJSUPhil]

Redlands is the highest ranked SCIAC team as of week 3. Way to go Bulldogs!
http://www.d3football.com/top25/2009/week-3

[Mugsy]

It'll be interesting to see, but I suspect we'll see Wesley jump ahead of Wheaton in the top 25 standings.  Wheaton had it's hands full with Hope, while Wesley spanked LaGrange.

[HSC85]

Wesley just keeps making every team on their schedule look bad.  They are a very good team.