TOP 25

[K-Mack]

Does anyone talk top 25 here anymore or just on the fan poll board?

I was interested in the reaction to UW-Oshkosh moving up 5 spots after losing ... but as rare as it is to play UWW tough these days whether people thought it was deserved. I did, they filled the void that IWU and Montclair vacated, but I'm only one voter.

Also I see Olaf finally moved ahead of Bethel lol.

Just curious ... I'm sure if I search enough I'll find some chatter. Or will by Monday sometime.

[Ralph Turner]

Actually, moving UWO up because of their performance in the UWW game makes sense to me.

[Ralph Turner]

Does anyone talk top 25 here anymore or just on the fan poll board?

I was interested in the reaction to UW-Oshkosh moving up 5 spots after losing ... but as rare as it is to play UWW tough these days whether people thought it was deserved. I did, they filled the void that IWU and Montclair vacated, but I'm only one voter.

Also I see Olaf finally moved ahead of Bethel lol.

Just curious ... I'm sure if I search enough I'll find some chatter. Or will by Monday sometime.

My Firefox browser has not found the Week 8 Top 25!

[K-Mack]

Does anyone talk top 25 here anymore or just on the fan poll board?

I was interested in the reaction to UW-Oshkosh moving up 5 spots after losing ... but as rare as it is to play UWW tough these days whether people thought it was deserved. I did, they filled the void that IWU and Montclair vacated, but I'm only one voter.

Also I see Olaf finally moved ahead of Bethel lol.

Just curious ... I'm sure if I search enough I'll find some chatter. Or will by Monday sometime.

My Firefox browser has not found the Week 8 Top 25!

Same thing happened to me. change 7 to an 8 in the URL.

[Frank Rossi]

Actually, moving UWO up because of their performance in the UWW game makes sense to me.

Keith just wants to know why Endicott wasn't ranked higher.  I'm onto his game. 

[CruFrenzy]

It doesn't make any sense to me why UMHB continues to lose ground in the Top 25.

[Frank Rossi]

It doesn't make any sense to me why UMHB continues to lose ground in the Top 25.

Apparently, it was my ballot that cost them the one point you're concerned about.  I've been considering it for a while.  I just feel that Linfield has played somewhat better football over the last few weeks, especially defensively.

Trust me that I have a soft spot for UMHB after calling a playoff game in Belton in 2008.  However, I'm trying to assess the cream of the crop here with limited information -- and I just think that Linfield has a slight edge.

[CruFrenzy]

You're right, Linfield has been EXTREMELY impressive defensively lately. Thanks for responding!

[pumkinattack]

At what point do people take a closer look at the NJAC teams this season?  I'm sure all the voters have looked at them, but I can't figure out what the rationale is for the love, other than the Kean win over Wesley.  I don't see any other OOC wins that gets them to having 3-4 teams getting votes, at one point very recently having three teams in the top 15-17 range.  I'm sure they'll argue about the strength and depth of the conference, but I haven't really seen it on the field.  Cortland beating IC will prove nothing as IC may end up .500 this season having just lost to Utica.  Unless that Wesley win carries that much "trickle down" value, it's hard for this Eastern region fan to support the idea that the NJAC top 4-5 is that much better than the rest of the east sans Salisbury & DelVal (and IMO Hobart, but the 8 game thing is going to drag them down all regular season in perception, I think). 

[02 Warhawk]

I was interested to learn from the podcast that someone switched their vote from UMU to UWW. I didn't expect that to happen.

I did expect, however, to see that two voters switched their first-place vote from UWW to Mount (but not the other way around).

[bleedpurple]

I was interested to learn from the podcast that someone switched their vote from UMU to UWW. I didn't expect that to happen.

I did expect, however, to see that two voters switched their first-place vote from UWW to Mount (but not the other way around).

I think it shows that at least most of the pollsters look at things way deeper than comparative scores, which is a very good thing. I would guess that all three voters had contemplated the move for awhile and (as Keith alluded to in the podcast) their current #1 showed enough vulnerability this week that they felt like now was the time to pull the trigger on the switch. 

[K-Mack]

It doesn't make any sense to me why UMHB continues to lose ground in the Top 25.

Apparently, it was my ballot that cost them the one point you're concerned about.  I've been considering it for a while.  I just feel that Linfield has played somewhat better football over the last few weeks, especially defensively.

Trust me that I have a soft spot for UMHB after calling a playoff game in Belton in 2008.  However, I'm trying to assess the cream of the crop here with limited information -- and I just think that Linfield has a slight edge.

I've reorganized St. Thomas, UMHB and Linfield (and earlier in the year, Bethel) several times this year. It's a very week to week thing with me. Certainly helps when they beat better opponents.

[K-Mack]

At what point do people take a closer look at the NJAC teams this season?  I'm sure all the voters have looked at them, but I can't figure out what the rationale is for the love, other than the Kean win over Wesley.  I don't see any other OOC wins that gets them to having 3-4 teams getting votes, at one point very recently having three teams in the top 15-17 range.  I'm sure they'll argue about the strength and depth of the conference, but I haven't really seen it on the field.  Cortland beating IC will prove nothing as IC may end up .500 this season having just lost to Utica.  Unless that Wesley win carries that much "trickle down" value, it's hard for this Eastern region fan to support the idea that the NJAC top 4-5 is that much better than the rest of the east sans Salisbury & DelVal (and IMO Hobart, but the 8 game thing is going to drag them down all regular season in perception, I think).

I made the switch to Salisbury as the No. 1 East team about three weeks ago, even before the 69 point win. I was down on them after barely getting by CNU, but since then they have shot up to single digits IMHO.

I flip-flopped on Montclair for a while, Kean stays tacked ahead of Wesley for me, and Cortland I had to let go of even though they looked pretty good at Rowan. I think Rowan isn't completely out of it either, especially if Lyco ends up winning the MAC.

Del Val looks good, but Widener is coming on strong. The MAC champ will earn its respect because the good teams are all playing each other the past few weeks here.

Thomas More I think is the team that is furthest from the top 5 in terms of quality but benefits most from the void and from rarely being challenged.

The NJAC is competitive five teams deep, but that doesn't mean any of them are top 15 worthy necessarily.

I think Montclair being undefeated and a playoff team and beating Cortland earlier probably helped their bounce. Kean definitely has the Wesley win to thank, IMHO ... and there probably is trickle down to the whole conference.

[Ryan Tipps]

Thomas More I think is the team that is furthest from the top 5 in terms of quality but benefits most from the void and from rarely being challenged.

At the risk of being crucified by my own kind, I think your comments about TMC can also be applied to Wabash. The LGs have beaten only one team with a winning record and took a notable drop on my ballot after the Oberlin game. In the broader Top 25 though, like Thomas More, Wabash has crept up the rankings perhaps in response to a void of certainty about who to slot in that 8-12 range.

[K-Mack]

Thomas More I think is the team that is furthest from the top 5 in terms of quality but benefits most from the void and from rarely being challenged.

At the risk of being crucified by my own kind, I think your comments about TMC can also be applied to Wabash. The LGs have beaten only one team with a winning record and took a notable drop on my ballot after the Oberlin game. In the broader Top 25 though, like Thomas More, Wabash has crept up the rankings perhaps in response to a void of certainty about who to slot in that 8-12 range.

Me and my ballot agree with you 100 percent. I do not have Wabash anywhere close to where the overall group does, but Thomas More is only about four or five spots below.

I think I'll be revealing my ballot in ATN this week as part of a larger project.

Wabash and TMC reveal this truth: Your ranking is (or should be) largely supported by the teams you beat/play well against.