D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

[emma17]

I love UWW through and through, but MT has 18 returning starters.  From a "pre-season" perspective, MT seems they should be the pre-season #1, for now.

I agree they have a lot coming back. But nobody on their roster, that's coming back, is named: Cecil Shorts, Kyle Miller,
Lambert Budzinski, Sam Kershaw or Samy Geurrero.

As long as UWW still has Coppage, UWW will still be my #1. UWW's weakness last season was their secondary....I believe this year those positions will be their strength. Just about everyone is returning, including a transfer from DII that is tearing it up in preseason from what I hear. I really excited about their secondary.

Oshkosh just missed, coming in at 15 

Considering Oshkosh received 11 points (Others receiving votes), that makes you the only one to put them in the top 25. 

As a fan on the WIAC, I hope you're right about them. And if they knock off both Central and Mount, then you can tell us all to suck it!!! 

02- I understand the reluctance with Oshkosh, you know I've had to explain myself plenty with them on other boards.  The fact is, they don't have to beat both, they can beat Central and play a close game against Mt and they will be entirely deserving of the #15 ranking I gave them.  If they don't, then it's the same ol Oshkosh I reckon. 
Re UWW.  I can't remember for sure, but I think Mt was ranked #1 in 2008 after losing to UWW in 2007. I think that was based on who each team had returning and there was logic in that pre-season ranking.  It's somewhat the same this year.  As great as Coppage is, he won't be nearly as productive without a great O-Line. In no way am I saying UWW won't have a great one, but at this point in the season, I don't think we can confidently say they will be.  Hopefully a few games into the season we'll all be talking about how well the O-Line has played and then a #1 ranking will be justified- for me anyway. 

[bleedpurple]

I was interested in the fact that the Top 25 Fan Poll tabulation reflected results so similar to the D3football.com poll. That was unexpected to me because as the ballots were coming in, there seemed to be quite a variance in rankings. To give a bit more of a glimpse into the variance (and affirm that the pollsters are independent thinkers), I worked up some more data from the initial D3 Top 25 Fan Poll.

Below is a list of each Top 25 team along with the highest ranking each received on any individual ballot and the lowest ranking each received on an individual ballot.

TEAM- (Highest ranking, lowest ranking)
1. UWW- (1,2)
2. Mount Union- (1,2)
3. North Central- (3,5)
4. Wesley- (3,6)
5. St. Thomas- (3,8)
6. UMHB- (4,10)
7. Bethel- (5, 13)
8. Wheaton- (7,15)
9. Linfield- (6,22)
10. Coe- (8, 23)
11. Ohio Northern- (9, unranked)
12. Wartburg- (9, 25)
13. Montclair State- (10, unranked)
14. Thomas More- (10, unranked)
15. Cortland State- (11, unranked)
16. Hardin-Simmons- (6, unranked)
17. Cal Lutheran- (11, unranked)
18. Alfred- (17, unranked)
19. Trine- (11, unranked)
20. Wabash- (14, unranked)
21. Wittenberg- (15, unranked)
22. UW-Stevens Point- (12, unranked)
23. St. John's- (15, unranked)
24. Rowan- (19, unranked)
25. Franklin- (19, unranked)

[crufootball]

Thanks for taking the time to get this done Bleedpurple.
I don't know if I'm surprised or disappointed that the poll looks an awful lot like the D3 poll released.  As much as I respect the DIII gang, I thought the preseason poll provided many opportunities for differing opinions- which I guess I'll start here.
I love UWW through and through, but MT has 18 returning starters.  From a "pre-season" perspective, MT seems they should be the pre-season #1, for now.
MHB continues to receive lots of love and I don't get it- 10th place for me. I put Hardin Simmons at #6. 
I feel Baldwin-Wallace should replace Ohio Northern at 11- I don't get the love for Ohio Northern.  ONU out of top 25.
I placed St. Thomas at #3- ahead of NCC and Wesley.  These three teams are close to a toss up to me.  St. Thomas over NCC because NCC losses an unbelievable linebacker.  NCC over Wesley because I feel they play a more disciplined overall game- with speed everywhere that can compete with Wesley.
Bethel at 7 and Wheaton at 8- So the OAC, MIAC, ASC and CCIW each had two top 10 teams in my book.
Oshkosh just missed, coming in at 15 

Thanks for the work guys, anything that can get me through the last few days without college football is great in my book.

I am curious though Emma, why don't you get the love for MHB but seem to have the love for HSU?

Cru- Thanks for asking about my MHB ranking.  First, I did make them #10- so it's not that I think they are weak or undeserving of a high ranking.  Since I don't get to see many ASC games I based my rank on what they did the last couple years in the playoffs and what I read in the Kickoff write-ups.  H-S was the #1 ranked offensive team last year, and although they lose their stud QB, it seems they have experienced and talented guys in the wings.  In addition, they return 8 defensive starters, which I have to believe will help them against MHB.  I know MHB returns the same on defense, but I feel it's easier to improve on defense against a team with a year or two experience.  I am not a huge fan of the MHB offense- at least in what I read from last year.  They struggled mightily to pass vs. Wesley I remember.  Is that because they feature a QB that is better at running than passing?  I don't know for sure, but that's what I based my decision on. 
Having seen MHB in 2007, I have lots of respect for the program.

Thanks for the reply Emma and no worries I know you weren't trying to disrespect UMHB. One thing I would point out about HSU is not only are they losing their QB, but their best WR and their coach of 20+ years. They do have some talented guys waiting but that is a lot to replace in one off season especially when they are a pass happy offense.

To answer your question about UMHB, our QB is much better at running than passing but that has pretty much always been the case for us (In one playoff game we only threw 3 passes the whole game). This year could be different, we still have the same QB as last year but we are going to be doing some different things on offense that will allow us to pass more... if we need to.

Thanks again for the work and let the fun begin.

[CruFrenzy]

emma17,
   
Thanks for replying. I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree and see what happens. And by the way, be expecting a very interesting change in the way the Cru's offense will be run this year. I cant say exactly but we'll all see soon.

GO CRU!!!

[hazzben]

As a voter, after the obvious first two there was such a knot for me between 3-11 and then a gap between 11 (Bethel) and 12 (Wartburg) and then another knot all the way down. I had Salisbury higher than most, and didn't have another WIAC team in the top 25, as I'm on a 'wait and see' with them. I don't know how much difference there is between a Salisbury, a Wittenberg, a UW-SP, or a Del Val until the first game or three.

We're now blessed with a lot of good to great teams in D-3 behind the obvious powers. I think that's excellent for the growth of the sport and the division. There's nothing better to incent excellence than to strive toward an aspirational peer, and we have a couple in D-3. I think the equality of the top programs after the Purple shows that.

This was my thought exactly. I had Bethel higher in the knot than you, given they beat 2 of those 'knot' teams (UST and Wheaton) in the playoffs last year and those two 'knot' teams each beat another 'knot' team (Linfield and Coe). But all those games were ridiculously close games that could have broken either way for either team. Parsing out where to place those teams is tricky, especially this early in the year. Several of these teams will face off in the regular season and give us a clearer indicator as the season progresses.

I was pretty confident in the teams I had ranked 1 through 17 (Wittenberg) deserving to be in the Top 25 and feeling like they'll be somewhere in the poll at seasons end. After that, it got a lot murkier for me. 18 through 30 really seemed like a quagmire.

The great thing is that there are sure to be a few teams in the top 17, maybe even the top 10, that fail to impress as we anticipate and don't even make the field. But there are also some teams nobody even sees coming at this point. Bethel is a great example (can you tell I'm a Bethel fan  ) from last year. From unranked to closing the season in the top 5. I had a lot of confidence in last years team, but most people not close to the MIAC probably didn't have any of those expectations. There are bound to be some out there this year. No one knows perfectly how a season breaks down, but some are going to disappoint and some are going to exceed the pollsters expectations.

[CruFrenzy]

Crufootball! haha, was he replying to you or me? I couldnt tell. Either way i know you and i will both agree we are a little better than number 10 forsure. hahaha. Go Cru!!!

[hazzben]

I was interested in the fact that the Top 25 Fan Poll tabulation reflected results so similar to the D3football.com poll. That was unexpected to me because as the ballots were coming in, there seemed to be quite a variance in rankings. To give a bit more of a glimpse into the variance (and affirm that the pollsters are independent thinkers), I worked up some more data from the initial D3 Top 25 Fan Poll.

Below is a list of each Top 25 team along with the highest ranking each received on any individual ballot and the lowest ranking each received on an individual ballot.

TEAM- (Highest ranking, lowest ranking)
1. UWW- (1,2)
2. Mount Union- (1,2)
3. North Central- (3,5)
4. Wesley- (3,6)
5. St. Thomas- (3,8)
6. UMHB- (4,10)
7. Bethel- (5, 13)
8. Wheaton- (7,15)
9. Linfield- (6,22)
10. Coe- (8, 23)
11. Ohio Northern- (9, unranked)
12. Wartburg- (9, 25)
13. Montclair State- (10, unranked)
14. Thomas More- (10, unranked)
15. Cortland State- (11, unranked)
16. Hardin-Simmons- (6, unranked)
17. Cal Lutheran- (11, unranked)
18. Alfred- (17, unranked)
19. Trine- (11, unranked)
20. Wabash- (14, unranked)
21. Wittenberg- (15, unranked)
22. UW-Stevens Point- (12, unranked)
23. St. John's- (15, unranked)
24. Rowan- (19, unranked)
25. Franklin- (19, unranked)

Wow, that is really interesting. Both in seeing the variance among fan opinion and the fact that in the end it still broke so similarly to the D3football.com official poll.

Which makes me think, I'd love to see a similar breakdown of the official poll. Pat, would that ever be in the realm of possibility?

[Pat Coleman]

In theory, yes, but I would have to do the breakdowns by hand as well and I'm not sure I would have the time to do that during the season.

[02 Warhawk]

In theory, yes, but I would have to do the breakdowns by hand.

Great....we'll expect them by Friday.

[02 Warhawk]

From what I read about Coe and Cal Lutheran, they both have very good teams returning.

Cal Lutheran seems to be a team on the rise and should challenge Linfield for the conference title.

I think both will have surprisingly good seasons.

[BoBo]

From what I read about Coe and Cal Lutheran, they both have very good teams returning.

Cal Lutheran seems to be a team on the rise and should challenge Linfield for the conference title.
I think both will have surprisingly good seasons.

02 Warhawk, that would certainly be surprising, if not an amazing accomplishment.  Cal Lutheran and Linfield play in different conferences!! 

However, I don't think Linfield having a surprisingly good season would be all that big of a surprise.  They haven't had a losing season in a gazillion years!! 

[02 Warhawk]

From what I read about Coe and Cal Lutheran, they both have very good teams returning.

Cal Lutheran seems to be a team on the rise and should challenge Linfield for the conference title.
I think both will have surprisingly good seasons.

02 Warhawk, that would certainly be surprising, if not an amazing accomplishment.  Cal Lutheran and Linfield play in different conferences!! 

I have no excuse...oops

[hazzben]

From what I read about Coe and Cal Lutheran, they both have very good teams returning.

Cal Lutheran seems to be a team on the rise and should challenge Linfield for the conference title.
I think both will have surprisingly good seasons.

02 Warhawk, that would certainly be surprising, if not an amazing accomplishment.  Cal Lutheran and Linfield play in different conferences!! 

I have no excuse...oops

Been there, done that. We all have a post or two like that up our sleeve!

But the Cal Lutheran v. Linfield matchup is a key game for early season Top 25 clarity. Both for these two programs and for how to gauge the their conferences, to a degree, the rest of the year. It'll be a good matchup.

[smedindy]

Hard to keep all the Lutherans straight. I was in Minnesota for 4 years and I still have trouble on all of the darm Lutheran schools (and what flavor of Lutherans they are...)

[hazzben]

Hard to keep all the Lutherans straight. I was in Minnesota for 4 years and I still have trouble on all of the darm Lutheran schools (and what flavor of Lutherans they are...)

And all the Concordia's...