D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

[Toby Taff]

emma,
I don't think you root against UMHB. I just wanted to explain why people consistently put them in the top 5. You are correct about the blowouts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, but I tend to think it has to do with relative conference strength. ASC vs PAC is pretty much always a blow out, but what can you do when the conference has the AQ and wins their playoff games.

[Ralph Turner]

emma,
I don't think you root against UMHB. I just wanted to explain why people consistently put them in the top 5. You are correct about the blowouts in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, but I tend to think it has to do with relative conference strength. ASC vs PAC is pretty much always a blow out, but what can you do when the conference has the AQ and wins their playoff games.

And the metrics that are used by the national committee do not account for the statistical disparities that arise because of the isolated ASC and the concentration of schools in the "eastern" side of the South Region.  Furthermore, the "geographical proximity" clause in the Handbook mandates that the ASC teams will be sent wherever necessary.

[Ralph Turner]

Here is the link to a message board that talks about "Bracketgate" games.

Best All-time South Region teams

[emma17]

OK all you MHB fans, I think it may be time to beg for forgiveness. 
I caught some of the MHB game and HSU game video streams.  I can see why you say HSU won't be able to stop your run.  On top of it, HSU didn't look all that impressive on offense.  Maybe it's a bad game type of thing- I don't know.  Meanwhile, in the first half I saw of MHB, they look very good.  Back to the drawing board on the polls.
Nice work MHB

[smedindy]

What a bad week for a few Top 25 teams. Kean shows they're for reals. North Central is still a wee bit upset about losing to Redlands. And the big question is what do you do about ONU and Montclair? Reward them for a close win, or penalize them for almost losing to an opponent they should have rolled? (Though in the OAC, the mid-tier teams are hard to 'roll' unless you're Mt. Union.)

[MasterJedi]

What a bad week for a few Top 25 teams. Kean shows they're for reals. North Central is still a wee bit upset about losing to Redlands. And the big question is what do you do about ONU and Montclair? Reward them for a close win, or penalize them for almost losing to an opponent they should have rolled? (Though in the OAC, the mid-tier teams are hard to 'roll' unless you're Mt. Union.)

That, and they've played some pretty bad teams to boot! CCIW schedule starts for them now though, they'll have some tests coming up during the rest of the season.

[smedindy]

What a bad week for a few Top 25 teams. Kean shows they're for reals. North Central is still a wee bit upset about losing to Redlands. And the big question is what do you do about ONU and Montclair? Reward them for a close win, or penalize them for almost losing to an opponent they should have rolled? (Though in the OAC, the mid-tier teams are hard to 'roll' unless you're Mt. Union.)

That, and they've played some pretty bad teams to boot! CCIW schedule starts for them now though, they'll have some tests coming up during the rest of the season.

Yeah, Olivet certainly isn't Wheaton or IWU! But Bethel (TN) won 69-6 today over West Virginia Tech. So they're not wretched.

Add Mary Hardin Baylor to my, "penalize or praise" list. Going to start to contemplate...

[retagent]

Don't overlook Carthage this year.

[smedindy]

Can't pull the trigger on Catholic...

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Considering only 2 teams I had in my poll lost (and 3 didn't play) I still ended up moving a bunch of teams. Taking out movement because of the losses, I still have 10 teams changing spots. Of course that's probably better than just leaving everything the same and simply moving people up a spot when someone loses.

[Ralph Turner]

Mine is in.  Lots of turmoil and uncertainty just below the Top 7-8.

[smedindy]

HSC85 - It depends. No seriously.

It depends on home / road, conference vs. non-conference, rival vs. non-rival, and past results.

So, I can't say for sure except on a case-by-case basis.

[smedindy]

It's not political. To me, it's simple. As I stated before, will team X beat team Y a majority of times. It's not about getting respect or not. Flukes happen. But I can't rank on the basis of a fluke. (Not to say Miss. College beating Hardin - Simmons was a total fluke, but I do think Hardin-Simmons will beat them 3 times out of 5 on a neutral field...)

[hazzben]

It's not political. To me, it's simple. As I stated before, will team X beat team Y a majority of times. It's not about getting respect or not. Flukes happen. But I can't rank on the basis of a fluke. (Not to say Miss. College beating Hardin - Simmons was a total fluke, but I do think Hardin-Simmons will beat them 3 times out of 5 on a neutral field...)

That's not simple...that's simply subjective. Why was it a fluke? Because you say so? Because you think so? Why would Hardin-Simmons win 3 of 5? I'm not going to tell anyone how to fill out their ballot, everyone's got to figure out their philosophy. And the difference in philosophies is part of the fun. But yours is clearly to put more weight upon subjective data than objective data.

Mississippi College was up 45 - 14 with 8 minutes to play. 14 of HS points and 150 yds of offense came in the closing minutes, even seconds of the game. And MC still won by 17 points. I don't see how this is a fluke and I see no evidence that would suggest that Hardin-Simmons should be considered the favorite in a 5, 7 or 10 game series.

[Ralph Turner]

The ASC gets sorted out even more this weekend with UMHB at HSU and Miss College at LaCollege.

The road trip to Mississippi College is always a hard one... 600 miles from Abilene TX to Clinton MS.

Even the officiating crews are vastly different between Texas and Mississippi.