D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

[smedindy]

I'm in!

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Everyone from last year is returning and we've picked up an additional voter from the South which gets us to double digits this year. 
So far 4 ballots are in... hopefully all will be in by Sunday. I know one voter has said they won't get their ballot in this week but will be good after that.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

It's finally here... the Top 25 Fan Poll. Everyone from last year has returned (with one not submitting this week) and we've added a 10th voter.

                2017 PRESEASON TOP 25 FAN POLL

#        School                Pts   Prev 
  1)   Mary Hardin-Baylor (8)   223     1
  2)   Mount Union              213     4
  3)   UW-Whitewater            202     6
  4)   UW-Oshkosh               195     2
  5)   St Thomas (1)            194     5
  6)   Wheaton                  170     7
  7)   North Central            167    11
  8)   Linfield                 154    T8
  9)   John Carroll             153     3
10)   Wesley                   150    13
11)   St John's                135    T8
12)   Hardin-Simmons           121    14
13)   Johns Hopkins            103    10
14)   UW-Platteville           101    12
15)   Hobart                    85    19
16)   Frostburg St              75    23
17)   Wittenberg                68    16
18)   Stevenson                 63    22
19)   Delaware Valley           61    NR
20)   Thomas More               59   T17
21)   Case Western Reserve      47    NR
22)   Alfred                    35    15
T23)   St John Fisher            18    NR
T23)   Wash & Jeff               18    NR
25)   Muhlenberg                15    NR

Dropped Out: Coe, W New England, Monmouth, Huntingdon, St Lawrence

Also Receiving Votes: Denison (12), UW-La Crosse (11), Whitworth (11), Redlands (10), W New England (10), Heidelberg (8), Salisbury (8), Concordia-Moorhead (7), Brockport (5), Illinois Wesleyan (5), Dubuque (4), Wabash (3), Wartburg (3), Monmouth (2), Franklin (1)

Voters: 02 Warhawk, D3MAFAN, desertcat1, FCGrizzliesGrad, HansenRatings, HSCTiger74, NCF, smedindy, and newcomer Scots13

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

  1)   Mary Hardin-Baylor   223    ( 1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  3)
  2)   Mount Union          213    ( 2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  3,  4)
  3)   UW-Whitewater        202    ( 2,  3,  3,  3,  4,  4,  4,  4,  5)
  4)   UW-Oshkosh           195    ( 2,  3,  3,  3,  4,  4,  5,  7,  8)
  5)   St Thomas            194    ( 1,  3,  4,  4,  5,  5,  5,  6,  7)
  6)   Wheaton              170    ( 5,  5,  6,  6,  7,  7,  8,  9, 11)
  7)   North Central        167    ( 5,  5,  6,  7,  8,  8,  9,  9, 10)
  8)   Linfield             154    ( 6,  7,  8,  8,  8, 10, 10, 10, 13)
  9)   John Carroll         153    ( 6,  7,  7,  8,  9,  9, 10, 12, 13)
10)   Wesley               150    ( 6,  6,  9,  9,  9, 10, 11, 12, 12)
11)   St John's            135    ( 8,  9, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 15)
12)   Hardin-Simmons       121    (10, 11, 11, 11, 12, 12, 15, 15, 16)
13)   Johns Hopkins        103    (12, 13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 17, 20)
14)   UW-Platteville       101    ( 6, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15, 15, 21, 22)
15)   Hobart                85    ( 7, 13, 14, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, --)
16)   Frostburg St          75    (10, 13, 17, 17, 17, 18, 19, 22, --)
17)   Wittenberg            68    (14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 18, 18, --, --)
18)   Stevenson             63    (14, 16, 17, 18, 18, 19, 20, 23, --)
19)   Delaware Valley       61    (16, 16, 17, 17, 20, 20, 20, 23, 24)
20)   Thomas More           59    (13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 19, 25, 25, --)
21)   Case Western Reserve  47    (11, 16, 20, 22, 22, 22, 24, 24, --)
22)   Alfred                35    (17, 18, 20, 21, 21, 24, --, --, --)
T23)   St John Fisher        18    (19, 22, 23, 23, 25, --, --, --, --)
T23)   Wash & Jeff           18    (19, 21, 21, 25, --, --, --, --, --)
25)   Muhlenberg            15    (19, 23, 24, 24, 25, --, --, --, --)

26)   Denison               12    (14)
T27)   UW-La Crosse          11    (15)
T27)   Whitworth             11    (22, 22, 23)
29)   Redlands              10    (21, 23, 25, 25)
30)   W New England         10    (19, 24, 25)
T31)   Heidelberg             8    (18)
T31)   Salisbury              8    (20, 24)
33)   Concordia-Moorhead     7    (19)
T34)   Brockport              5    (21)
T34)   Illinois Wesleyan      5    (21)
36)   Dubuque                4    (22)
T37)   Wabash                 3    (23)
T37)   Wartburg               3    (23)
39)   Monmouth               2    (24)
40)   Franklin               1    (25)

[albatross]

that all looks about right for preseason, although the receiving votes section is a little surprising. I thought Franklin might have gotten a few more...

[HansenRatings]

I am very much an outlier for most of teams, including being the only person not voting UMHB as #1 (very surprising to me, honestly), and being the only vote for about 4 of the teams receiving votes.

[jamtod]

I was a bit surprised by the overwhelming support for UMHB as #1 also. I can see the justification for keeping the defending champ at #1, but I would not expect that line of thinking to be nearly unanimous among voters (both here and the main d3football.com poll)

I am very much an outlier for most of teams, including being the only person not voting UMHB as #1 (very surprising to me, honestly), and being the only vote for about 4 of the teams receiving votes.

[smedindy]

I didn't see any overwhelming reason NOT to have them #1. Ties go to the champ.

[smedindy]

I am very much an outlier for most of teams, including being the only person not voting UMHB as #1 (very surprising to me, honestly), and being the only vote for about 4 of the teams receiving votes.

Do you vote strictly on your algorithm? Just curious. I've played around with one when I had more free time (a/k/a a boring job in the past) but never voted based on it.

[HansenRatings]

I am very much an outlier for most of teams, including being the only person not voting UMHB as #1 (very surprising to me, honestly), and being the only vote for about 4 of the teams receiving votes.

Do you vote strictly on your algorithm? Just curious. I've played around with one when I had more free time (a/k/a a boring job in the past) but never voted based on it.

It definitely influences my thinking, but I vote based on my own opinions (but I'm pretty unlikely to vote a team into my Top 25 if the algorithm has them around 50 or 75, like Western New England right now)

[wally_wabash]

Not a voter in this poll, but I was also surprised at the near-unanimous support of UMHB at #1.  I mean, they lost the best defensive player in the country and the one guy Fredenburg trusted with the football when all the chips went into the middle last December.   I know they've got plenty of dudes down there in Belton, but they lost two huge pieces.  St. Thomas is loaded.  Mount Union has a ton back from a team that scrapped their way to the semis.  I thought there were three or four viable options for #1 preseason, which is why it's surprising that everyone went with UMHB. 

[smedindy]

I guess time will tell, as the cliche goes, but again, I didn't see a reason not to have them #1.

September will be a reckoning, with UMHB - Linfield, Oshkosh - John Carroll, St. Thomas - St. Johns, and Whitewater with three good teams on the road (IWU and C-M, and then Oshkosh on the 30th).

If UW-W gets to October 4-0 with three good wins on the road, well, that may change the calculus.

I also think we won't really know much about Mt. Union until their last game unless they unexpectedly struggle against ONU. The OAC seems to be backsliding except for UMU and JCU.

[Mr. Ypsi]

So much for UWW being in the mix for #1!   THREE times in the game they were first-and-goal from the IWU 1, and never scored a TD!  The Titan defense got two TOs and held them to a FG the third (actually, first) time.

Despite being a die-hard Titan fan, I thought the voter who had them 21st was somewhat crazy.  Well, yeah - they had them too low!   When I rejoin the voting this week, I'll have them higher than that - though way too early to know how high (NOT top ten; probably somewhere in the mid-teens).

[SaintsFAN]

So much for UWW being in the mix for #1!   THREE times in the game they were first-and-goal from the IWU 1, and never scored a TD!  The Titan defense got two TOs and held them to a FG the third (actually, first) time.

Despite being a die-hard Titan fan, I thought the voter who had them 21st was somewhat crazy.  Well, yeah - they had them too low!   When I rejoin the voting this week, I'll have them higher than that - though way too early to know how high (NOT top ten; probably somewhere in the mid-teens).

me thinks yesterday's result tell us more about Whitewater's trajectory (especially since Bullis took over) than it does IWU.  They have appeared on my ballot, but I feel the way you do with the team in the mid-teens. 

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Still waiting on 1 ballot to come in.
I'm surprised at how in agreement everyone is on who should be ranked... of course they don't agree on where they should be ranked though