D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

[Oline89]

I was an Ithaca voter, not an F&M.  Despite a great record for F&M last year, it is hard to put two teams from the Centennial  in the preseason top 25, and no team from the Liberty League.

(The Centennial practically has twice as many football programs as the LL.)

Does twice the number of teams increase the talent pool or dilute it?  Still feel strongly that the best team in the LL is usually at least as good as the best team in the Centennial, and certainly as good as the second best team.  Preseason polls are just that, can't wait for the start of football 2018.  One of the best parts of D3 Football is how much change can occur year to year (Mt Union, UMHB aside...)

[Pat Coleman]

Does twice the number of teams increase the talent pool or dilute it?

Neither -- we're not talking about a closed system here.

[Bartman]

I was an Ithaca voter, not an F&M.  Despite a great record for F&M last year, it is hard to put two teams from the Centennial  in the preseason top 25, and no team from the Liberty League.

(The Centennial practically has twice as many football programs as the LL.)

Does twice the number of teams increase the talent pool or dilute it?  Still feel strongly that the best team in the LL is usually at least as good as the best team in the Centennial, and certainly as good as the second best team.  Preseason polls are just that, can't wait for the start of football 2018.  One of the best parts of D3 Football is how much change can occur year to year (Mt Union, UMHB aside...)

The historical Kickoff Conference ratings often flip flop on the CC and LL Conference ratings. Personally, I think a round robin of the top 4 teams from each league this year would show parity. The last 2 teams in the LL and the last 6 teams in the CC , no so much. So the top four LL teams(IC,RPI,Hobart, Union) only have have 2 likely league wins and the CC top four(Hopkins, F&M,Muhlenberg,Ursinus??) have 6 likely league wins.  The CC isolated schedule can inflate or deflate the league strength depending on a handful of out of conference games and 1 or 2 playoff games. The LL has to play more out of conference games giving you a better sense of league strength.
As far as the poll, I appreciate every contributor's efforts and especially GrizzliesGrad for coordinating....the first few weeks involves some serious guesstimating.

[bman]

Like Smedindy I also did not have Del Val in the top 25.  According to our Del Val poster who is usually spot on and has good access, Del Val has been decimated by both graduation and key players from last year leaving.  The acid test will be week 1 vs Wesley...then we will know if they belong or not...

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Still waiting on 2 ballots. I'll chalk it up to being a holiday weekend. Hopefully they'll be in and I'll have the poll up sometime today.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

2018 WEEK 1 TOP 25 FAN POLL

Rank	Team	Points	Prev
1)	Mount Union (10)	250	1
2)	Mary Hardin-Baylor	239	2
3)	St Thomas	225	4
4)	UW-Oshkosh	212	3
5)	Brockport	206	6
6)	Linfield	195	5
7)	North Central	194	7
8)	Wesley	171	8
9)	Frostburg St	169	9
10)	St John's	162	10
11)	Hardin-Simmons	149	11
12)	UW-Whitewater	145	12
13)	Wartburg	139	13
14)	Wittenberg	111	14
15)	Washington & Jefferson	106	15
16)	Wheaton	102	16
17)	UW-Platteville	82	17
18)	Johns Hopkins	78	18
19)	John Carroll	43	22
20)	Trine	40	24
21)	Berry	37	23
22)	Illinois Wesleyan	34	20
23)	Case Western Reserve	32	NR
24)	Franklin & Marshall	24	21
25)	Delaware Valley	19	19

Dropped Out: Concordia-Moorhead

Also Receiving Votes: Ithaca 18, Concordia-Moorhead 16, RPI 11, Wabash 8, Washington & Lee 8, Whitworth 5, Millikin 4, Rowan 3, Springfield 3, Baldwin Wallace 2, Carthage 2, Redlands 2, Salisbury 2, Alfred 1, Framingham St 1

Voters: 02 Warhawk, bluestreak66, bman, desertcat1, FCGG, MANDGSU, Mr. Ypsi, NCF, Oline79, and smedindy

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

  1)   Mount Union          250     ( 1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1)
  2)   Mary Hardin-Baylor   239     ( 2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  3)
  3)   St Thomas            225     ( 2,  3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  4,  4,  7)
  4)   UW-Oshkosh           212     ( 3,  4,  4,  5,  5,  5,  5,  5,  6,  6)
  5)   Brockport            206     ( 3,  4,  4,  4,  5,  5,  6,  7,  8,  8)
  6)   Linfield             195     ( 3,  4,  4,  5,  6,  7,  7,  8,  9, 12)
  7)   North Central        194     ( 5,  5,  6,  6,  6,  6,  7,  8,  8,  9)
  8)   Wesley               171     ( 7,  7,  7,  8,  8,  9, 10, 10, 11, 12)
  9)   Frostburg St         169     ( 6,  8,  8,  9,  9,  9,  9, 10, 11, 12)
10)   St John's            162     ( 7,  9,  9, 10, 10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11)
11)   Hardin-Simmons       149     ( 6,  8, 10, 10, 11, 12, 12, 13, 14, 15)
12)   UW-Whitewater        145     ( 7,  9, 10, 11, 11, 12, 13, 13, 14, 15)
13)   Wartburg             139     ( 4, 11, 12, 12, 12, 12, 13, 13, 13, 19)
14)   Wittenberg           111     (13, 13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 15, 16, 17, 19)
15)   Wash & Jeff          106     (11, 14, 14, 15, 15, 16, 16, 17, 18, 18)
16)   Wheaton              102     (13, 14, 14, 15, 15, 15, 16, 17, 17, 22)
17)   UW-Platteville        82     (14, 15, 16, 16, 17, 18, 18, 20, 20, 24)
18)   Johns Hopkins         78     (16, 17, 17, 17, 17, 18, 18, 18, 19, 25)
19)   John Carroll          43     (16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, --, --, --)
20)   Trine                 40     (19, 19, 20, 20, 21, 22, 22, 25, --, --)
21)   Berry                 37     (19, 19, 20, 21, 21, 21, 24, --, --, --)
22)   Illinois Wesleyan     34     (16, 20, 21, 21, 21, 23, --, --, --, --)
23)   Case Western Reserve  32     (19, 20, 22, 22, 22, 23, 24, 25, 25, --)
24)   Franklin & Marshall   24     (16, 20, 23, 23, 24, --, --, --, --, --)
25)   Delaware Valley       19     (18, 20, 23, 24, --, --, --, --, --, --)

26)   Ithaca                18     (14, 23, 23)
27)   Concordia-Moorhead    16     (17, 19)
28)   RPI                   11     (21, 23, 24, 25)
T29)   Wabash                 8     (22, 22)
T29)   Wash & Lee             8     (18)
31)   Whitworth              5     (21)
32)   Millikin               4     (22)
T33)   Rowan                  3     (24, 25)
T33)   Springfield            3     (23)
T35)   Baldwin Wallace        2     (24)
T35)   Carthage               2     (25, 25)
T35)   Redlands               2     (24)
T35)   Salisbury              2     (24)
T39)   Alfred                 1     (25)
T39)   Framingham St          1     (25)

[Bombers798891]

Someone's got Ithaca at 14? Whoo boy, that's a bit much for me

[smedindy]

This was an *interesting* week, thanks to Oshkosh and Linfield, and Wartburg laying a giant mettwurst and Johns Hopkins dissolving before our eyes.

[jknezek]

This was an *interesting* week, thanks to Oshkosh and Linfield, and Wartburg laying a giant mettwurst and Johns Hopkins dissolving before our eyes.

It's almost exactly the same "dissolve" that JHU had last year. It didn't last then, I'm skeptical it will last now. Last year Ursinus. This year Susquehanna. Decent teams, not great. The only difference is last year it was an obvious trap game with Ursinus followed by F&M. This year it isn't a trap game. I think JHU will recover, though F&M and Muhlenberg are going to be stiff tests.

[smedindy]

This was an *interesting* week, thanks to Oshkosh and Linfield, and Wartburg laying a giant mettwurst and Johns Hopkins dissolving before our eyes.

It's almost exactly the same "dissolve" that JHU had last year. It didn't last then, I'm skeptical it will last now. Last year Ursinus. This year Susquehanna. Decent teams, not great. The only difference is last year it was an obvious trap game with Ursinus followed by F&M. This year it isn't a trap game. I think JHU will recover, though F&M and Muhlenberg are going to be stiff tests.

I don't think decent teams fear them any more.

[jknezek]

This was an *interesting* week, thanks to Oshkosh and Linfield, and Wartburg laying a giant mettwurst and Johns Hopkins dissolving before our eyes.

It's almost exactly the same "dissolve" that JHU had last year. It didn't last then, I'm skeptical it will last now. Last year Ursinus. This year Susquehanna. Decent teams, not great. The only difference is last year it was an obvious trap game with Ursinus followed by F&M. This year it isn't a trap game. I think JHU will recover, though F&M and Muhlenberg are going to be stiff tests.

I don't think decent teams fear them any more.

I don't think many conference teams really fear each other. Familiarity kind of kills that concept. It's possible that the air of invincibility is diminished. But any team that has lost 6 conference games in 9 seasons is going to get every team's best shot.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

One of these weeks we'll get this up[ on a Monday night. This week one voter was away all weekend and the other hasn't been on the forum in several days. Hopefully both ballots come in today and I can get it up tonight.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

One voter is MIA so we're going with 9 voters this week.

2018 WEEK 2 TOP 25 FAN POLL

Rank	Team	Points	Prev
1)	Mount Union (9)	225	1
2)	Mary Hardin-Baylor	216	2
3)	St Thomas	204	3
4)	Brockport	195	5
5)	North Central	190	7
6)	Frostburg St	171	9
7)	Wesley	167	8
8)	St John's	161	10
9)	UW-Whitewater	157	12
10)	Hardin-Simmons	151	11
T11)	Wash & Jeff	116	15
T11)	Wheaton	116	16
13)	Linfield	114	6
14)	Wittenberg	110	14
15)	UW-Oshkosh	89	4
16)	UW-Platteville	88	17
17)	John Carroll	65	19
18)	Trine	58	20
19)	Berry	55	21
T20)	Case Western Reserve	46	23
T20)	Franklin & Marshall	46	24
22)	UW-La Crosse	37	NR
23)	RPI	30	NR
24)	Delaware Valley	27	25
T25)	Springfield	13	NR
T25)	Wash & Lee	13	NR

Dropped Out: Wartburg, Johns Hopkins, Illinois Wesleyan

Also Receiving Votes: Susquehanna 11, Monmouth 6, Wartburg 6, Whitworth 6, Illinois Wesleyan 5, Wabash 5, Carthage 4, Cortland 4, Millikin 4, Baldwin Wallace 3, Salisbury 3, Alfred 2, Redlands 2, Albion 1, Concordia-Moorhead 1, Rowan 1, Trinity (TX) 1

Voters: 02 Warhawk, bluestreak66, bman, desertcat1, FCGG, MANDGSU, Mr. Ypsi, NCF, Oline79, and smedindy

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

  1)   Mount Union          225     ( 1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1)
  2)   Mary Hardin-Baylor   216     ( 2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2)
  3)   St Thomas            204     ( 3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  4,  5)
  4)   Brockport            195     ( 3,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  6,  6)
  5)   North Central        190     ( 3,  4,  4,  5,  5,  5,  5,  6,  7)
  6)   Frostburg St         171     ( 5,  6,  6,  6,  7,  7,  8,  9,  9)
  7)   Wesley               167     ( 5,  6,  6,  7,  8,  8,  8,  9, 10)
  8)   St John's            161     ( 5,  7,  8,  8,  8,  8,  9,  9, 11)
  9)   UW-Whitewater        157     ( 5,  7,  7,  9,  9,  9, 10, 10, 11)
10)   Hardin-Simmons       151     ( 6,  7,  7,  9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 12)
T11)   Wash & Jeff          116     (11, 12, 12, 12, 14, 14, 14, 14, 15)
T11)   Wheaton              116     (10, 10, 12, 12, 13, 13, 15, 16, 17)
13)   Linfield             114     ( 8, 10, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20)
14)   Wittenberg           110     (11, 11, 12, 12, 13, 13, 15, 17, 20)
15)   UW-Oshkosh            89     (11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 16, 17, 19, --)
16)   UW-Platteville        88     (13, 13, 14, 15, 15, 15, 17, 18, --)
17)   John Carroll          65     (14, 16, 16, 17, 17, 19, 22, 22, --)
18)   Trine                 58     (14, 16, 17, 17, 19, 19, 22, --, --)
19)   Berry                 55     (14, 15, 17, 18, 18, 19, --, --, --)
T20)   Case Western Reserve  46     (18, 19, 19, 20, 20, 23, 23, 23, 23)
T20)   Franklin & Marshall   46     (16, 18, 20, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 24)
22)   UW-La Crosse          37     (16, 18, 18, 20, 23, 24, --, --, --)
23)   RPI                   30     (18, 21, 21, 21, 21, 24, --, --, --)
24)   Delaware Valley       27     (16, 19, 21, 23, 25, 25, --, --, --)
T25)   Springfield           13     (18, 22, 25, --, --, --, --, --, --)
T25)   Wash & Lee            13     (13, --, --, --, --, --, --, --, --)

27)   Susquehanna           11     (21, 22, 24)
T28)   Monmouth               6     (20)
T28)   Wartburg               6     (21, 25)
T28)   Whitworth              6     (20)
T31)   Illinois Wesleyan      5     (22, 25)
T31)   Wabash                 5     (21)
T33)   Carthage               4     (22)
T33)   Cortland               4     (24, 24)
T33)   Millikin               4     (22)
T36)   Baldwin Wallace        3     (23)
T36)   Salisbury              3     (23)
T38)   Alfred                 2     (24)
T38)   Redlands               2     (24)
T40)   Albion                 1     (25)
T40)   Concordia-Moorhead     1     (25)
T40)   Rowan                  1     (25)
T40)   Trinity (TX)           1     (25)