D3 Top 25 Fan Poll

[02 Warhawk]

Good looking poll. The only thing that stands out to me is Bethel 20th. huh??!?

Not sure there are 19 better teams in the country than a one-loss MIAC team. Unless someone put a ton of stock into the fact Bethel lost to a St. John's team who lost to an under .500 Moorhead team, maybe?

[Oline89]

I would say that the one difference between the fan poll and the national poll is that the "fans" don't give as much clout to the 2 loss teams  (H-S , St  Thomas) as the national guys. 

[DuffMan]

I would say that the one difference between the fan poll and the national poll is that the "fans" don't give as much clout to the 2 loss teams  (H-S , St  Thomas) as the national guys.

As a "casual" fan, I think it's tough to get that national perspective.  For example:  Sure, St. Thomas has 2 losses, but I honestly think they're much better than #21.  The Eau Claire loss was fluky (similar to the Johnnie loss to Concordia), and despite they final score, they were definitely in the Johnnie/Tommie game.  But as a "casual" fan from elsewhere in the country, I doubt too many of the fan voters have dug too deeply into teams outside of their region.

This weekend's Bethel/U$T matchup will tell us a lot.

[desertcat1]

Good looking poll. [/b]The only thing that stands out to me is Bethel 20th. huh??!?

The homer here , someone missed Linfield in the top 25 .   

High 11, low 0,  avg  throw those out you get linfield at 19.  Looks better me . 

[MRMIKESMITH]

In my opinion regarding two losses. Any of the traditional teams that are frequenly in the Top 10 to Top 15 can somewhat get a pass on that "Fluke" game, however, if you go on to lose to the best team you played. I can't place you in front of the same traditional Top 10 to Top 15 teams that have no losses or one losses. I think you would fall into the category of undefeated teams from conferences that every so often have quality teams. So IMHO, I think two losses that aren't to two Top 25 teams put you in the Top 20 or bubble category.

[hazzben]

@Duff

I think that's a fair assessment. I'm not expecting fan poll voters to do a deep dive into national stuff. I know the West really well, the North pretty well, and the South and East only as far as the top 3ish teams in the top conferences go.

I do think Linfield being unranked is a strange one. Their only loss is to Redlands, but then if you've got Redlands in the low 20's that doesn't leave much room for Linfield.

We will find out about Bethel and UST on Saturday. Both have really good wins on the resume, but no defining victories. Talked to a Bethel coach on Saturday who said after watching the UST v UWEC film "I think UST beats them 99 times out of 100, but they didn't on the one that counted." That's why we play the games!

[DuffMan]

Talked to a Bethel coach on Saturday who said after watching the UST v UWEC film "I think UST beats them 99 times out of 100, but they didn't on the one that counted."

I almost posted "9 outta 10," but that didn't even seem high enough.  I think a Johnnie/Cobber series, while maybe not 99/100, would favor the Johnnies quite heavily, too.

[Captainred81]

In a perfect world, the top 32 teams in this poll would be the playoff field.  The top 4 teams would be the #1's.  There would be no regional consideration, only ranking. 
Mount would play Wabash, UMHB would play Trinity, UWW would play Western NE and Wheaton would play UW-LAX. 

I think when I write it down this way, it makes the field really difficult.  I think this would be a great first round and super competitive.  IN the middle you would have CWRU against Redlands.  Both ranked 16th.  Crazy

[Teamski]

In a perfect world, the top 32 teams in this poll would be the playoff field.  The top 4 teams would be the #1's.  There would be no regional consideration, only ranking. 
Mount would play Wabash, UMHB would play Trinity, UWW would play Western NE and Wheaton would play UW-LAX. 

I think when I write it down this way, it makes the field really difficult.  I think this would be a great first round and super competitive.  IN the middle you would have CWRU against Redlands.  Both ranked 16th.  Crazy

So all of those teams that won their conference titles each year that aren't ranked don't count?  What's the purpose of winning then?

-Ski

[Cowboy2]

In a perfect world, the top 32 teams in this poll would be the playoff field.  The top 4 teams would be the #1's.  There would be no regional consideration, only ranking. 
Mount would play Wabash, UMHB would play Trinity, UWW would play Western NE and Wheaton would play UW-LAX. 

I think when I write it down this way, it makes the field really difficult.  I think this would be a great first round and super competitive.  IN the middle you would have CWRU against Redlands.  Both ranked 16th.  Crazy

So all of those teams that won their conference titles each year that aren't ranked don't count?  What's the purpose of winning then?

-Ski

While I do believe in AQs, with respect to taking care of one's own laundry, I would've liked to see some of the upper tier nationally ranked teams get in that were left out this year. Can't change their records though.  Again as I've stated before only so many seats at the big table. 8-2s this year were left at a disadvantage based on the AQ Process. SOS comes into play hindering that as well when they beat one another every other week. No cakewalk in the south again.....BSU, Hendrix, HSU, TLU, Trinity basically beat up on each other throughout the year that hurt the other's chance of getting any at large consideration. The South had a lot of competition this year with no true juggernaut. Hendrix over TLU early on, then, back to back losses by trinity @ HSU and Berry losing the lead late in the 4th in one possession old fashion defensive battles, TLU @  HSU and wins on a multi turnover game by the the cowboys while Hemphill runs loose all over the bulldogs, HSU stumbles in the FG loss to UMHB, BSU's RB Robert Shufford destroys Berry with his third 200+ yard game in a row, UMHB puts TLU 6ft under in an old fashion barn burner, Trinity takes care of Hendrix and BSU in tested matchups to become co-champions of the SAA, etc. there were a  lot of good regional games between both the ASC and SAA as well as good interconference play. Reminds me of the the Wisconsin comeptition we've seen annually. In a perfect world it makes you wonder how any of them would have done against another out of region team in a 1st round game....especially with momentum HSU and Trinity had built up the last half of the season. Not arguing the committee didn't get it right, just stating that this year was as close as it got to having someone else push UMHB in the playoffs without conceding to the annual 1st/2nd round boxing match they usually go through before meeting up with other contenders in country....huge opportunity lost for the teams left out by not taking advantage to a some what off year for normal CRU powerhouse. Good luck to all take got their golden ticket. Now for the playoffs! Exciting!!

[Captainred81]

I should have qualified...I like the way the system is right now with the AQ.  I get it, and I like it.  What I was trying to say is that sometimes, the current system doesn't get the best 32 teams in the field.  Some teams get left out, aka all the 9-1 or 8-2 teams this year. 

In a perfect world, the top 32 teams in the country could get a bid to the playoffs.  And they would set the brackets with #1 playing #32, and #2 playing #31 etc...

[smedindy]

No playoff system gets the Top X teams in, thanks to automatic qualifiers. Not D-1AA, not D-2, certainly not the D-1 hoops tournament. It's the way it goes. But teams deserve a chance for the post season if they win their league.

And the NCAA is penny wise and pound foolish, especially in not allowing Redlands a home game. But I digress...

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

D3 Football Map



2019 WEEK 11 TOP 25 FAN POLL

Rank	Team	Points	Prev
1)	Mount Union (7)	199	1
2)	Mary Hardin-Baylor (1)	191	2
3)	Wheaton	185	T3
4)	Muhlenberg	175	5
5)	Salisbury	162	6
6)	North Central	151	7
7)	St John's	145	8
8)	UW-Whitewater	136	T3
9)	Delaware Valley	129	11
10)	Chapman	128	T9
11)	Susquehanna	116	12
T12)	Union	113	13
T12)	Wesley	113	14
14)	John Carroll	96	15
15)	Redlands	77	T16
16)	St Thomas	61	T21
17)	Linfield	59	18
T18)	Bridgewater	54	T21
T18)	UW-Oshkosh	54	NR
20)	Hardin-Simmons	50	19
21)	Wartburg	47	24
22)	Berry	44	20
23)	Central	36	25
24)	Bethel	30	T9
25)	W New England	10	NR

Dropped Out: #T16 Case Western Reserve, #23 Brockport

Also Receiving Votes: Brockport 8, Hope 8, UW-La Crosse 8, Trinity (TX) 4, Case Western Reserve 3, Ithaca 3, Stevenson 2, Hobart 1, Middlebury 1, Texas Lutheran 1

Voters: 02 Warhawk, bluestreak66, desertcat1, FCGG, MANDGSU, NCF, Oline89, and smedindy

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

  1)   Mount Union          199     ( 1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  2)
  2)   Mary Hardin-Baylor   191     ( 1,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  3,  3)
  3)   Wheaton              185     ( 2,  2,  3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  4)
  4)   Muhlenberg           175     ( 3,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  5,  5)
  5)   Salisbury            162     ( 4,  5,  5,  5,  5,  6,  7,  9)
  6)   North Central        151     ( 5,  5,  6,  6,  8,  8,  8, 11)
  7)   St John's            145     ( 6,  7,  7,  7,  7,  8,  8, 13)
  8)   UW-Whitewater        136     ( 4,  7,  7,  8,  9, 11, 12, 14)
  9)   Delaware Valley      129     ( 6,  9,  9, 10, 11, 11, 11, 12)
10)   Chapman              128     ( 6,  8,  8,  9, 10, 12, 13, 14)
11)   Susquehanna          116     ( 6,  9, 10, 11, 13, 13, 15, 15)
T12)   Union                113     ( 6,  7,  9, 12, 12, 14, 17, 18)
T12)   Wesley               113     (10, 10, 10, 11, 11, 13, 13, 17)
14)   John Carroll          96     ( 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 15, 16, 22)
15)   Redlands              77     (14, 14, 16, 16, 16, 17, 18, 20)
16)   St Thomas             61     (12, 14, 15, 17, 20, 21, 23, 25)
17)   Linfield              59     (10, 18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 21, 25)
T18)   Bridgewater           54     (14, 15, 15, 20, 21, 21, 22, --)
T18)   UW-Oshkosh            54     (16, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 22, 24)
20)   Hardin-Simmons        50     (14, 15, 17, 17, 18, 25, --, --)
21)   Wartburg              47     (12, 17, 20, 21, 22, 22, 23, 24)
22)   Berry                 44     (18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 20, 25, --)
23)   Central               36     (16, 20, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, --)
24)   Bethel                30     (13, 19, 23, 23, 24, 24, --, --)
25)   W New England         10     (16, --, --, --, --, --, --, --)

T26)   Brockport              8     (20, 24)
T26)   Hope                   8     (21, 24, 25)
T26)   UW-La Crosse           8     (21, 23)
29)   Trinity (TX)           4     (22)
T30)   Case Western Reserve   3     (23)
T30)   Ithaca                 3     (23)
32)   Stevenson              2     (24)
T33)   Hobart                 1     (25)
T33)   Middlebury             1     (25)
T33)   Texas Lutheran         1     (25)

[smedindy]

Had WNE not gotten the one #16 vote, I would have had the entire Top 25 (Hope instead of Brockport on my ballot).