FB: Region 4 fan poll

[DPU3619]

Honestly, at this point in the year, I'm kind of over the "starters returning" stuff.  I'm all eye test at this point.  That said, beating down a bad team doesn't do much for me right now.  IWU beat Alma by basically the same score as Heidi on the road.  I'd argue that IWU and Heidi at least need to be a in a similar place, if not flipped entirely as a few voters have them.  I'd say IWU's conference helps them some long term. What the heck are NCC or Wheaton right now?  How are IWU not the favorites in the CCIW as we sit on 9/12? Plus, I give credit to past history at this point in the year.  I think everybody has to a little bit.  By the time every team plays somebody, I'll be able to adjust as necessary. 

Maybe the Princes will be better.  I'm willing to be wrong.  But, honestly, I'm not convinced right now Heidelberg is better than Franklin, among others.  As wally said, this Saturday in Ada tells us an awful lot. 

EDIT: I did have to fix the poll due to me not adding the votes correctly.  It's adjusted now.  Witt is NOT T7 with Bally Wally, they are 9th.

[ExTartanPlayer]

He may be considering losing to Mount Union as holding serve, as few people expect Mount Union to lose an OAC game.

Good point ... I hadn't thought of it that way.

To be clear, yes, this is what I meant.  I was referring to the possibility of 8-1 Heidelberg vs. 8-1 Baldwin-Wallace (both with losses to Mount) playing with a likely Pool C berth on the line.

[short]

I am standing by the berg.  Maybe I will be wrong, but I really don't think I am at this point.

In a blowout I think it is important to see how the blow out happened.  What was the score at the half.  Did one team score late in the 4th and so on.  Heidleberg DRILLED Alma 45-0 AT THE HALF!  while IWU was up 10-7 at the Half vs the same team one week later.  That is HUGE for me! IWU's starting QB was still passing for TD's in the 4th.  IWU as a team passed for 3 TD's in the 4th.  The finial scores are very similer but the games were not similer at all!

[Dr. Acula]

That game was over after the first quarter when Berg was up 28-0.  They blew Alma's doors off from the opening kick.   

p.s. While I enjoy reading this stuff I don't envy you guys at all!  So tough to slot some of these teams, especially this early.  It's basically Mount, Wabash and a mess.  Haha.  But we do appreciate it! 

[ExTartanPlayer]

In a blowout I think it is important to see how the blow out happened.  What was the score at the half.  Did one team score late in the 4th and so on.  Heidleberg DRILLED Alma 45-0 AT THE HALF!  while IWU was up 10-7 at the Half vs the same team one week later.  That is HUGE for me! IWU's starting QB was still passing for TD's in the 4th.  IWU as a team passed for 3 TD's in the 4th.  The finial scores are very similer but the games were not similer at all!

Fair observation, but to be honest I don't put a whole lot of stock in things like this, ESPECIALLY in wins against mediocre-or-worse teams.

Alma was 2-8 last year, including a 1-5 record in one of the lesser conferences in the North Region (no offense, MIAA fans, but it is true).  It's nice to see your team show up and blow the doors off a team like that, sure, but it's not something that's going to sway my opinion about where a team belongs in the regional rankings.  The old A-beat-B-in-more-impressive-fashion-than-C logic doesn't really do it for me unless it's a high-quality opponent.

Anecdotal evidence: when I was a high school senior, one of the programs "on the rise" in our conference brought a whole bunch of guys back from a 7-3 playoff team and was tabbed as a contender to unseat my high school, which had a years-long strangehold on the league title.  Over the season's first few weeks, they blew teams out by huge margins (33-6, 42-7, 49-0, etc) while we won a string of ugly games (6-3, 28-0, 14-7, etc) against common or similar opponents.  The newspaper made a big deal of how impressively they were dominating games while we were "struggling" to stay undefeated.  We beat them 17-0 in exactly the same "ugly" fashion we'd beaten everyone else.  Their pretty string of blowouts didn't mean a whole lot against a veteran team with a good defense that didn't bat an eyelash at their big scores.

I do think Heidelberg could be very good this year, yes.  Their turnaround from the mid-2000's to now has been quite impressive, and no doubt they will be heard from this season.  However, IWU has been a consistent winner for five years now, and I'm prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt over Heidelberg UNTIL the 'Berg has more than one game under its belt this year.  If 'Berg is for real, and puts a hurtin' on Ohio Northern this week, and strings together solid wins through the meat of the OAC schedule, they'll get their due.

Also, your "IWU passed for touchdowns in the fourth quarter to make the score look better!" logic is a little overblown.  IWU's starting quarterback threw a touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 39-7, capping a stretch of 15:09 game time in which IWU took control of the game (29 unanswered points in the third quarter & first play of the fourth).  The JV's tacked on two more TD's in the last 12 minutes.  It's not like they were frantically passing their way downfield with five minutes left to run up the score and make it look more impressive.

[PurpleSuit]

That game was over after the first quarter when Berg was up 28-0.  They blew Alma's doors off from the opening kick.   

p.s. While I enjoy reading this stuff I don't envy you guys at all!  So tough to slot some of these teams, especially this early.  It's basically Mount, Wabash and a mess.  Haha.  But we do appreciate it!

Are you sure its not just Mount and then a mess?

[Wabash Hokie]

That game was over after the first quarter when Berg was up 28-0.  They blew Alma's doors off from the opening kick.   

p.s. While I enjoy reading this stuff I don't envy you guys at all!  So tough to slot some of these teams, especially this early.  It's basically Mount, Wabash and a mess.  Haha.  But we do appreciate it!

Are you sure its not just Mount and then a mess?

I am in agreement with the above.  If I was participating in the poll, I would struggle to state that Wabash is a given at #2, if nothing else based on their performance vs Hanover in comparison to IC.  Witt has shown a hell of lot more in their two wins.  Of course that is the fun part of fan polls - they aren't science, just fun.

[wally_wabash]

Did I miss a Wittenberg game last week?

[amonachino]

   Expecting to see a great game from Mount this sat. night.  Must get ready for the UWW in 3 months.

[Wabash Hokie]

Did I miss a Wittenberg game last week?

Wally - good catch on the inaccurate statement.  Should have said their one game this year. 

[wally_wabash]

Did I miss a Wittenberg game last week?

Wally - good catch on the inaccurate statement.  Should have said their one game this year.

No worries.  Witt did look good in week 1, but Capital isn't Capital anymore.  There are no Hauslers ball hawking and there is no Pentello running the offense.  It was encouraging for Wittenberg to see Florence have a strong passing game (3 INTs in 30 attempts notwithstanding).  Witt's next four are DePauw, @Wooster, @CWRU, Wabash.  That's the entirety of their season, really.  We'll know everything there is to know about Wittenberg by sundown on 10/6. 

[smedindy]

I think I just became sold on Heidelberg for reals.

[wally_wabash]

Me too.  Per the deal I made with the Berg earlier in the week, they will be moving up on my ballot this week.  They more than held up their end. 

[wally_wabash]

Hmm...Benedictine has used a safety and a Borsellino free kick return for a TD to go up on Albion 32-28 in the 4th quarter.  This might be a good week to blow up the ballot and start from scratch. 

Albion also has some weird striping on the back of their jerseys which may be used as secondary criteria this week. 

Wheaton 48, Benedictine 7
Albion 22, Wheaton 21
Benedictine 32, Albion 28
...and Bob's your uncle.  Good luck this week, fellas. 

[smedindy]

I'm more inclined to think Wheaton had a bad week against Albion now than Albion has broken into the same level as the CCIW and the OAC second tier.