FB: Region 4 fan poll

[Mr. Ypsi]

Finally joined the Adrian train...

ditto

I joined after they beat Hope (though I put undefeated Olivet there last week to honor going from 0-10 to 5-0).  IF they lose at Trine this Saturday, I may have to just leave #10 blank!

[formerd3db]

Finally joined the Adrian train...

ditto

I joined after they beat Hope (though I put undefeated Olivet there last week to honor going from 0-10 to 5-0).  IF they lose at Trine this Saturday, I may have to just leave #10 blank!

Uh...I haven't yet.  Although Adrian is a good team, Hope could have beat them had Hope's offense not had one of those terrible "off' days.  As Trine has lost 2 in a row, I'm not sure how they'll do against Adrian.  However, while I've not seen Albion play yet, right now I have this "gut" feeling that they could very well beat Adrian.  The MIAA "scrum" (as our posting colleague sac has coined the phrase ) is almost always surprising (except for all those Albion string of title years in the mid-late 1990's).

[ExTartanPlayer]

Finally joined the Adrian train...

ditto

I joined after they beat Hope (though I put undefeated Olivet there last week to honor going from 0-10 to 5-0).  IF they lose at Trine this Saturday, I may have to just leave #10 blank!

They won't make the playoffs, but I happen to think Denison would be worthy of the 10 spot. I expect the Big Red to run the table from here out, and an 8-2 season may earn then the coveted final slot in the rankings, although I'm also fine with keeping "token MIAA team" in that spot. I almost asked why we're ignoring Illinois College, but I realized they're a West Region team.

[DPU3619]

I'll try to get the poll up tonight, fellas. I have all the ballots.

[DPU3619]

Sorry for the delay gang. Let's all welcome USee to the poll.  I kinda have a thing for round numbers, so Im glad we're up to 8 participants. Here's this week's North Region Fan Poll:

1. Mount Union        80 pts   (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2. Franklin               67 pts   (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4)
3. North Central       64 pts   (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4)
4. Wabash               55 pts   (3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6)
5. Heidelberg           43 pts   (3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7)
6. Wheaton             39 pts   (3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8)
7. Wittenberg          34 pts   (5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9)
8. John Carroll         28 pts   (6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9)
9. Illinois Wesleyan  18 pts   (8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9)
10. Adrian                 8 pts   (10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

The North Region Fan Poll is voted on by FCGrizzliesGrad, wally_wabash, Li'l Giant, NCF, smedindy, Mr Ypsi, Usee, and myself.

[ExTartanPlayer]

Sorry for the delay gang. Let's all welcome USee to the poll.  I kinda have a thing for round numbers, so Im glad we're up to 8 participants. Here's this week's North Region Fan Poll:

1. Mount Union        80 pts   (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2. Franklin               67 pts   (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4)
3. North Central       64 pts   (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4)
4. Wabash               55 pts   (3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6)
5. Heidelberg           43 pts   (3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7)
6. Wheaton             39 pts   (3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8)
7. Wittenberg          34 pts   (5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9)
8. John Carroll         28 pts   (6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9)
9. Illinois Wesleyan  18 pts   (8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9)
10. Adrian                 8 pts   (10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

The North Region Fan Poll is voted on by FCGrizzliesGrad, wally_wabash, Li'l Giant, NCF, smedindy, Mr Ypsi, Usee, and myself.

Consensus 10!  No way!

Not really surprising; the pecking order seems pretty well-established and it won't change til we get a few H2H matchups in the CCIW, OAC, and NCAC respectively.  Franklin is likely to keep winning and stay where they are, and assuming Adrian continues to win it seems they're likely to occupy the 10 slot.  If they lose, perhaps Olivet or Albion will sneak in if they continue to win (and if they're the one who deals Adrian said defeat).  I think Denison is the other team poking around the fringes who has no realistic playoff chance but I expect to win out and maybe deserve that final slot by season's end.

[wally_wabash]

Consensus!  What do we win??

Sorry for the delay gang. Let's all welcome USee to the poll.  I kinda have a thing for round numbers, so Im glad we're up to 8 participants. Here's this week's North Region Fan Poll:

1. Mount Union        80 pts   (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2. Franklin               67 pts   (2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4)
3. North Central       64 pts   (2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4)
4. Wabash               55 pts   (3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6)
5. Heidelberg           43 pts   (3, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7)
6. Wheaton             39 pts   (3, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8)
7. Wittenberg          34 pts   (5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 9)
8. John Carroll         28 pts   (6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9)
9. Illinois Wesleyan  18 pts   (8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9)
10. Adrian                 8 pts   (10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

The North Region Fan Poll is voted on by FCGrizzliesGrad, wally_wabash, Li'l Giant, NCF, smedindy, Mr Ypsi, Usee, and myself.

I didn't make any changes this week.  Franklin made me pause for a second (don't give up so many points, Grizzlies), but ultimately they are anchored to Mount Union and Mount Union is starting to show some separation at the top here. 

I'm also really, really starting to get the feeling that John Carroll is going to make us all eat wicked crow by the time this thing is over.  They look really, really good.  Outside of Mount Union and Franklin (who played virutally even with Mount Union), who has played better than John Carroll for six weeks?  I'm calling out my own vote. 

Teams still waiting in line to get into the club: Chicago, Greenville, and then a little further out sit Denison, Olivet, and Otterbein.  And probably Hope is in that group as well. 

We need some big games in the region.  Soon. 

[ExTartanPlayer]

We need some big games in the region.  Soon.

Still going to have to wait another week or two.  Heidelberg vs. Otterbein will give us a semi-useful data point; while I expect Heidelberg to win, this is the first matchup they'll have against a quality opponent.  Just happens that the way the schedule broke this year, with ONU and Capital both down from their usual standards, that Mount/Heidelberg have spent the first half of the OAC season playing teams that clearly appear to be in the bottom half of the conference (to their credit, both have obliterated every OAC team they've played) while John Carroll has beaten - impressively - last year's co-third-placers in Baldwin-Wallace and Otterbein.  This is the first common 'quality' opponent for JCU and either Berg/Mount.  If Berg blows Otterbein off the field by 50, that'll tell us maybe the gap between Mount/Berg and the rest of the OAC is just that big.  If Berg wins 35-7 or something of that ilk, we might have some verrrrry interesting games on our hands when JCU-Berg-Mount start playing.  Same with the CCIW triumvirate.

[USee]

I was very, very close to putting JCU 3rd on my ballot for the same reasons Wally pointed out. They have beaten 3 teams with winning records while only giving up 2 TD's in 5 games. Very impressive resume, albeit incomplete.

After them and the top 2, the rest of the teams haven't played anyone so their relative versions of domination is just noise in my view with no real method of differentiating. NCC is the only team to have played a relatively decent opponent in WSP and I am looking forward to seeing their matchup against Platteville this weekend to see if their 4-1 record is smoke or substnace.  Going to be an interesting week 10 and week 11 when we get there.

[smedindy]

I shuffled John Carroll up, which knocked Witt and Heidelberg down a peg. Still, it's close in the middle.

[ExTartanPlayer]

I think you guys do a great job with the NRFP and think it makes for great discussion fodder about who we think should fall where.  But Keith posted a nice little item today that is worth noting, just to help us keep all "rankings" and "polls" in perspective.

"Why do you want to see your school ranked?  Think about that for a second.  Do you want an honest assessment of where keen observers think your team stands? Or do you just like to see your team's name in lights?  We all like to be appreciated and loved. Nothing wrong with that.  But before you toss a subtle or not-so-subtle jab at the pollsters who "aren't giving us any love," ask what it is you want the love for."

In the D3FB facebook post that brought the item to my attention, they had a brief paraphrasing that worked perfectly:

"Would you rather see your team ranked in the Top 25, or would you rather be good enough to be ranked in the Top 25?"

(Obviously "both" is the preference, but the point stands - just being ranked, in and of itself, is meaningless unless you keep backing it up by winning the games that count, so squabbling too much over midseason rankings is a bit silly)

[wally_wabash]

I think you guys do a great job with the NRFP and think it makes for great discussion fodder about who we think should fall where.  But Keith posted a nice little item today that is worth noting, just to help us keep all "rankings" and "polls" in perspective.

"Why do you want to see your school ranked?  Think about that for a second.  Do you want an honest assessment of where keen observers think your team stands? Or do you just like to see your team's name in lights?  We all like to be appreciated and loved. Nothing wrong with that.  But before you toss a subtle or not-so-subtle jab at the pollsters who "aren't giving us any love," ask what it is you want the love for."

In the D3FB facebook post that brought the item to my attention, they had a brief paraphrasing that worked perfectly:

"Would you rather see your team ranked in the Top 25, or would you rather be good enough to be ranked in the Top 25?"

(Obviously "both" is the preference, but the point stands - just being ranked, in and of itself, is meaningless unless you keep backing it up by winning the games that count, so squabbling too much over midseason rankings is a bit silly)

I don't think being ranked is meaningless.  The Division III top 25 is a pretty exclusive club.  While being ranked in and of itself doesn't mean diddly as far as getting into the postseason or even winning the postseason tournament, seeing your team's name on that top 25 list is an affirmation of both team success and the respect that program has within the D3 community (SIDs, coaches, media types, etc.).  I can remember back in 2002 when Wabash finally cracked a top 25 (not the D3football.com top 25...I don't think that poll existed until 2003).  It was awesome to see Wabash on that list. 

Maybe the biggest benefit of being in the top 25 is that your team's score is at the top of the composite scoreboard every week so you don't have to sift through the 110-ish games to find your links for stats, video, boxscores, etc.   

[jknezek]

Maybe the biggest benefit of being in the top 25 is that your team's score is at the top of the composite scoreboard every week so you don't have to sift through the 110-ish games to find your links for stats, video, boxscores, etc.   

I always find the mobil version of the scoreboard is the best for finding scores since it can be quickly sort by conference. The website is quite a bit more difficult for the same information. So yes, as far as the website goes, being ranked does make it easy to find your score!

[DPU3619]

Only received 7 ballots this week. USee arrived like a bright flash of light, but, sadly, was gone just as quickly. 70 possible points this week.  Here's the North Region Fan Poll.  Top 10 answers are on the board.


1.  Mount Union            70 pts (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2.  Franklin                   59 pts (2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4)
3.  North Central          56 pts (2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4)
4.  Wabash                  52 pts (3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5)
T5. Wheaton                32 pts (5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8)
T5. Wittenberg             32 pts (5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8)
T5. John Carroll            32 pts (5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 9)
8.   Heidelberg             30 pts (4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8)
9.   Illinois Wesleyan   15 pts (8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9)
10. Adrian                      7 pts (10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

The North Region Fan Poll is voted on by Mr. Ypsi, FCGrizzliesGrad, Li'l Giant, smedindy, wally_wabash, NCF, and myself.

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Only received 7 ballots this week. USee arrived like a bright flash of light, but, sadly, was gone just as quickly. 70 possible points this week.  Here's the North Region Fan Poll.  Top 10 answers are on the board.


1.  Mount Union            70 pts (1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2.  Franklin                   59 pts (2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4)
3.  North Central          56 pts (2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4)
4.  Wabash                  52 pts (3, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5)
T5. Wheaton                32 pts (5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8)
T5. Wittenberg             32 pts (5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8)
T5. John Carroll            32 pts (5, 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 9)
8.   Heidelberg             30 pts (4, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8)
9.   Illinois Wesleyan   15 pts (8, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9)
10. Adrian                      7 pts (10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10)

The North Region Fan Poll is voted on by Mr. Ypsi, FCGrizzliesGrad, Li'l Giant, smedindy, wally_wabash, NCF, and myself.

The truth is getting ready to be told in the next 5 weeks for sure.  Only Franklin and Adrian have no head to head matchups in this listing. (Franklin already had their moment of truth in week 1).  Certainly will be interesting and fun to follow the OAC, CCIWm and NCAC matchups.