FB: Region 4 fan poll

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

I think RHIT has a decent shot at winning the conference this year. They were up 21-0 on Franklin last year and led in the 4th quarter. After that loss they just weren't the same the rest of the season.
Looking at the schedule leading up to the game... Rose is @ MSJ and home vs Manchester. Franklin is home vs Earlham then a bye week. Will Franklin be rested and healthy or will they be rusty?

[wally_wabash]

Looking at the schedule leading up to the game... Rose is @ MSJ and home vs Manchester. Franklin is home vs Earlham then a bye week. Will Franklin be rested and healthy or will they be rusty?

Having spent several seasons trying to figure out how the one or two preceding weeks might help/hurt a given team in a big matchup, what I think I've found is that for annual opponents (conference teams, essentially), there's not a lot there to chew on.  Some years Wabash has played Wittenberg the week before the Monon Bell game and gone on to squash DePauw and in other years Wabash precedes the Bell game with some other non-Witt NCAC team and still squashes DePauw the following week.  Different lead ups, same results.   

I assume Franklin understands the lay of the land in the HCAC and they'll know what the level of play is going to be against RHIT. They'll be ready.  If I had to pick one or the other, I'd say it's probably a bonus that Franklin gets a bye week before this game.  Mike Leonard with an extra week of preparation is probably an advantage. 

[Dr. Acula]

Plus looking at the schedule that bye is week 7.  By that point in the season I'd gladly take the extra week to heal up at the expense of what little rust it may cause.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

This is going to be an interesting poll... Franklin beating Thomas More... Wabash and Albion going OT... John Carroll losing 33-7 before a late TD... meanwhile Ohio Northern and DePauw didn't play. I think there might end up being less consensus now than there was last week with no data

[wally_wabash]

I would have put RHIT in and Franklin out, personally.

I would have no clue on 2-5. Seems awfully interchangeable to me at the moment.

Looks like I'm driving the RHIT bus as the preseason highwater vote for the 'Neers.  No way that's going to look silly in 8 weeks.

Didn't take 8 weeks.

[GRIZ_BACKER]

With all due respect, RHIT is solid but most likely isn't anywhere near dethroning the GRIZ.

[wally_wabash]

I think there might end up being less consensus now than there was last week with no data

I expect the distribution to be really weird this week.  We'll see how this goes. 

[Li'l Giant]

This is going to be an interesting poll... Franklin beating Thomas More... Wabash and Albion going OT... John Carroll losing 33-7 before a late TD... meanwhile Ohio Northern and DePauw didn't play. I think there might end up being less consensus now than there was last week with no data

[wally_wabash]

Everybody is in.  We'll have the Week 1 poll up tonight. 

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Everybody is in.  We'll have the Week 1 poll up tonight.

Fingers crossed.  Maybe the Griz will be ahead of RHIT.   

[wally_wabash]

Everybody is in.  We'll have the Week 1 poll up tonight.

Fingers crossed.  Maybe the Griz will be ahead of RHIT.   

You know what- win a big game, get a free NRFP teaser.  I can confirm that Franklin is ahead of RHIT this week.  They were also ahead of RHIT last week, so I'm not sure where the anxiety comes from, but we're not here to judge. 

Actually, now that I think about it, that's exactly what we're doing here. 

[wally_wabash]

Alright here we go.  Week 1 NRFP:



The NRFP is voted on by: Captain_Joe08, Dr. Acula, FCGrizzliesGrad, Li'l Giant, Mr Ypsi, NCF,  smedindy, USee, and wally wabash.

[wally_wabash]

We thought it might get weird.  It did. 

- half of our top 10 doesn't have a win
- Franklin ranges from as high as 4 to unranked
- half of the OAC is receiving votes

All bulleted points register as weird iyam.  But it's interesting.  Should be good conversation here this week. 

[Dr. Acula]

Wally, is each column a voter's ballot?  It appears so.  So someone has BW ranked 9 and Franklin unranked?

Also, I like the stones on the person that threw Berg a vote.  If Cortland is indeed as good as their ranking suggests then Berg was impressive even in defeat.  They had the ball with a chance to take the lead late in the 4th.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

I'm interested in the four people who have Wabash in the top 5 and Albion off their ballot... Wabash scored a TD with 12 seconds left to force OT. I just don't see how there's that large of a gap between the two.

And to the person who left Franklin off... I'm not mad, just disappointed in you