FB: Region 4 fan poll

[HScoach]

Hurry up, Saturday.  So that we can get to Monday/Tuesday for a new poll and a whole new set of debates!

I find the debates more entertaining than most of the actual games!

(As to the 'Gauntlet' Conference, it might depend on the order of the schedule.  UMU might well find some of the lower teams 'breathers' (though not quite like a Wilma), but if they had several consecutive weeks against the top of the Top Ten, they might get beaten down enough for a loss.  And I remain convinced that NCC would've won in 2013 under reasonable weather conditions. )

And I remain convinced it would have been a 2 TD win by Mount if the field was dry.   

[Dr. Acula]

Just submitted my ballot.  Man, those last few spots were tough to determine this week.  Not exactly filet mignon down there.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Just submitted my ballot.  Man, those last few spots were tough to determine this week.  Not exactly filet mignon down there.

I feel your pain.  My #9 and #10 teams were schools I don't ever recall having on my ballot before! 

[wally_wabash]

Just submitted my ballot.  Man, those last few spots were tough to determine this week.  Not exactly filet mignon down there.

I feel your pain.  My #9 and #10 teams were schools I don't ever recall having on my ballot before!

You're not the only one.  With one ballot to go, we've got about 1/3 of the region represented in this week's poll. 

[wally_wabash]

YOU get a vote!  And YOU get a vote!!  Everybody gets a vote!!  Week 2 NRFP!!



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

[Mr. Ypsi]

Well, the ORV situation should get straightened out Saturday!  Albion is at Lakeland, and Benedictine is at Adrian.  Also: BW @ JCU and ONU @ Heidi!

I have little faith that IWU can upset NCC (our top QB is on the DL ), but just hope they can keep it respectable enough to actually gain votes in defeat rather than drop out completely.

BTW, I'm second column from the right this week.  With Albion getting blown out by UWSP, I kinda wanted to drop Wabash another slot, but Franklin lost worse than I expected, JCU was idle, and ONU lost after leading a probably not very good Utica team by 17 with 6.5 minutes left in the game - who could I move up to 4th?!

[Ryan Stoppable]

Well, the ORV situation should get straightened out Saturday!  Albion is at Lakeland, and Benedictine is at Adrian.  Also: BW @ JCU and ONU @ Heidi!

If it doesn't, it'll have plenty of chances to in October as well: Adrian and Albion open conference play against each other on the 1st, and Lakeland meets the Bulldogs and then Benedictine the two weeks after that (after having hosted Platteville in between).

[Dr. Acula]

I'm the column that has NCC #2.  I ended up talking myself into Adrian for the 10th spot.  I felt that going on the road to Pacific and winning is pretty solid.  Yes, Pacific is 0-2, but I think Dubuque is pretty good as well.   

I was trying to get there with ONU, but that ending left such a bad taste in my mouth.  You just cannot blow that game. 

[wally_wabash]

I've been putting the curse on some team every week so far this year.  First it was RHIT- hey, this is the year of the elephant!  Loss.  Then it was Albion- hey, they almost beat Wabash!  50-13.  So, sorry Carthage fans, it's your turn.  I was able to watch a bit of their game in Arden Hills on Saturday and came away very impressed.  So impressed that I jumped them all the way up to #7.  That also means they are probably about to lose by 40. 

Next week, I'll use this power for good and put Witt at #2.   

No movement in my top 6 (UMU, Wheaton, Wabash, Franklin, NCC, DPU).  Kept my promise about not moving Franklin.  Other than Franklin lost, I don't even know what the score of that game was.  It's not important.  Beyond the top 6, Carthage is in, then Lakeland, Adrian, and Witt.  The last couple of spots here were really tough.  I can't get behind JCU or ONU (or B-W or Heidelberg for that matter) at the moment.  Benedictine is interesting, but I have to wonder what their score vs. Wheaton would have looked like if Peltz takes 60 snaps (my hunch- Wheaton scores much more than 27 or whatever it was).  Also moved IWU out this week- I don't have a good feel for what that result against NWU means until I see NWU get some more D3 results in their portfolio, but no Jack Warner is a big enough deal that an adjustment was necessary.  Certainly IWU can get back in my 10 on merit this weekend. 

[USee]

In m ballot (3rd from right) I had some movement in my top ten but 9 of the 10 remained the same. I moved Wheaton up to 2 and bumped NCC to 3 because Wheaton has settled most of my questions about their defense and WR positions. I still think they may not have receivers that can get separation from the best DB's and the size of their DB's will hurt them against bigger WR. But I put them back to 2 this week. I had ONU at 4 and with the loss I moved them to 6. I avoided a knee jerk reaction to dropping them more but I am watching this closely. I wanted to drop Wabash based on the Albion result but 1-didn't want to over react their either and 2-Ultimately I don't see another team better at #4. Although I think Wabash will have some growing pains early here as they adjust to new coaches it is likely just a blip on the radar and they will prevail in the NCAC IMO. I avoided moving Franklin into my top 10 last week and certainly wasn't going to do it after their loss but I suspect they will gravitate up as they move forward. I wanted to put Benedictine in my top 10 and if they beat Adrian this week they likely will be. I am eager to see the OAC play another week and I will sort out that mess that is the bottom of my bracket. With Depauw's win I corrected my ballot putting them back ahead of Witt also. Carthage was the team that moved in for me (also at 7). I think their win at Bethel is as good or better than the Wabash win @Albion in terms of great in(tra) regional results. They are no joke and I expect a good game in Kenosha this Saturday.

[wally_wabash]

I think their win at Bethel is as good or better than the Wabash win @Albion in terms of great in(tra) regional results. They are no joke and I expect a good game in Kenosha this Saturday.

Is it?  Is this 2012?  Bethel is not that Bethel at the moment.  They haven't been for a couple of years now.   

Should be a fun CCIW opener.  I guess my question is will Swider elect to keep it interesting by anchoring his best player to the sideline, or is he going to let his team be a quarterfinal-or-better caliber squad?  Let the mystery continue!  I may start fluctuating Wheaton between 2 and 5 depending on who Swider starts at QB because I don't think those are interchangeable parts. 

[USee]

I think their win at Bethel is as good or better than the Wabash win @Albion in terms of great in(tra) regional results. They are no joke and I expect a good game in Kenosha this Saturday.

Is it?  Is this 2012?  Bethel is not that Bethel at the moment.  They haven't been for a couple of years now.   

Should be a fun CCIW opener.  I guess my question is will Swider elect to keep it interesting by anchoring his best player to the sideline, or is he going to let his team be a quarterfinal-or-better caliber squad?  Let the mystery continue!  I may start fluctuating Wheaton between 2 and 5 depending on who Swider starts at QB because I don't think those are interchangeable parts.

I don't think 2012 Bethel is in the equation. The question I would pose is a win @Bethel (0-2) better than a win @Albion (0-2). Carthage was ranked 90th in Kickoff (probably too low) and Bethel was ranked 26th (too high). Albion was ranked 68th and Wabash 14th. Kickoff isn't the rule of law but it's a starting point. Bethel doesn't have to be 2012 good for this to be as good a win for Carthage as a win @Albion. They only have to be better than Albion and that remains to be seen.

As far as the Wheaton QB question, we have two that have led their teams to undefeated seasons and NCAA playoffs. Bowers does some things that you can't teach as does Peltz. If I were coaching on that staff I would find a way to get them both on the field at the same time. That's what Josiah Sears tried to do last year at the end of the season before Peltz got hurt.

[smedindy]

I just think it's interesting that so many teams in the Top 10 were missing on at least one ballot. Parity? Or something else?

[wally_wabash]

I think their win at Bethel is as good or better than the Wabash win @Albion in terms of great in(tra) regional results. They are no joke and I expect a good game in Kenosha this Saturday.

Is it?  Is this 2012?  Bethel is not that Bethel at the moment.  They haven't been for a couple of years now.   

Should be a fun CCIW opener.  I guess my question is will Swider elect to keep it interesting by anchoring his best player to the sideline, or is he going to let his team be a quarterfinal-or-better caliber squad?  Let the mystery continue!  I may start fluctuating Wheaton between 2 and 5 depending on who Swider starts at QB because I don't think those are interchangeable parts.

I don't think 2012 Bethel is in the equation. The question I would pose is a win @Bethel (0-2) better than a win @Albion (0-2). Carthage was ranked 90th in Kickoff (probably too low) and Bethel was ranked 26th (too high). Albion was ranked 68th and Wabash 14th. Kickoff isn't the rule of law but it's a starting point. Bethel doesn't have to be 2012 good for this to be as good a win for Carthage as a win @Albion. They only have to be better than Albion and that remains to be seen.

Similar.  I think the optics make Carthage over Bethel looks "better" because of the significant difference in expectations, but I don't think it's better.  Bethel is a 6-win team this year.  Maybe 5. 

As far as the Wheaton QB question, we have two that have led their teams to undefeated seasons and NCAA playoffs. Bowers does some things that you can't teach as does Peltz. If I were coaching on that staff I would find a way to get them both on the field at the same time. That's what Josiah Sears tried to do last year at the end of the season before Peltz got hurt.

The sticky part about quarterback is that there can be only one at a time.  And even though Wheaton has two very good quarterbacks, one is better.  Maybe i'm wrong about which one is better, but I think you have to play the best one.  Bowers has that undefeated season on his resume, but Wheaton's deal isn't about winning 10 games or winning the CCIW.  They've cleared that hurdle.  It's about winning the games after that.  Peltz, I think, gives a Wheaton a puncher's chance in those games that I'm talking about.  Bowers much less so. 

[USee]

I just think it's interesting that so many teams in the Top 10 were missing on at least one ballot. Parity? Or something else?

I think its a lack of data. 11 of the 17 teams getting votes have played only one game.  North Central, IWU, Franklin have played non D3 opponents up to now and several other teams have either new coaches or graduate a ton of players so we don't know that much about them. I would think over the next couple weeks we settle into about 10-11 teams that make up the top 10 and a majority are on everyone's ballot is some way.