FB: Region 4 fan poll

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Waiting on one ballot, I'll post tomorrow whether it's in or not.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Week 1

https://i.imgur.com/L7HzLo5.png

The NRFP is voted on by: Captain_Joe08, CollegeGolf18, Dr. Acula, FCGrizzliesGrad, HOPEful, Li'l Giant, NCF,  smedindy, thunderdog, and wally wabash.

[Dr. Acula]

I'm column 3...the lonely Berg backer.

[bluestreak66]

I'm column 3...the lonely Berg backer.

+K for ranking Berg and not BW 

[MUC57]

I'm column 3...the lonely Berg backer.

+K for ranking Berg and not BW 

I'm on your side. No one likes BW!   

[Dr. Acula]

I'm column 3...the lonely Berg backer.

+K for ranking Berg and not BW 

If there's one thing you can count on me for it's that on my ballot BW loses every tie.  But I didn't really even view it as a tie.  I knew Denison was jumping them because DU's win was the most impressive in the NR, IMO.  I watched the BW game and wasn't overly impressed.  Berg pounded Adrian 57-7 in MI and Kickoff had Adrian (142) comfortably ahead of Alma (200).  Good enough for me to (happily) back the Princes this week!   

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Week 2

https://i.imgur.com/ChJ49oS.png

The NRFP is voted on by: Captain_Joe08, CollegeGolf18, Dr. Acula, FCGrizzliesGrad, HOPEful, Li'l Giant, NCF,  smedindy, thunderdog, and wally wabash.

[HOPEful]

I'm row 1. I don't like putting Trine on my ballot, but too many teams lost last week...

Plus, it comes with the added benefit of if Hope beats Aurora and then beats Trine and Albion the following weeks, I will probably have enough justification to put them back in my rankings

[Captain_Joe08]

At least I wasn't the only one to put AU on the ballot. Plus too many teams (Mainly the CCIW contingent) did not play so options were slim. Was figuring IWU wasn't as strong as advertised. They should have a great season regardless but the opening games are make or break IMO.

[Dr. Acula]

I'm column 6.  I wasn't happy with Berg's performance against Wilm so I dropped them back out.  Wilm was showing some signs of being a little better last year under the new HC, but you still need to dispatch them easily if you're a top regional team.  I left Wabash in near the bottom for now (#9), but I will admit that watching their defense gave me some pause already.  I thought offensively they looked fine especially with a freshman QB making his first start.  IMO the hardest team to rank this week was IWU.  In the end I opted to think they're still a very good team that had an outlier game.  We'll find out soon enough. 

[Captainred81]

I think you guys are mostly on the money with your picks.  I think I would have Albion at this point, and Heidelberg. I would also drop Wittenberg down some. 

[SpartanHouse]

I do think Aurora is legit. Looking at St. Norberts defensive stats over the years...no offense had put 50 points on them and throw for almost 500 yards. I believe 450 of those yards were in the first half. The win vs Norbert looks better as well as Norbert went on and beat at WIAC school the following week.

Aurora picked up a couple of solid WR's transfers. #81 came from Monmouth and has 7 td's in 2 games. #13 was a top WR for North Central last year and has been out with a foot injury. Think he will be back soon.

[thunderdog]

I do think Aurora is legit. Looking at St. Norberts defensive stats over the years...no offense had put 50 points on them and throw for almost 500 yards. I believe 450 of those yards were in the first half. The win vs Norbert looks better as well as Norbert went on and beat at WIAC school the following week.

Aurora picked up a couple of solid WR's transfers. #81 came from Monmouth and has 7 td's in 2 games. #13 was a top WR for North Central last year and has been out with a foot injury. Think he will be back soon.

SNC also beat an undefeated Trine team 31-7 in the first round of the playoffs last year. IMO, Aurora absolutely deserves to be ranked ahead of Trine at the moment.

I'm column 7. low man on Witt. only 1 of 2 to not rank Wabash. 1 of 3 to rank Aurora.

[HOPEful]

SNC also beat an undefeated Trine team 31-7 in the first round of the playoffs last year. IMO, Aurora absolutely deserves to be ranked ahead of Trine at the moment.

My preseason rankings were pretty much...

1. Mount Union
2, 3, 4, 5. The top 4 CCIW teams
6. John Carroll
7, 8, 9. The top three NCAC teams
10. Best team in the MIAA.

Only two games in, I'm still having a difficult time ranking teams from perennial "lesser" conferences. This includes both the NACC and the MWC... I am intentionally holding out on ranking Aurora until after this week's game at Hope. It should be a good barometer on Aurora (as well as a good barometer for Hope and whether they'll ever reenter the conversation)...

I ranked Trine 10th this week, but honestly, it was really a posturing vote. I'm somewhat expecting Hope to beat Aurora this week. If that happens, Milliken will be first team to move into my rankings next week, perhaps replacing Trine if no one else loses.

If Aurora beats Hope this week, they will most likely be in my rankings next week.

[Dr. Acula]

These teams are NOT helping us with our pending ballots today!

JCU beats Ott 14-7.  Woof.  Their offense is not clicking.  It was pouring in Columbus this afternoon, but at most that rain lasted the first half.

Witt stops Wooster's 2 pt conversion to tie it with 4:32 left and hangs on 14-12.  Their offense is struggling.

Wabash's D appears to be struggling.  Allegheny put up 35 points and a hair under 500 yds today in Wabash's 48-35 win.

Denison is predictably beating up on Hiram at the moment.  But their performance against ONU, which I based a lot of their ranking on, took a big hit with ONU losing to freaking Wilm today.

I'm watching the IWU/Wheaton game and I'm underwhelmed by IWU so far, especially defensively.

And worst of all I thought BW looked very solid against Mount so I can't boot them!