FB: Region 6 fan poll

[02 Warhawk]

 
1)  UW-Oshkosh (10)      100      ( 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2)  St. Thomas            86      ( 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4)
3)  Linfield              70      ( 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 7, 8)
4)  St. John's            69      ( 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5)
5)  UW-Platteville        67      ( 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 8)
6)  Wartburg              46      ( 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8,10)
7)  Concordia-Moorhead    40      ( 5, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8,10)
8)  George Fox            32      ( 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9,10)
9)  UW-Whitewater         17      ( 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, -, -, -, -)
10t)Lake Forest            8      ( 7, 9,10,10, -, -, -, -, -, -)
10t)UW-LaCrosse            8      ( 9, 9, 9,10,10, -, -, -, -, -)

RV) Monmouth               3      ( 9,10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) Luther                 2      ( 9, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) MacMurray              1      (10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) Chapman                1      (10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)

[smedindy]

I was low on Platteville. It was more of 'how do I sort out this muddled mess in the middle'.

At least this was easier than the North fan poll, which cascaded to my Fan Top 25 poll....

[02 Warhawk]

I had UWW 9th and Lake Forest 10th. At first, I didn't want either of them in my top 10, but I had a hard time coming up with teams that are better than them. I gave UWW the benefit of the doubt of having a tough schedule (even though they are a far cry from the UWW we're used to seeing). Also, I figured an undefeated Lake Forest > an undefeated MacMurray (as far as Strength of Schedule). If Monmouth wouldn't have been blown out against Wartburg, I probably would have them in the 10th spot.

[SpartanHouse]

If Monmouth wouldn't have been blown out against Wartburg, I probably would have them in the 10th spot.

Monmouth was all banged up vs Wartburg. Didnt play a returning starter on either side of the ball upfront.

[scottyeagle93]

Lake Forest has played a terrible schedule so far.  Their best win so far was against Macalester, and they struggled to beat Beloit, Carleton, and Knox.  I've seen both Lake Forest and Monmouth play, and Monmouth looked far more impressive even with players injured.  Yes, they lost to Wartburg by a hefty margin, but their win over Hope and a road win against Mac are more impressive than anything Lake Forest has done to date.  Of course, they play in a week and a half, so that'll settle this debate.   

[wm4]

The top 6 seem to be viewed universally at this point.  7-9 get tougher to slot, and 10 is just a crap shoot.  While the Lake Forest's/Monouths/MacMurrays have put together good records to this point, the predictive models I've seen suggest that even a team like Bethel would beat them fairly handily.  For that reason, I can't justify any of those in the top 10.  That's also why I have UWW up at 7. 

[art76]

The top 6 seem to be viewed universally at this point.  7-9 get tougher to slot, and 10 is just a crap shoot.  While the Lake Forest's/Monouths/MacMurrays have put together good records to this point, the predictive models I've seen suggest that even a team like Bethel would beat them fairly handily.  For that reason, I can't justify any of those in the top 10.  That's also why I have UWW up at 7.

I hear you, loud and clear. For myself, I try to use the D3 ranking of the conferences as a litmus test of sorts. It seems like every year leading up to and right after selection Sunday, we hear from disgruntled fans that, (rightly so), complain that the top 32 teams in the country are not playing in the finals. Here in the West we have the number 2 team in the MIAC (St. John's) who has beaten the number 2 team in the UMAC 98-0. How far down into the WIAC or MIAC can we go until we have teams in other conferences able to beat them? You mentioned Bethel, who most likely will finish 5 and 5 for the season, with no non-conference wins. I agree with you that their team this year would beat a lot of other teams that sit at the top of their West conferences. Whitewater is in the same boat. The problem I wrestle with every week in my ballot is this, do I put the best teams based on my opinion of their abilities, or do I use the win-loss record? For me, it is a balancing act, and some weeks I lean more towards one side of the equation than the other. That's exactly why a poll like this is so valuable, because when we pool our collective thoughts, the better teams overall tend to drift to the top and we all get a glimpse into how teams stack up across the region.

[wm4]

I hear you, loud and clear. For myself, I try to use the D3 ranking of the conferences as a litmus test of sorts. It seems like every year leading up to and right after selection Sunday, we hear from disgruntled fans that, (rightly so), complain that the top 32 teams in the country are not playing in the finals. Here in the West we have the number 2 team in the MIAC (St. John's) who has beaten the number 2 team in the UMAC 98-0. How far down into the WIAC or MIAC can we go until we have teams in other conferences able to beat them? You mentioned Bethel, who most likely will finish 5 and 5 for the season, with no non-conference wins. I agree with you that their team this year would beat a lot of other teams that sit at the top of their West conferences. Whitewater is in the same boat. The problem I wrestle with every week in my ballot is this, do I put the best teams based on my opinion of their abilities, or do I use the win-loss record? For me, it is a balancing act, and some weeks I lean more towards one side of the equation than the other. That's exactly why a poll like this is so valuable, because when we pool our collective thoughts, the better teams overall tend to drift to the top and we all get a glimpse into how teams stack up across the region.

I hear you as well.  To me, because there's so much disparity in D3 football overall, and even within conferences, I just can't rely on win-loss records at all.  It all comes down to who would actually win on the field, among a group of teams I'd be considering.  Will be interesting to see how our fan poll lines up with the regional rankings once they come out in a couple weeks. 

[TwoArmedScot]

Lake Forest has played a terrible schedule so far.  Their best win so far was against Macalester, and they struggled to beat Beloit, Carleton, and Knox.  I've seen both Lake Forest and Monmouth play, and Monmouth looked far more impressive even with players injured.  Yes, they lost to Wartburg by a hefty margin, but their win over Hope and a road win against Mac are more impressive than anything Lake Forest has done to date.  Of course, they play in a week and a half, so that'll settle this debate.

I think Monmouth will beat Lake Forest.  Then it's a question of how healthy they can stay and how well they can play championship weak and potentially the first round of playoffs.  They have the potential to compete for a top ten spot, but we'll have to wait and see if they can actually get it done.

[02 Warhawk]

             2017 Week 8 West Fan Poll

Rank      Team           Previous    Points   
1)   UW-Oshkosh (10)        1         100     
2)   St. Thomas             2          86   
3)   Linfield               3          73   
4t)  St. John's             4          69     
4t)  UW-Platteville         5          69     
6)   Wartburg               6          42   
7)   Concordia-Moorhead     7          38     
8)   George Fox             8          32     
9)   UW-Whitewater          9          18   
10)  Lake Forest           10t          9

Dropped Out: UW-LaCrosse

RV)  Monmouth (5), UW-LaCrosse (4), Chapman (3), MacMurray (1), St. Norbert (1),


Thanks to those who participated this week: art76, wartnight, wm4, astro9046, doolittledog, desercat1, HansenRatings, TwoArmedScot, smedindy and 02 Warhawk.

[02 Warhawk]

 
1)  UW-Oshkosh (10)      100      ( 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)
2)  St. Thomas            86      ( 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4)
3)  Linfield              73      ( 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 5, 7)
4t) St. John's            69      ( 3, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5)
4t) UW-Platteville        69      ( 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6)
6)  Wartburg              42      ( 5, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6, 8, 8, -)
7)  Concordia-Moorhead    38      ( 5, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8,10)
8)  George Fox            32      ( 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9)
9)  UW-Whitewater         18      ( 7, 8, 8, 9, 9, 9, 9, -, -, -)
10) Lake Forest            9      ( 6, 9,10,10, -, -, -, -, -, -)

RV) Monmouth               5      ( 8, 9, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) UW-LaCrosse            4      ( 9,10,10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) Chapman                3      (10,10,10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) St. Norbert            1      (10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)
RV) MacMurray              1      (10, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -, -)

[02 Warhawk]

No real big change this week. The only big difference is Wartburg dropping off someone's poll. Not sure if that was intentional or not.

Here are some notable West games this weekend that might shake things up:
- Lake Forest vs. Monmouth
- UWP vs. UWL
- Wartburg vs. Dubuque

[D O.C.]

I would not have expected LINFIELD - PLU to shake things up, but I suspect it will as it did D3 poll.

[art76]

I think Monmouth will beat Lake Forest. 

Nice understatement!

[02 Warhawk]

Waiting on one more person. I'll give him to tomorrow, if not then we'll have just 9 polls this week.