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First off, my opinion on Wiki-leaks and Julian Ass ange. If you have to blackmail the entire world just to keep your website open, you obviously are thought of as a blazing moron outside of your immediate circle and the scumbags like the guy "from a major bank" and the scuzz soldier (who'll hopefully spend the next 35 years or so rotting in a military brig for treason )who leak you your stuff. You'd think one of them might have leaked you a manual on how to have consensual sex where both parties consent. So, Mr. Ass ange, I say to you, go ahead! Release your "insurance files"! Not only will any blood spilled be on your uncaring head, and those of your dip$#it elite, but it will cement your legacy as the biggest unimportant a$$wipe in the history of mankind.
Rant #1 done, moving on. I was just looking at the college bowl situation, which was denuded of all suspense by yesterday's wins by Auburn and Oregon. Among the things that caught my eye was that of 35 (yes, 35) bowl games, I saw 7 that I did not recognize. The Military Bowl- which used to be the Eagle Bank Bowl, apparently. The Texas Bowl, which has been played in Houston since 2006, I guess below my personal radar. The Pinstripe Bowl, which is new this year and (not surprisingly) being played in Yankee Stadium, that bastion of football legend. The new Ticket City Bowl, which takes over the old Cotton Bowl site this year since the "Cotton Bowl Classic" moved to Jerry Jones' palace in Arlington. Their matchup is Texas Tech and Northwestern so I wonder if "Ticket City" isn't going to be a better after-the-game name for it. The Godaddy.com Bowl (which isn't a lingerie game featuring Danika Patrick) in Mobile, AL is the former GMAC Bowl, which of course dropped its sponsorship when it became the current Ally Bank. The BBVA Compass Bowl, just down I-65 in Birmingham, used to be the Pappajohns.com bowl before the sponsorship was taken over by BBVA, a Spanish bank whose America subsidiary, Compass, is in Birmingham. And finally the Kraft Fight-Hunger Bowl is the former Emerald Bowl set in the home of fruits and nuts, San Francisco. Also, I note that 35 bowls means 70 teams, out of the 120 in FBS. CBSSports top 70, updated this a.m., includes one losing team (Oregon State), who no doubt gets replaced in the bowl line up by the one team with a winning record that was not in the top 70, #82 Troy. Okay guys, no more bowls, we've got everybody.
On the FCS side of things, I got to watch most of the App State-Western Illinois game. To give you a brief idea, the App State QB at halftime had not thrown a pass but had 177 yards rushing and 2 tds. Final 42-14. App State goes on to play Villanova, who spotted SF Austin a 21-7 1st quarter lead and then outscored them 47-3 the rest of the way. Eastern Washington schnocked SE Missouri State 37-17, and move on to play North Dakota State, whose lead RB scored three times in the last 5 minutes and change, 28 4th quarter points total, to deflate Big Sky champ Montana State 42-17. Delaware gave Lehigh that expected beating (42-20) and move on to play CAA rival New Hampshire. They pasted Bethune-Cookman (who in 2 season ending losses, one of which I watched, looked more like Buffoon-Cookman) 45-14. The final second round bracket is headed by Wofford, who won the day's only close game, 17-14 against Jacksonville State. They draw Georgia Southern next week, after GaSo routed both William AND Mary 31-15. The triple option attack wore down the W&M defense, who gave up over 425 yards on the ground, while the offense was busy scoring no tds.
Finally, I'd like to announce the players on the NHFFL all-star teams. This years game will be a new thing to our league- a three-way game between the Purple, Gold, and Scarlet Divisions. The Purple will feature KCAs Phillip Rivers at qb, Michael Turner and Jahvid Best at RB, Desean Jackson at wr, kicker Rob Bironas, and the Arizona D; Ranger RB Darren McFadden; Beagle RB Maurice Jones-Drew; and SVAs wrs Antonio Gates, Roddy White, and Andre Johnson. The Gold will bring out Clock BBQs qb Drew Brees, rb Matt Forte, and k Sebastian Janikowski; T-Cubs rb Rashard Mendenhall, and wrs Dwayne Bowe, Greg Jennings, and Mike Wallace; B2s rbs Adrian Peterson, Peyton Hillis and NY Giants D; and Elks wr Hakeem Nicks. The Scarlet division has Ducks qb Aaron Rodgers, rb BenJarvis Green-Ellis, wrs Calvin Johnson and Braylon Edwards; Rhinos rb Arian Foster; Angels rb Chris Johnson and k David Akers; and Buzzers rb Knowshon Moreno, wrs Terrell Owens and Jeremy Macklin, and Green Bay D. Akers won the league's scoring championship with 104 points, followed by Janikowski with 99, Dan Carpenter of the Rhinos at 96, Nick Folk of the Elks at 90, Rodgers and Bowe at 87, Bironas and the Ducks' Neil Rackers at 85, Beagle reservist Adam Vinitieri at 84, and Rivers at 83. Foster was the highest rb at 81, tied for 11th.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Chris' FCS page
I wanted to wait until the tourney bracket was released this morning to do my FCS page this week, and am glad I did. I would have put Jacksonville State (which, by the way, is from Jacksonville, Alabama) at #1, but then they blew a 24-7 lead with under 12 minutes left, giving up 3 80+ yd TD drives in a total of 6:26 to lose to Tennessee Tech 35-24 and almost make me look foolish(er) two weeks running. Instead of just doing my rankings, I'm going to go over the bracket, and weave my rankings and thoughts in.
Four games are featured in the opening round next Saturday. The Contestants:
Western Illinois(7-4)- they rolled Northern Iowa (who already clinched a playoff spot) 30-14 yesterday to get here; they end up15th on my rankings. They lost their big boy game to Purdue by a respectable 31-21 score, and are 2-0 against playoff teams, having also beat North Dakota State 28-16.
Coastal Carolina(6-5) will be their opponent, and they snuck in the hardest way. The Big South bid was between Stony Brook (5-0 in the conference going in), Liberty (my # 9, 4-1) and CC (4-1). With Stony Brook and Liberty playing each other and CC playing sucky Charleston Southern, a three way tie loomed. This would go down to the 4th tie breaker- points allowed in conference games. And here it was Stony Brook (68), Coastal Carolina (103), and Liberty (110). All Stony seemingly had to do is keep Liberty under 39, and hope Charleston So. could manage a couple of field goals. But Liberty won 54-28, and CC won 70-3, and the tiebreaker and the playoff spot went to CC. CC's big boy game was a 31-0 loss to West Virginia, and a 43-26 loss to Georgia Southern was their only match against a playoff team. They had lost to Stony Brook and got whacked by Richmond 41-19- the same Richmond team that William AND Mary beat 41-3 to close out the year. Quite obviously, I never did rank CC.
Robert Morris (8-2) was the automatic qualifier out of another weak Conference (the Northeast); I had them ranked 15th. They are one of 5 playoff teams that did not have a big boy game; they are the only one to play no other playoff teams, although they upset Liberty and lost fairly big to Dayton (10-1, 11th), whose conference (the Pioneer League) got boned by the selection committee.
They face off against North Dakota State (7-4, 21st), whom I thought had no chance of getting in after their season ending 3-0 loss to Missouri State. One thing in their favor was that they are one of only 2 playoff teams to win their big boy game, 6-3 over hapless Kansas. However, they've lost both games against playoff teams (16-9 against Northern Iowa and 28-16 against Western Ill.)
Lehigh (9-2, 24th) is the AQ from another league that doesn't really rate one, the Patriot League. In addition to not having a big boy game, they lost to fellow playoff squads New Hampshire and Villanova by a combined 66-10. They get to meet Northern Iowa (7-4, 19th), who went 1-2 against playoff teams ( the loss to Western Ill., plus the win over North Dakota State and a loss to Stephen F. Austin 22-20). Northern's big boy game was a 27-0 loss to Iowa State.
The final first round tilt features South Carolina State (9-2, 12th) against Georgia Southern (7-4, not currently ranked). SC State lost its BBG to Georgia Tech 41-10, and its only playoff opponent was a 14-0 loss to conference rival Bethune-Cookman. GaSo lost its BBG 13-7 to Navy (which is a darn side better than Notre Dame did) and was 2-1 against playoff teams, winning against Coastal Carolina (43-26) and Appalachian State (21-14) and losing to Wofford (33-31).
The Western Ill./CC winner draws Appalachian State (9-2, #1), the tourney's top seed. The Mountaineers got abbreviated by Florida in their BBG (48-10) yesterday, and split their playoff matchups, losing to GaSo but beating Wofford 43-13. That winner faces the winner of Villanova (7-4, 16th) and Stephen F. Austin (9-2, 10th). 'Nova lost their BBG to MAC powerhouse Temple 31-24; they have played a tourney-highest 4 playoff teams, beating Lehigh and Delaware (yesterday, 28-21 in OT, to get in), and losing to William AND Mary (31-24) and New Hampshire (28-21). SF Austin lost their big boy game to Texas A&M (who by the way, beat #7 Nebraska last night) 48-7, but if not for that collapse for the ages against Texas State a few weeks back, they would have never lost again. Their only playoff team was a 22-20 win over Northern Iowa.
The 5-seed is Eastern Washington (9-2, 13th), and they play SE Missouri State (9-2, 14th) in their second round game. I've always ranked Eastern lower because of the weakness of their schedule, which outside of their BBG ( a 49-24 loss to Nevada and Colin Kapernick) featured only (fellow playoff team) Montana State (who blasted them 30-7) and Montana (who they beat). SEMO, as they're known, lost both their BBG (27-10 to Ball State) and their one playoff team (29-27 to Jacksonville State), although they did manage to rout the same Tennessee Tech team that flattened J-ville State yesterday.
Montana State (9-2, 8th) is the 4-seed and will play the winner of Robert Morris/ ND State. State got nipped in their BBG by Washington State (23-22), and beat rival Montana (7-4, 22nd) to get in, as well as their pasting of Eastern Washington, but like their state rival, got clocked by Northern Arizona 34-7.
Delaware (9-2, 4th) would have been the 1-seed and my number one had they not lost to Villanova yesterday. However, they skipped the BBG and lost to both William AND Mary (17-16) and 'Nova to go 0-2 against playoff competition. They draw the Lehigh/ Northern Iowa winner.
Bethune-Cookman (10-1, 6th) lost their undefeated season yesterday in the Florida Classic to Florida A&M 38-27, but still got the AQ bid. Their conference is problematic; their only playoff match was the 14-0 win over SC State, and they had no BBG. They play New Hampshire (7-4, 2oth) who went 2-1 against playoff teams (the wins against Lehigh and 'Nova and a 13-3 loss to William AND Mary) and had a decent BBG, a 38-16 loss to Pitt. In addition, they had a midseason stretch where they swept Richmond, JMU, and UMass by a combined 84-27, essentially putting all three of them out of the playoffs.
Wofford (9-2, 2nd) faces Jacksonville State (9-2, 7th) in their second round game. Their Terriers split their playoff games, both against conference rivals ( the loss to App State and the win over GaSo), and had no BBG. J-ville State, in addition to the aforementioned meltdown last night, won both their only playoff match (against conference rival SEMO) and their BBG (49-48 in OT against Ole Miss).
Finally, we have the #2 seed, William AND Mary (8-3, 3rd). They played a great BBG against North Carolina which they only lost in the 4th quarter 21-17, and they swept their 3 playoff matches over 'Nova, UNH, and Delaware. They draw the GaSo/SC State winner.
Teams I ranked that don't get a tourney invite include #5 Jacksonville (10-1, 5th) #9 Liberty, #11 Dayton, #17 Penn (whose league doesn't accept invites), #22 Montana, #23 Old Dominion, and #25 UMass (who I thought would get an invite, along with either Jacksonville or Dayton).
My first round picks: Western Illinois will clock CC; I'll give a slight nod to ND State over Robert Morris; Northern Iowa will prove that Lehigh has no business at the table; and GaSo will beat SC Stae in a shootout.
My second round picks: App State cruises over Western; SFA over 'Nova; SEMO upsets Eastern Washington; Montana State blasts ND State; Northern Iowa upsets Delaware; UNH over Bethune-Cookman; J-State over Wofford; W&M over GaSo.
My third round picks: SFA stuns App State; Montana State rolls SEMO; UNH edges Northern Iowa; W&M routs J-State.
My semis picks: SFA over Montana State in a classic shootout; W&M over UNH- again.
Championship: William & Mary in a tight, low scoring game which isn't SFA's forte.
Four games are featured in the opening round next Saturday. The Contestants:
Western Illinois(7-4)- they rolled Northern Iowa (who already clinched a playoff spot) 30-14 yesterday to get here; they end up15th on my rankings. They lost their big boy game to Purdue by a respectable 31-21 score, and are 2-0 against playoff teams, having also beat North Dakota State 28-16.
Coastal Carolina(6-5) will be their opponent, and they snuck in the hardest way. The Big South bid was between Stony Brook (5-0 in the conference going in), Liberty (my # 9, 4-1) and CC (4-1). With Stony Brook and Liberty playing each other and CC playing sucky Charleston Southern, a three way tie loomed. This would go down to the 4th tie breaker- points allowed in conference games. And here it was Stony Brook (68), Coastal Carolina (103), and Liberty (110). All Stony seemingly had to do is keep Liberty under 39, and hope Charleston So. could manage a couple of field goals. But Liberty won 54-28, and CC won 70-3, and the tiebreaker and the playoff spot went to CC. CC's big boy game was a 31-0 loss to West Virginia, and a 43-26 loss to Georgia Southern was their only match against a playoff team. They had lost to Stony Brook and got whacked by Richmond 41-19- the same Richmond team that William AND Mary beat 41-3 to close out the year. Quite obviously, I never did rank CC.
Robert Morris (8-2) was the automatic qualifier out of another weak Conference (the Northeast); I had them ranked 15th. They are one of 5 playoff teams that did not have a big boy game; they are the only one to play no other playoff teams, although they upset Liberty and lost fairly big to Dayton (10-1, 11th), whose conference (the Pioneer League) got boned by the selection committee.
They face off against North Dakota State (7-4, 21st), whom I thought had no chance of getting in after their season ending 3-0 loss to Missouri State. One thing in their favor was that they are one of only 2 playoff teams to win their big boy game, 6-3 over hapless Kansas. However, they've lost both games against playoff teams (16-9 against Northern Iowa and 28-16 against Western Ill.)
Lehigh (9-2, 24th) is the AQ from another league that doesn't really rate one, the Patriot League. In addition to not having a big boy game, they lost to fellow playoff squads New Hampshire and Villanova by a combined 66-10. They get to meet Northern Iowa (7-4, 19th), who went 1-2 against playoff teams ( the loss to Western Ill., plus the win over North Dakota State and a loss to Stephen F. Austin 22-20). Northern's big boy game was a 27-0 loss to Iowa State.
The final first round tilt features South Carolina State (9-2, 12th) against Georgia Southern (7-4, not currently ranked). SC State lost its BBG to Georgia Tech 41-10, and its only playoff opponent was a 14-0 loss to conference rival Bethune-Cookman. GaSo lost its BBG 13-7 to Navy (which is a darn side better than Notre Dame did) and was 2-1 against playoff teams, winning against Coastal Carolina (43-26) and Appalachian State (21-14) and losing to Wofford (33-31).
The Western Ill./CC winner draws Appalachian State (9-2, #1), the tourney's top seed. The Mountaineers got abbreviated by Florida in their BBG (48-10) yesterday, and split their playoff matchups, losing to GaSo but beating Wofford 43-13. That winner faces the winner of Villanova (7-4, 16th) and Stephen F. Austin (9-2, 10th). 'Nova lost their BBG to MAC powerhouse Temple 31-24; they have played a tourney-highest 4 playoff teams, beating Lehigh and Delaware (yesterday, 28-21 in OT, to get in), and losing to William AND Mary (31-24) and New Hampshire (28-21). SF Austin lost their big boy game to Texas A&M (who by the way, beat #7 Nebraska last night) 48-7, but if not for that collapse for the ages against Texas State a few weeks back, they would have never lost again. Their only playoff team was a 22-20 win over Northern Iowa.
The 5-seed is Eastern Washington (9-2, 13th), and they play SE Missouri State (9-2, 14th) in their second round game. I've always ranked Eastern lower because of the weakness of their schedule, which outside of their BBG ( a 49-24 loss to Nevada and Colin Kapernick) featured only (fellow playoff team) Montana State (who blasted them 30-7) and Montana (who they beat). SEMO, as they're known, lost both their BBG (27-10 to Ball State) and their one playoff team (29-27 to Jacksonville State), although they did manage to rout the same Tennessee Tech team that flattened J-ville State yesterday.
Montana State (9-2, 8th) is the 4-seed and will play the winner of Robert Morris/ ND State. State got nipped in their BBG by Washington State (23-22), and beat rival Montana (7-4, 22nd) to get in, as well as their pasting of Eastern Washington, but like their state rival, got clocked by Northern Arizona 34-7.
Delaware (9-2, 4th) would have been the 1-seed and my number one had they not lost to Villanova yesterday. However, they skipped the BBG and lost to both William AND Mary (17-16) and 'Nova to go 0-2 against playoff competition. They draw the Lehigh/ Northern Iowa winner.
Bethune-Cookman (10-1, 6th) lost their undefeated season yesterday in the Florida Classic to Florida A&M 38-27, but still got the AQ bid. Their conference is problematic; their only playoff match was the 14-0 win over SC State, and they had no BBG. They play New Hampshire (7-4, 2oth) who went 2-1 against playoff teams (the wins against Lehigh and 'Nova and a 13-3 loss to William AND Mary) and had a decent BBG, a 38-16 loss to Pitt. In addition, they had a midseason stretch where they swept Richmond, JMU, and UMass by a combined 84-27, essentially putting all three of them out of the playoffs.
Wofford (9-2, 2nd) faces Jacksonville State (9-2, 7th) in their second round game. Their Terriers split their playoff games, both against conference rivals ( the loss to App State and the win over GaSo), and had no BBG. J-ville State, in addition to the aforementioned meltdown last night, won both their only playoff match (against conference rival SEMO) and their BBG (49-48 in OT against Ole Miss).
Finally, we have the #2 seed, William AND Mary (8-3, 3rd). They played a great BBG against North Carolina which they only lost in the 4th quarter 21-17, and they swept their 3 playoff matches over 'Nova, UNH, and Delaware. They draw the GaSo/SC State winner.
Teams I ranked that don't get a tourney invite include #5 Jacksonville (10-1, 5th) #9 Liberty, #11 Dayton, #17 Penn (whose league doesn't accept invites), #22 Montana, #23 Old Dominion, and #25 UMass (who I thought would get an invite, along with either Jacksonville or Dayton).
My first round picks: Western Illinois will clock CC; I'll give a slight nod to ND State over Robert Morris; Northern Iowa will prove that Lehigh has no business at the table; and GaSo will beat SC Stae in a shootout.
My second round picks: App State cruises over Western; SFA over 'Nova; SEMO upsets Eastern Washington; Montana State blasts ND State; Northern Iowa upsets Delaware; UNH over Bethune-Cookman; J-State over Wofford; W&M over GaSo.
My third round picks: SFA stuns App State; Montana State rolls SEMO; UNH edges Northern Iowa; W&M routs J-State.
My semis picks: SFA over Montana State in a classic shootout; W&M over UNH- again.
Championship: William & Mary in a tight, low scoring game which isn't SFA's forte.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
FCS and hockey stuff
I'm a bit early tonight, but I'm going to have faith that Cal Poly, who leads UC-Davis 21-3 just starting the third in the Battle for the Golden Horseshoe, will hang on and win. If I'm wrong it will be no surprise today;my #'s 2,4,6,9,11,13,14,19,22,and 23 (the coaches' 4,11,2,21,25,8,9,13,and 22) went down to defeat today. What a mess!
I move Old Dominion (7-3) into my count at 25 after their 45-28 romp over VMI; they replace Richmond after a lackluster 15-6 win over URI. Sorry, Spiders! The aforementioned Cal Poly team, who are shooting for 7-3 (their lead is now 21-6. uh-oh...) come in at 24; they replace Grambling who lost Thursday night to conference rival Texas Southern 41-34. Also new is #23 Bryant (7-3), who beat last week's #11 Robert Morris (8-2) 27-21. The Colonials move down to 15th with the loss.
Montana (7-3) is allowed back in the house at #22 after topping North Dakota 27-17. The Grizzlies take the spot of Central Arkansas, who got beat by Sam Houston State 20-13. The first holdover is #21 New Hampshire (6-4), who upset former #13 Villanova (6-4) 31-24. This second straight loss by the Wildcats drop them to 18th in this week's poll. Taking the big dive from 9 to 20th is Western Illinois (6-4) after a 20-10 loss to state rival Southern Illinois.
Moving up 2 to 19th is Ivy League leader Penn(8-1), who tromped Harvard 34-14. 17th is Eastern Washington (8-2) who stopped Southern Utah 31-24. I move Northern Iowa (7-3) up to 16th with their 38-14 romp of Missouri State. Usually I drop teams that lose (duh) but how do you drop last week's #14 SE Missouri State (9-2) after a 29-27 loss to last week's #8 Jacksonville State (9-1)? I didn't; SE MO ST stays at 14, while J-ville St. climbs back to 4th after the rasher of top-rank losses. North Dakota State (7-3) beat media darling South Dakota State 31-24 ( a common score this week) to rise 3 to 13th.
South Carolina State (8-2) scoots up 5 to #12 after a 32-10 win against Morgan State. Dayton (10-1) sneaks up one notch to 11th despite a 2OT struggle to beat Marist 41-34. Stephen F. Austin (8-2) returns to the top ten , up 5 after routing SE Louisiana 51-14. Liberty (7-3) drops from 4 to 9 with a 45-31 embarrassment to Coastal Carolina. Things were so messed up in the top ten that I had to move Montana State (8-2) up two to #8 despite their being idle this week.
William and Mary (7-3) drop a notch to 7th with a 30-24 loss to former somnambulist James Madison. This week, #s 2 and three faced off; Appalachian State (9-1) didn't blink, whupping Wofford (8-2) 43-13. App State moves up one to runner-up, while the Terriers drop to 6th. Like Montana State, I reluctantly move Jacksonville (10-1) up to 5th after they barely survive Campbell by a score of (you guessed it) 31-24. The lone undefeated, Bethune-Cookman (10-0) goes to 3rd after a 35-20 win over Howard. And Finally, Delaware (9-1) slapped UMass (also known as last week's #19) 45-27 to retain the top spot this week.
The lead for Cal Poly is down to 21-15 with 12 minutes left... uh-oh...
Next week is about it; in fact, Jacksonville, Dayton, SE Missouri State, Robert Morris, and, once they finish blowing their lead tonight, Cal Poly are already done(In fact, J-ville and Dayton end up tied at 8-0 at the top of the Pioneer Conference.. Liberty faces a battle with Stony Brook in order to claim the Big South title, and thanks to their Coastal Carolina loss, even that may not do it. #8 Montana State and #22 Montana battle it out for the Great Divide Trophy; #1 Delaware faces #18 Villanova; #16 N. Iowa plays #20 Western Illinois. Bethune-Cookman faces a stiff challenge to end their hopefully undefeated season- 7-3 Florida A&M- in the Florida Classic. William and Mary faces rival Richmond for the Capital Cup; Penn plays Cornell for the Trustee Cup; and Appalachian State plays its big boy game after having clinched the Southern Conference title yet again- they get to play the Florida Gators in the Swamp, right after Florida lost in the swamp tonight against South Carolina and the ol' Ball Coach. This... might not be pretty.
Guess what? with 35 seconds left, UC-Davis leads Cal Poly 22-21. If they lose, I'm replacing them with Richmond.
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The quick look at European hockey this time starts in the UK's EIHL, where Belfast continues to lead, but that 7 point cushion is down to 1 over Nottingham, and last season's regular schedule winner Coventry, along with Sheffield and Cardiff, are all within 9 points.
Ligue Magnus is a slow moving ordeal; Angers, Rouen, and Strassbourg are all at 13 points after just 6-7 games.
Kloten's big lead in Swiss National League A is down to 4 over surging HC Davos; Zug has dropped back, and last year's champ SC Bern is 4th, 11 out.
Valpusteria widened it's lead to 8 points in Italy's Serie A.
In Norway's GET-Ligaen, the Spartans of Sarpsborg have widened their lead to 6 over defending champ Valerenga, while Stavenger fades a bit to 9 behind.
SonderjyskE continues to roll the field in the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen, 14 points up on Herning.
In Germany's DEL, Hanover's Scorps maintain their lead, although Manheim has slid and the Tomas Sabo team has moved into second.
KAC Klagenfurt has blown out to an 8-point cushion over Red Bull Salzburg in Austria's Erste-Bank Liga. VSV, who was just 2 behind last month when we checked, has faded into the pack.
Sweden's Elitserien continues headed by HF Lulea, by 7 over new runner-up Skelleftea AIK.
JYP Jyvaskyla has widened its lead in the Finnish S-M Liga, from 4 over HIFK a month ago, to 5 over Assat and 9 over HIFK.
The Czech Extraliga shows that HC Mountfield has crumbled, its 1 point lead changed now to 5th place, 8 points behind HC Ocelari Trinec, with last year's winner Vitkovice Steel 3 behind Trinec in second.
In the Slovak Extraliga, Kosice pushed its lead to 6 over Banska Bystrica; KHL wannabe Poprad has moved in to third, albeit a distant 17 points out. I should point out that most of these leagues, unlike the Komets and the NHL, give three points for a win, with 2 for OT wins and 1 for OT losses.
In the Russian KHL, UHC Moscow Dynamo continues to lead the west, although Severstal Cherepovets has faded; Lokomotiv has moved into second, 6 behind, and SKA St. Pete has recovered from a slow start to trail by 8 in third. Likewise, Avangard Omsk has faded in its pursuit of leader (and league best) Metallurg Magnitogorsk, leaving former 7th place Sibir Novosibrsk to drive into second, 6 back and tied with perennial power Ak Bars Kazan.
In the Asia League, Oji's Eagles have passed Anyang Halla into first by 1; Tohoku joins the Korean squad in second. The horrible China Dragon seems not to have played in the interim; I was unable to find out if they folded or something, but with an 0-8-1 record and being outscored 13-67 in 9 games (roughly 7-1 per game), it would hardly be surprising. (Actually, with a seven team league spread out over most of East Asia, it's the result of just a horribly unbalanced schedule.)
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And, as I figured would happen the moment I tried to rank Cal Poly, they lose to rival UC-Davis 22-21. Kinda they way it was a couple a years ago when I did an FBS top 25 and tried to rank Notre Dame. So put Richmond (6-4) into 24th and get'em ready to lose to the Tribe.
I move Old Dominion (7-3) into my count at 25 after their 45-28 romp over VMI; they replace Richmond after a lackluster 15-6 win over URI. Sorry, Spiders! The aforementioned Cal Poly team, who are shooting for 7-3 (their lead is now 21-6. uh-oh...) come in at 24; they replace Grambling who lost Thursday night to conference rival Texas Southern 41-34. Also new is #23 Bryant (7-3), who beat last week's #11 Robert Morris (8-2) 27-21. The Colonials move down to 15th with the loss.
Montana (7-3) is allowed back in the house at #22 after topping North Dakota 27-17. The Grizzlies take the spot of Central Arkansas, who got beat by Sam Houston State 20-13. The first holdover is #21 New Hampshire (6-4), who upset former #13 Villanova (6-4) 31-24. This second straight loss by the Wildcats drop them to 18th in this week's poll. Taking the big dive from 9 to 20th is Western Illinois (6-4) after a 20-10 loss to state rival Southern Illinois.
Moving up 2 to 19th is Ivy League leader Penn(8-1), who tromped Harvard 34-14. 17th is Eastern Washington (8-2) who stopped Southern Utah 31-24. I move Northern Iowa (7-3) up to 16th with their 38-14 romp of Missouri State. Usually I drop teams that lose (duh) but how do you drop last week's #14 SE Missouri State (9-2) after a 29-27 loss to last week's #8 Jacksonville State (9-1)? I didn't; SE MO ST stays at 14, while J-ville St. climbs back to 4th after the rasher of top-rank losses. North Dakota State (7-3) beat media darling South Dakota State 31-24 ( a common score this week) to rise 3 to 13th.
South Carolina State (8-2) scoots up 5 to #12 after a 32-10 win against Morgan State. Dayton (10-1) sneaks up one notch to 11th despite a 2OT struggle to beat Marist 41-34. Stephen F. Austin (8-2) returns to the top ten , up 5 after routing SE Louisiana 51-14. Liberty (7-3) drops from 4 to 9 with a 45-31 embarrassment to Coastal Carolina. Things were so messed up in the top ten that I had to move Montana State (8-2) up two to #8 despite their being idle this week.
William and Mary (7-3) drop a notch to 7th with a 30-24 loss to former somnambulist James Madison. This week, #s 2 and three faced off; Appalachian State (9-1) didn't blink, whupping Wofford (8-2) 43-13. App State moves up one to runner-up, while the Terriers drop to 6th. Like Montana State, I reluctantly move Jacksonville (10-1) up to 5th after they barely survive Campbell by a score of (you guessed it) 31-24. The lone undefeated, Bethune-Cookman (10-0) goes to 3rd after a 35-20 win over Howard. And Finally, Delaware (9-1) slapped UMass (also known as last week's #19) 45-27 to retain the top spot this week.
The lead for Cal Poly is down to 21-15 with 12 minutes left... uh-oh...
Next week is about it; in fact, Jacksonville, Dayton, SE Missouri State, Robert Morris, and, once they finish blowing their lead tonight, Cal Poly are already done(In fact, J-ville and Dayton end up tied at 8-0 at the top of the Pioneer Conference.. Liberty faces a battle with Stony Brook in order to claim the Big South title, and thanks to their Coastal Carolina loss, even that may not do it. #8 Montana State and #22 Montana battle it out for the Great Divide Trophy; #1 Delaware faces #18 Villanova; #16 N. Iowa plays #20 Western Illinois. Bethune-Cookman faces a stiff challenge to end their hopefully undefeated season- 7-3 Florida A&M- in the Florida Classic. William and Mary faces rival Richmond for the Capital Cup; Penn plays Cornell for the Trustee Cup; and Appalachian State plays its big boy game after having clinched the Southern Conference title yet again- they get to play the Florida Gators in the Swamp, right after Florida lost in the swamp tonight against South Carolina and the ol' Ball Coach. This... might not be pretty.
Guess what? with 35 seconds left, UC-Davis leads Cal Poly 22-21. If they lose, I'm replacing them with Richmond.
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The quick look at European hockey this time starts in the UK's EIHL, where Belfast continues to lead, but that 7 point cushion is down to 1 over Nottingham, and last season's regular schedule winner Coventry, along with Sheffield and Cardiff, are all within 9 points.
Ligue Magnus is a slow moving ordeal; Angers, Rouen, and Strassbourg are all at 13 points after just 6-7 games.
Kloten's big lead in Swiss National League A is down to 4 over surging HC Davos; Zug has dropped back, and last year's champ SC Bern is 4th, 11 out.
Valpusteria widened it's lead to 8 points in Italy's Serie A.
In Norway's GET-Ligaen, the Spartans of Sarpsborg have widened their lead to 6 over defending champ Valerenga, while Stavenger fades a bit to 9 behind.
SonderjyskE continues to roll the field in the Danish AL-Bank Ligaen, 14 points up on Herning.
In Germany's DEL, Hanover's Scorps maintain their lead, although Manheim has slid and the Tomas Sabo team has moved into second.
KAC Klagenfurt has blown out to an 8-point cushion over Red Bull Salzburg in Austria's Erste-Bank Liga. VSV, who was just 2 behind last month when we checked, has faded into the pack.
Sweden's Elitserien continues headed by HF Lulea, by 7 over new runner-up Skelleftea AIK.
JYP Jyvaskyla has widened its lead in the Finnish S-M Liga, from 4 over HIFK a month ago, to 5 over Assat and 9 over HIFK.
The Czech Extraliga shows that HC Mountfield has crumbled, its 1 point lead changed now to 5th place, 8 points behind HC Ocelari Trinec, with last year's winner Vitkovice Steel 3 behind Trinec in second.
In the Slovak Extraliga, Kosice pushed its lead to 6 over Banska Bystrica; KHL wannabe Poprad has moved in to third, albeit a distant 17 points out. I should point out that most of these leagues, unlike the Komets and the NHL, give three points for a win, with 2 for OT wins and 1 for OT losses.
In the Russian KHL, UHC Moscow Dynamo continues to lead the west, although Severstal Cherepovets has faded; Lokomotiv has moved into second, 6 behind, and SKA St. Pete has recovered from a slow start to trail by 8 in third. Likewise, Avangard Omsk has faded in its pursuit of leader (and league best) Metallurg Magnitogorsk, leaving former 7th place Sibir Novosibrsk to drive into second, 6 back and tied with perennial power Ak Bars Kazan.
In the Asia League, Oji's Eagles have passed Anyang Halla into first by 1; Tohoku joins the Korean squad in second. The horrible China Dragon seems not to have played in the interim; I was unable to find out if they folded or something, but with an 0-8-1 record and being outscored 13-67 in 9 games (roughly 7-1 per game), it would hardly be surprising. (Actually, with a seven team league spread out over most of East Asia, it's the result of just a horribly unbalanced schedule.)
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And, as I figured would happen the moment I tried to rank Cal Poly, they lose to rival UC-Davis 22-21. Kinda they way it was a couple a years ago when I did an FBS top 25 and tried to rank Notre Dame. So put Richmond (6-4) into 24th and get'em ready to lose to the Tribe.
A new, if slightly warped, idea for college football playoffs.
I was thinking as Scrappy started waking me up this morning about division I (i.e. FBS) football. You have 6 automatic qualifying conferences for the BCS- the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and the Pac-10. And then you have the also-ran conferences- the MAC, Mountain West, WAC, Conference USA, Sun Belt. The fuss kicks in when good also-ran schools like Boise State and TCU fight to get into the BCS (the so-called "bowl busters). These schools have to move heaven AND earth to get a shot at the national championship, whilst a less deserving school from the AQs only has to move one or the other.
My idea is the soccer system of relegation. To do this, Let's assign each big conference an also-ran conference to be its "relegation group". The Pac-10 gets the MWC, the Big 12 gets the WAC, the Big 10 gets the MAC, the SEC gets the Conference USA (and can split the Sun Belt with the Big 12). Pull, say, Pitt and West Virginia from the Big East and give them Duke and Wake Forest and they become the ACC's feeder. Make it so if a big conference school has 2 years in which they manage only 3 conference wins total, they get relegated if their feeder has a team that's lost only 3 times in those two years. If nobody meets the requirements, nobody moves. If the number is uneven, look at the total record. For example, Michigan's record in 2008-9 would have them relegated, along with Indiana. But only Central Michigan meets the requirement in the MAC, so you look and see that Michigan had more overall wins in those 2 seasons, and thus are spared.
With that accomplished, then you have an 8-team national championship playoff, and say a 4-team relegation league championship. This would give a Boise State a chance in the big show, and an Indiana could be more competitive in the relegation league. My research shows that if 2010 was the first "relegation year", that the ACC and SEC would be safe, the Big 10 would indeed switch IU for Central Michigan, the Big 12 would flip Baylor for Boise State, and Utah would have come to the Pac-10 a season earlier, dumping Washington State, while TCU would have been about 1 Washington win away from joining them.
Now I know Michigan's close call and TCU's bridesmaid status probably will rankle some, as would the idea of, for example, Hawaii having their 2 good June Jones/Colt Brennan years and sneaking into the Big 12 only to lose coach and quarterback and falling flat on their face. But if they get raised to the next level, perhaps the coach doesn't look for the better job right away, perhaps the star recruit signs with the team, or the star qb stays for his senior year instead of trying the draft as a sophomore. The administration cleans up problems before the NCAA investigation knocks them into the relegation tier, and the struggling team in the big conference is able to build itself back up against lesser competition.
The local flaw in the ointment would be the independents Army, Navy, and NOTRE DAME. They would have to find themselves a conference if they wanted to compete. Not such a big deal for the service academies, but a huge honkin' deal for Notre Dame, who would presumably go grovelling to the Big 10 or the reconstituted ACC who they have treated with disdain all these years. BYU, who goes independent next year, would likewise have slit its own throat; but the stupid merry-go-round we had this season as Nebraska, Mizzou, Texas, BYU, Utah, Boise, etc. played "follow the money" would be replaced with a much more stable arrangement.
My idea is the soccer system of relegation. To do this, Let's assign each big conference an also-ran conference to be its "relegation group". The Pac-10 gets the MWC, the Big 12 gets the WAC, the Big 10 gets the MAC, the SEC gets the Conference USA (and can split the Sun Belt with the Big 12). Pull, say, Pitt and West Virginia from the Big East and give them Duke and Wake Forest and they become the ACC's feeder. Make it so if a big conference school has 2 years in which they manage only 3 conference wins total, they get relegated if their feeder has a team that's lost only 3 times in those two years. If nobody meets the requirements, nobody moves. If the number is uneven, look at the total record. For example, Michigan's record in 2008-9 would have them relegated, along with Indiana. But only Central Michigan meets the requirement in the MAC, so you look and see that Michigan had more overall wins in those 2 seasons, and thus are spared.
With that accomplished, then you have an 8-team national championship playoff, and say a 4-team relegation league championship. This would give a Boise State a chance in the big show, and an Indiana could be more competitive in the relegation league. My research shows that if 2010 was the first "relegation year", that the ACC and SEC would be safe, the Big 10 would indeed switch IU for Central Michigan, the Big 12 would flip Baylor for Boise State, and Utah would have come to the Pac-10 a season earlier, dumping Washington State, while TCU would have been about 1 Washington win away from joining them.
Now I know Michigan's close call and TCU's bridesmaid status probably will rankle some, as would the idea of, for example, Hawaii having their 2 good June Jones/Colt Brennan years and sneaking into the Big 12 only to lose coach and quarterback and falling flat on their face. But if they get raised to the next level, perhaps the coach doesn't look for the better job right away, perhaps the star recruit signs with the team, or the star qb stays for his senior year instead of trying the draft as a sophomore. The administration cleans up problems before the NCAA investigation knocks them into the relegation tier, and the struggling team in the big conference is able to build itself back up against lesser competition.
The local flaw in the ointment would be the independents Army, Navy, and NOTRE DAME. They would have to find themselves a conference if they wanted to compete. Not such a big deal for the service academies, but a huge honkin' deal for Notre Dame, who would presumably go grovelling to the Big 10 or the reconstituted ACC who they have treated with disdain all these years. BYU, who goes independent next year, would likewise have slit its own throat; but the stupid merry-go-round we had this season as Nebraska, Mizzou, Texas, BYU, Utah, Boise, etc. played "follow the money" would be replaced with a much more stable arrangement.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Chris' FCS page #8
Wow, glad I'm not the AP chart. Their #s 1, 2, AND 3 all got beat, all by teams they had no real business losing to. The bad news is that they were also my #s 1, 5, and 10. Not good, but better than the experts. Plus their #8 also lost, albeit to their #5 ( which would be my 7 beating my 17).
I'm going to a top 25 this week, so that I can squeeze in some of theirs that I wouldn't ordinarily rank. One of those is the Richmond Spiders, who I give my inaugural 25th spot after they bested former top dog (to borrow a Time Machine term) James Madison 13-10 in OT. JMU got the ball first in OT but ended up with nothing after having to go for it on a 4th-and 30 from the 45. Richmond goes to 5-4 in the ultra-tough CAA while JMU loses their 5th in 6 games to drop to 4-5. Another one that the AP ranks week after week, and I finally let into the top 20 last week, is New Hampshire (that aforementioned AP #8) who lost to my boys from William AND Mary 13-3. UNH drops to 5-4 and falls from 17 to 24th; the Tribe raises its record to 7-2 and move up from 8th to 6th.
Another of those I might never have found a home for otherwise (mainly because of the crappy league they play in) is Grambling, who gets the first #23 spot after their latest cheap win over Div. II Concordia, AL, 35-0. The Tigers move to 8-1 with the win. Central Arkansas is one of those teams I've been waiting for to get that elusive quality win and they did that with a 49-17 romp on hot-and-cold Texas State. The Bears get #22 with their 6-3 record. The last of the add-ons is yet another team I struggle with because their league, the Ivy League, is clearly the MAC of the FCS. But Penn finally earns some love after pasting a piss-poor Princeton squad (nice alliteration, eh?) 52-10 and gets #21.
I finally get around to ranking an Eastern Washington team(7-2) that clearly the AP (#6) loves more than I, putting them at 20th despite their off week. Part of that is because of UNH's fall; the other I'll explain in two more spots. UMass holds on to its #19 spot with a 39-24 win over Maine, which raises them to 6-3. And in one of those "who's better AP or Chris" matchups, I took it on the chin along with Indiana State, who dropped a 30-20 game to Northern Iowa (6-3), who come in at 18 and allow E. Washington the spot ISU used to have. South Carolina State (7-2) move up one notch to 17th with a 54-14 win over Howard, while North Dakota State (6-3) hold at 16th on a 20-6 win over Southern Illinois.
Stephen F. Austin (7-2), fresh off their meltdown to the previously mentioned Texas St., blow out Nichols St. 48-13 to hold at 15th; SE Missouri State (9-1) also hold their 14th slot after whupping Div. II Southwest Baptist 40-14. Villanova is back out of the top ten and down to 13th after they (that #3 team) lose to Rhode Island 17-14 and fall to 6-3. Dayton (8-1) struggled mightily against a far inferior Drake team (OK, not that inferior) who had erased a 24-14 deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 25-24 lead with under a minute-and-a-half to go; but the Flyers score on a 37-yd pass with 1 second left to pull out a 31-25 win, and keep last week's #12 spot. Robert Morris (8-1), who gets minimal love from the AP to this point, beat a tough Central Connecticut State team 42-24 to move up 2 to 11th.
Montana State (8-2) ease up one into the top ten with a 24-10 win over feisty Weber State. Western Illinois (6-3) takes a week off and stays at 9th. AP's #2 team, previously unbeaten Jacksonville State, drops to 8-1 and from 5th to 8th after a 49-37 trouncing by Eastern Kentucky. Jacksonville (9-1) ceased its streak of obliterating opponents, but still holds at 7 with a 24-16 victory over Butler (of all people). And as I mentioned, William AND Mary move up to #6.
Bethune-Cookman (8-0) is the last remaining undefeated team after a 23-18 win over strong Hampton. Liberty (7-2) holds at 4th with their 40-14 win over Gardiner-Webb; but the bells rang out across the land when Georgia Southern (a former top 20) rose up and downed mighty Appalachian State 21-14 in OT. The Mountaineers drop to 8-1 and down 2 to #3. Wofford (8-1)stays at #2 after a harder-than-it-should-have-been 10-3 win over Samford. Which means that Delaware (8-1) moves back into #1 after a 48-0 rout of hapless Towson.
Later in the week I'll try to do a post on the new AP rankings and how bad they are compared to mine.
I'm going to a top 25 this week, so that I can squeeze in some of theirs that I wouldn't ordinarily rank. One of those is the Richmond Spiders, who I give my inaugural 25th spot after they bested former top dog (to borrow a Time Machine term) James Madison 13-10 in OT. JMU got the ball first in OT but ended up with nothing after having to go for it on a 4th-and 30 from the 45. Richmond goes to 5-4 in the ultra-tough CAA while JMU loses their 5th in 6 games to drop to 4-5. Another one that the AP ranks week after week, and I finally let into the top 20 last week, is New Hampshire (that aforementioned AP #8) who lost to my boys from William AND Mary 13-3. UNH drops to 5-4 and falls from 17 to 24th; the Tribe raises its record to 7-2 and move up from 8th to 6th.
Another of those I might never have found a home for otherwise (mainly because of the crappy league they play in) is Grambling, who gets the first #23 spot after their latest cheap win over Div. II Concordia, AL, 35-0. The Tigers move to 8-1 with the win. Central Arkansas is one of those teams I've been waiting for to get that elusive quality win and they did that with a 49-17 romp on hot-and-cold Texas State. The Bears get #22 with their 6-3 record. The last of the add-ons is yet another team I struggle with because their league, the Ivy League, is clearly the MAC of the FCS. But Penn finally earns some love after pasting a piss-poor Princeton squad (nice alliteration, eh?) 52-10 and gets #21.
I finally get around to ranking an Eastern Washington team(7-2) that clearly the AP (#6) loves more than I, putting them at 20th despite their off week. Part of that is because of UNH's fall; the other I'll explain in two more spots. UMass holds on to its #19 spot with a 39-24 win over Maine, which raises them to 6-3. And in one of those "who's better AP or Chris" matchups, I took it on the chin along with Indiana State, who dropped a 30-20 game to Northern Iowa (6-3), who come in at 18 and allow E. Washington the spot ISU used to have. South Carolina State (7-2) move up one notch to 17th with a 54-14 win over Howard, while North Dakota State (6-3) hold at 16th on a 20-6 win over Southern Illinois.
Stephen F. Austin (7-2), fresh off their meltdown to the previously mentioned Texas St., blow out Nichols St. 48-13 to hold at 15th; SE Missouri State (9-1) also hold their 14th slot after whupping Div. II Southwest Baptist 40-14. Villanova is back out of the top ten and down to 13th after they (that #3 team) lose to Rhode Island 17-14 and fall to 6-3. Dayton (8-1) struggled mightily against a far inferior Drake team (OK, not that inferior) who had erased a 24-14 deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 25-24 lead with under a minute-and-a-half to go; but the Flyers score on a 37-yd pass with 1 second left to pull out a 31-25 win, and keep last week's #12 spot. Robert Morris (8-1), who gets minimal love from the AP to this point, beat a tough Central Connecticut State team 42-24 to move up 2 to 11th.
Montana State (8-2) ease up one into the top ten with a 24-10 win over feisty Weber State. Western Illinois (6-3) takes a week off and stays at 9th. AP's #2 team, previously unbeaten Jacksonville State, drops to 8-1 and from 5th to 8th after a 49-37 trouncing by Eastern Kentucky. Jacksonville (9-1) ceased its streak of obliterating opponents, but still holds at 7 with a 24-16 victory over Butler (of all people). And as I mentioned, William AND Mary move up to #6.
Bethune-Cookman (8-0) is the last remaining undefeated team after a 23-18 win over strong Hampton. Liberty (7-2) holds at 4th with their 40-14 win over Gardiner-Webb; but the bells rang out across the land when Georgia Southern (a former top 20) rose up and downed mighty Appalachian State 21-14 in OT. The Mountaineers drop to 8-1 and down 2 to #3. Wofford (8-1)stays at #2 after a harder-than-it-should-have-been 10-3 win over Samford. Which means that Delaware (8-1) moves back into #1 after a 48-0 rout of hapless Towson.
Later in the week I'll try to do a post on the new AP rankings and how bad they are compared to mine.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Chris' FCS page #7
The big boys were kind to me this week and all of the games that were going to affect my chart are already over. I'm going to work in last week's AP rankings as I go along, along with updated records, which I've been too lazy to do previously.
Appalachian St. (8-0, 1st) remains number one with a 37-26 win over Furman. However, Liberty does not remain number two; I flipped them and last week's #4 Wofford. Wofford (7-1, 10th) cruised past the Citadel 35-0, while Liberty (6-2, 12th) struggled against a 1-7 Presbyterian squad 34-24. In between them remains idle Delaware (7-1, 6th). Also idle and holding their spots were #5 Jacksonville St. (8-0, 2nd) and #6 Bethune-Cookman (7-0, 16th). Jacksonville (8-1, 27th) moves up 1 spot to 7th with a 61-17 rout of Morehead St. that runs their point total to 203-38 in their last 3 games. William and Mary (6-2, 4th) lost their QB on their first drive and had 3 other crucial players leave the game and still almost took down big boy North Carolina, losing 21-17 on a fourth quarter 67-yard run; thus, I only drop them one spot to 8th.
Western Illinois (6-3, 24th) recovers from a close loss last week to top Illinois St. 65-38 and move up 2 to #9. Villanova (6-2, 5th) returns to the top 10 with a 28-7 whipping of Richmond. I drop Montana St. (7-2, 13th) two spots to 11th after a 23-20 OT win over a 1-7 Idaho St. club. Dayton (8-1, 31st) moves up a pair to 12th with a 37-13 win over Davidson; Robert Morris does likewise to 13th, winning 34-11 over Duquesne.
I slide SE Missouri St.(8-1, 11th) down to 14th after a lackluster 24-17 win over Tennessee-Martin. Stephen F. Austin (6-2, 3rd) falls 5 to 15th after one of the great collapses of the year. Leading former top 20 Texas St. 24-0 coming into the 4th quarter, they were stopped on a 4th-and-16 (why do you go for that?) and State drove down for a TD. They miss the xp, 24-6. Three plays into the next drive SFA fumbles, giving State the ball on the SFA 9, from which they soon scored. 2-pt attempt is good, 24-14. After a short drive, SFA has to punt, and State returns it 72 yds for a score(maybe that explains the 4th-and-16?). 24-21. SFA drives downfield, only to have a receiver fumble after a good gain, and State has the ball again. A half-dozen plays later, State puts it in again and takes the lead, 27-24, with 1:10 left in the game. Needing a cherry for the top of the meltdown, SFA drives into long field goal range, but of course misses the 47-yarder with no time left and State wins 27-24.
Idle North Dakota St. (5-3, 22nd) and New Hampshire (5-3, 9th) each hold their spots at 16th and 17th, respectively. South Carolina St. (6-2, 17th) stay alive with a 38-21 win over a lousy Delaware St. team; I move them up one to 18th. Umass (5-3, 18th) re-enters at 19 after winning the Meltdown Bowl, 21-14 over James Madison (a game JMU led 14-3 in the first half), sending the crumbling JMU squad out of the countdown just 4 weeks after being 4-0 and #1. The loss makes four in a row for JMU; Umass rebounded from 2 inexcusably bad defeats that dropped them from the top ten. Finally, I get to give some love to the Indiana St. Sycamores(5-3, 43rd). They played that South Dakota St. team that has gotten votes since they were 1-4 (they started the season 0-4, and won three straight to become a minor media darling) and whupped them 41-30 to come into my list at #20.
In addition to luckless JMU, Montana (6-3,7th) gives up a spot at the round table after losing 30-21 to Weber St., who almost got that last spot, but after all I am a Hoosier. The lightweights that I don't rank and they do include #8 Eastern Washington, #14 Richmond,#19 Northern Iowa, and #20 Cal Poly. Eastern Washington is a close thing, as are the Iowans, but Richmond has been unable to beat the big teams in their conference, and Cal Poly has only a close game against struggling Montana to recommend it.
Appalachian St. (8-0, 1st) remains number one with a 37-26 win over Furman. However, Liberty does not remain number two; I flipped them and last week's #4 Wofford. Wofford (7-1, 10th) cruised past the Citadel 35-0, while Liberty (6-2, 12th) struggled against a 1-7 Presbyterian squad 34-24. In between them remains idle Delaware (7-1, 6th). Also idle and holding their spots were #5 Jacksonville St. (8-0, 2nd) and #6 Bethune-Cookman (7-0, 16th). Jacksonville (8-1, 27th) moves up 1 spot to 7th with a 61-17 rout of Morehead St. that runs their point total to 203-38 in their last 3 games. William and Mary (6-2, 4th) lost their QB on their first drive and had 3 other crucial players leave the game and still almost took down big boy North Carolina, losing 21-17 on a fourth quarter 67-yard run; thus, I only drop them one spot to 8th.
Western Illinois (6-3, 24th) recovers from a close loss last week to top Illinois St. 65-38 and move up 2 to #9. Villanova (6-2, 5th) returns to the top 10 with a 28-7 whipping of Richmond. I drop Montana St. (7-2, 13th) two spots to 11th after a 23-20 OT win over a 1-7 Idaho St. club. Dayton (8-1, 31st) moves up a pair to 12th with a 37-13 win over Davidson; Robert Morris does likewise to 13th, winning 34-11 over Duquesne.
I slide SE Missouri St.(8-1, 11th) down to 14th after a lackluster 24-17 win over Tennessee-Martin. Stephen F. Austin (6-2, 3rd) falls 5 to 15th after one of the great collapses of the year. Leading former top 20 Texas St. 24-0 coming into the 4th quarter, they were stopped on a 4th-and-16 (why do you go for that?) and State drove down for a TD. They miss the xp, 24-6. Three plays into the next drive SFA fumbles, giving State the ball on the SFA 9, from which they soon scored. 2-pt attempt is good, 24-14. After a short drive, SFA has to punt, and State returns it 72 yds for a score(maybe that explains the 4th-and-16?). 24-21. SFA drives downfield, only to have a receiver fumble after a good gain, and State has the ball again. A half-dozen plays later, State puts it in again and takes the lead, 27-24, with 1:10 left in the game. Needing a cherry for the top of the meltdown, SFA drives into long field goal range, but of course misses the 47-yarder with no time left and State wins 27-24.
Idle North Dakota St. (5-3, 22nd) and New Hampshire (5-3, 9th) each hold their spots at 16th and 17th, respectively. South Carolina St. (6-2, 17th) stay alive with a 38-21 win over a lousy Delaware St. team; I move them up one to 18th. Umass (5-3, 18th) re-enters at 19 after winning the Meltdown Bowl, 21-14 over James Madison (a game JMU led 14-3 in the first half), sending the crumbling JMU squad out of the countdown just 4 weeks after being 4-0 and #1. The loss makes four in a row for JMU; Umass rebounded from 2 inexcusably bad defeats that dropped them from the top ten. Finally, I get to give some love to the Indiana St. Sycamores(5-3, 43rd). They played that South Dakota St. team that has gotten votes since they were 1-4 (they started the season 0-4, and won three straight to become a minor media darling) and whupped them 41-30 to come into my list at #20.
In addition to luckless JMU, Montana (6-3,7th) gives up a spot at the round table after losing 30-21 to Weber St., who almost got that last spot, but after all I am a Hoosier. The lightweights that I don't rank and they do include #8 Eastern Washington, #14 Richmond,#19 Northern Iowa, and #20 Cal Poly. Eastern Washington is a close thing, as are the Iowans, but Richmond has been unable to beat the big teams in their conference, and Cal Poly has only a close game against struggling Montana to recommend it.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
FCS, eurohockey, and etc.
Before I start my beloved sports page, I thought I'd note that Scrappy and I saw the fox again Friday. He was running down the main trail all the way around a bend and out of sight. We went on to explore that previously unexplored north side of the creek. Scrappy actually climbed down a rock and jumped into the water! He waded around, drinking and splashing, until I asked him what he was doing and he discovered he wasn't quite sure how he was getting out. Today we found an easy way out of the back trail from Scrappy's landing, and discovered a large roll of fence. If we ever need it, we'll just have to figure a way to get it out that doesn't involve a crane, chopper, or bulldozer.
I find I have to submit this week, at least, to the AP choice for number one. Delaware loses the top spot after losing a desperate winner-take-all battle with William and Mary, 17-16, and drops to 3rd. Appalachian St. assumes the top spot with a 37-14 rout of Western Carolina. Liberty was idle and holds onto the second spot, as does #4 Wofford (28-21 over Elon), #5 Jacksonville St. (56-3 over Austin Peay), and #6 Bethune-Cookman (23-10 over NC Central). The Tribe of William and Mary move from 10 to 7 with their win over #1; and Jacksonville gets a little more love after a 56-14 win over Marist(which gives them a 2-week total of 142-21) and jumps 6 notches to #8. Montana St. (37-35 over Northern Colorado) and SF Austin (31-28 over Sam Houston St.) each drop a notch, to 9 and 10 respectively, after lackluster wins. Idle Western Illinois holds at 11th; Villanova moves up a spot to 12 after a tough 14-7 win over rapidly dropping James Madison, who fall 11 spots to 18th just 2 weeks after being #1. SE Missouri St. rises 4 to 13th with a 41-20 rout of Eastern Kentucky; Dayton up 2 to 14th after topping Campbell 41-23; Robert Morris takes a week off and holds at 15th. North Dakota St. wins a 27-15 game against surprisingly tough Indiana St. to climb 2 spots to 16th. New Hampshire enters the count this week at 17 after knocking swiftly imploding UMass out of the list, 39-13. South Carolina St. leapfrogs Montana with a 17-7 win over previously 5-1 Hampton, while Montana pulls out a last second 24-21 win over stubborn Northern Arizona to hang on to 20th. Next week, William and Mary finally face their big-boy game against North Carolina; Appalachian (Furman), 'Nova (Richmond), and Western Illinois (Illinois St.) all face tough opponents, and the two poster children for self destruction, James Madison and UMass, play each other in a game somebody has to win.
Euro hockey updates:
UK: Defending playoff champ Belfast Giants lead the EIHL with a 12-1-1 record, 7 pts up on 2nd place Nottingham.
France(Ligue Magnus): The season is just 3 games in; defending champ Rouen is one of 4 teams with 6 pts.
Italy: Serie A has Valpusteria 6 out in front of 2009-10 regular season champ Renon; playoff champ Asiago is 13 back.
Switzerland: The Kloten Flyers lead National League A by 8 over EV Zug; SC Bern is in 4th.
Austria: KAC Klagenfurt leads the Erste-bank Liga by 2 over VSV Villach; defending champ Red Bull Salzburg is third 6 pts back.
Germany: Defending champ Hanover Scorpions lead the DEL by 2 pts over Adler Mannheim; the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams are 3rd, 3 points out.
Czech Rep.: HC Mountfield (out of Ceske Budejovice; sponsor Mountfield is Europe's largest lawn mower manufacturer) leads the Extraliga by 1 point over defending playoff champ Vitkovice Steel and Ocelasi Trinec; last year's best regular season teams, Slavia Praha and Eaton Pardubice, are mired in mid-pack, as is almost-KHL member Karlovy Vary.
Slovakia: Slovak Extraliga 2009-10 champ HC Kosice leads HC 05 Banska Bystrica by 6 pts; regular season winner last year Slovan Bratislava also is stuck in mid-pack, along with the other almost-KHL team, HC Poprad.
Norway: The 2 teams that played for the 2009-10 GET-Ligaen crown are 2nd and 3rd right now; Sparta Sarpsborg leads runner up Stavenger Oilers by 3 and champ Valerenga HC by 4.
Denmark: As expected, defending champ SonderjsykE are running away with the AL Bank-Ligaen by 10 points over Blue Fox Herning.
Sweden: Lulea leads the Eliteserien by 6 points over Linkoping; again, the more prominent members of the league (many of which had threatened to bolt the league for the KHL last spring) are mired in mid-pack.
Finland(S-M Liga): JYP Jyvaskyla leads HIFK Helsinki by 4 pts; the incredible news is that 2009-10 playoff champ TPS Turku are 0-13-3!
Russia: KHL East is led by the merged UHC Dynamo Moscow team by 3 over surprising Severstal Cherpovets; 5 teams are within 6 points, including my 5th-place Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The West is headed by an equally surprising pair: Metallurg Magnitogorsk holds the league's best record and a 4 point lead over Avangard Omsk. Also shockingly, the 3rd place team is the one new team that actually made the trip to the KHL- Yugra- 6 points back. KC's Neftekhimik team is 5 points ahead of the next team in the battle for the last playoff spot and 8 behind 7th place Sibir.
Asia League: Korea's Anyang Halla, the defending champs, lead two Japanese teams, Oji Eagles and Tohoku Free Blades, by 2 points; the single Chinese entry, China Dragons, have one OT loss and 8 losses in 9 games. At least the website is working now.
I find I have to submit this week, at least, to the AP choice for number one. Delaware loses the top spot after losing a desperate winner-take-all battle with William and Mary, 17-16, and drops to 3rd. Appalachian St. assumes the top spot with a 37-14 rout of Western Carolina. Liberty was idle and holds onto the second spot, as does #4 Wofford (28-21 over Elon), #5 Jacksonville St. (56-3 over Austin Peay), and #6 Bethune-Cookman (23-10 over NC Central). The Tribe of William and Mary move from 10 to 7 with their win over #1; and Jacksonville gets a little more love after a 56-14 win over Marist(which gives them a 2-week total of 142-21) and jumps 6 notches to #8. Montana St. (37-35 over Northern Colorado) and SF Austin (31-28 over Sam Houston St.) each drop a notch, to 9 and 10 respectively, after lackluster wins. Idle Western Illinois holds at 11th; Villanova moves up a spot to 12 after a tough 14-7 win over rapidly dropping James Madison, who fall 11 spots to 18th just 2 weeks after being #1. SE Missouri St. rises 4 to 13th with a 41-20 rout of Eastern Kentucky; Dayton up 2 to 14th after topping Campbell 41-23; Robert Morris takes a week off and holds at 15th. North Dakota St. wins a 27-15 game against surprisingly tough Indiana St. to climb 2 spots to 16th. New Hampshire enters the count this week at 17 after knocking swiftly imploding UMass out of the list, 39-13. South Carolina St. leapfrogs Montana with a 17-7 win over previously 5-1 Hampton, while Montana pulls out a last second 24-21 win over stubborn Northern Arizona to hang on to 20th. Next week, William and Mary finally face their big-boy game against North Carolina; Appalachian (Furman), 'Nova (Richmond), and Western Illinois (Illinois St.) all face tough opponents, and the two poster children for self destruction, James Madison and UMass, play each other in a game somebody has to win.
Euro hockey updates:
UK: Defending playoff champ Belfast Giants lead the EIHL with a 12-1-1 record, 7 pts up on 2nd place Nottingham.
France(Ligue Magnus): The season is just 3 games in; defending champ Rouen is one of 4 teams with 6 pts.
Italy: Serie A has Valpusteria 6 out in front of 2009-10 regular season champ Renon; playoff champ Asiago is 13 back.
Switzerland: The Kloten Flyers lead National League A by 8 over EV Zug; SC Bern is in 4th.
Austria: KAC Klagenfurt leads the Erste-bank Liga by 2 over VSV Villach; defending champ Red Bull Salzburg is third 6 pts back.
Germany: Defending champ Hanover Scorpions lead the DEL by 2 pts over Adler Mannheim; the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams are 3rd, 3 points out.
Czech Rep.: HC Mountfield (out of Ceske Budejovice; sponsor Mountfield is Europe's largest lawn mower manufacturer) leads the Extraliga by 1 point over defending playoff champ Vitkovice Steel and Ocelasi Trinec; last year's best regular season teams, Slavia Praha and Eaton Pardubice, are mired in mid-pack, as is almost-KHL member Karlovy Vary.
Slovakia: Slovak Extraliga 2009-10 champ HC Kosice leads HC 05 Banska Bystrica by 6 pts; regular season winner last year Slovan Bratislava also is stuck in mid-pack, along with the other almost-KHL team, HC Poprad.
Norway: The 2 teams that played for the 2009-10 GET-Ligaen crown are 2nd and 3rd right now; Sparta Sarpsborg leads runner up Stavenger Oilers by 3 and champ Valerenga HC by 4.
Denmark: As expected, defending champ SonderjsykE are running away with the AL Bank-Ligaen by 10 points over Blue Fox Herning.
Sweden: Lulea leads the Eliteserien by 6 points over Linkoping; again, the more prominent members of the league (many of which had threatened to bolt the league for the KHL last spring) are mired in mid-pack.
Finland(S-M Liga): JYP Jyvaskyla leads HIFK Helsinki by 4 pts; the incredible news is that 2009-10 playoff champ TPS Turku are 0-13-3!
Russia: KHL East is led by the merged UHC Dynamo Moscow team by 3 over surprising Severstal Cherpovets; 5 teams are within 6 points, including my 5th-place Lokomotiv Yaroslavl. The West is headed by an equally surprising pair: Metallurg Magnitogorsk holds the league's best record and a 4 point lead over Avangard Omsk. Also shockingly, the 3rd place team is the one new team that actually made the trip to the KHL- Yugra- 6 points back. KC's Neftekhimik team is 5 points ahead of the next team in the battle for the last playoff spot and 8 behind 7th place Sibir.
Asia League: Korea's Anyang Halla, the defending champs, lead two Japanese teams, Oji Eagles and Tohoku Free Blades, by 2 points; the single Chinese entry, China Dragons, have one OT loss and 8 losses in 9 games. At least the website is working now.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Chris' FCS page #5
I found it hard to believe how un-seriously the AP voters take the FCS. Someone gave South Dakota State a vote after their upset of then#5 Western Illinois last week- despite the glaring fact that it was their first win against 4 losses. In fact, 6 teams with losing records totalled 297 votes- more than the 14th ranked team. By contrast, serious voters in the CBSSports 120 for FBS teams didn't hit a losing team until its 48th spot. I'm calling you out FCS football voters- get serious or resign your vote! A little professionalism would go a long way, and all you seem to have is a little.
Anyway, here's the better top twenty. Delaware goes to 7-0 with a 24-17 win over URI and holds onto the top spot. Liberty moves into the second slot after a 41-7 rout of VMI, up 2 spots. I moved media darling Appalachian St. into 3rd, up 3, after a 39-10 trouncing of the Citadel. Wofford follows them into fourth, turning a struggle early into a 45-14 romp over Western Carolina. Jacksonville St. also followed them up 3 notches to 5 with a 24-0 blanking of Tennessee St.
Bethune-Cookman vs South Carolina St. was kinda the game that would show if I was any good at this or not, as we discussed last week. I was vindicated when the 16th ranked B-Cs beat the 13th ranked Staters 14-0, which moves B-C into 6th and State down to 20th. The air continues to leak out of James Madison, as they fall 28-14 to New Hampshire for their second straight loss and they drop from 2nd to 7th. Montana State falls from 3 to 8 after an embarrassing 34-7 loss to Northern Arizona. When you dance with the devil as much as they have, I guess it's not surprising.
Stephen F. Austin recovered from their near thing against McNeese last week with a 30-7 pasting of a decent Central Arkansas team, and move into the top ten at #9. William and Mary take their week off, so I leave them at 10th. Western Illinois shakes off the aforementioned loss to South Dakota St. - kinda- edging Youngstown St. in a nailbiter 40-38. UMass tumbles 3 to #12 after an 11-10 loss to the Richmond Spiders; and Villanova moves up to 13th with a 48-18 ripping of Maine.
Jacksonville has hung low because they have a tendency to play close, high scoring games. Not so this week as they rip Valparaiso (who nobody plays a close game against), rolling to a 63-7 lead AT THE HALF and a 86-7 final. This was good enough to move them up 5 to 14th. Robert Morris was also impressive, moving up to 15 after a 38-0 blanking of Albany. Dayton started out sluggish but recovered to top Butler 33-13 and climb 2 into 16th. Southeast Missouri St. joins the club this week with a 41-24 win over Austin Peay; they replace Georgia Southern, who lose their second straight, 35-27 to Chattanooga. North Dakota State loses to Illinois St. 34-24 and drop from 5th to 18th; and Montana avoided dropping out yet again on a FG with 23 seconds left to top Portland St. 23-21. The win kept them hanging on at 19th.
Next week's big games include #1 Delaware vs #10 William and Mary, and #9 Stephen F. Austin facing conference and state rival Sam Houston St. (4-2). Also, Montana takes their turn with the slayers of their state rival, Northern Arizona.
Anyway, here's the better top twenty. Delaware goes to 7-0 with a 24-17 win over URI and holds onto the top spot. Liberty moves into the second slot after a 41-7 rout of VMI, up 2 spots. I moved media darling Appalachian St. into 3rd, up 3, after a 39-10 trouncing of the Citadel. Wofford follows them into fourth, turning a struggle early into a 45-14 romp over Western Carolina. Jacksonville St. also followed them up 3 notches to 5 with a 24-0 blanking of Tennessee St.
Bethune-Cookman vs South Carolina St. was kinda the game that would show if I was any good at this or not, as we discussed last week. I was vindicated when the 16th ranked B-Cs beat the 13th ranked Staters 14-0, which moves B-C into 6th and State down to 20th. The air continues to leak out of James Madison, as they fall 28-14 to New Hampshire for their second straight loss and they drop from 2nd to 7th. Montana State falls from 3 to 8 after an embarrassing 34-7 loss to Northern Arizona. When you dance with the devil as much as they have, I guess it's not surprising.
Stephen F. Austin recovered from their near thing against McNeese last week with a 30-7 pasting of a decent Central Arkansas team, and move into the top ten at #9. William and Mary take their week off, so I leave them at 10th. Western Illinois shakes off the aforementioned loss to South Dakota St. - kinda- edging Youngstown St. in a nailbiter 40-38. UMass tumbles 3 to #12 after an 11-10 loss to the Richmond Spiders; and Villanova moves up to 13th with a 48-18 ripping of Maine.
Jacksonville has hung low because they have a tendency to play close, high scoring games. Not so this week as they rip Valparaiso (who nobody plays a close game against), rolling to a 63-7 lead AT THE HALF and a 86-7 final. This was good enough to move them up 5 to 14th. Robert Morris was also impressive, moving up to 15 after a 38-0 blanking of Albany. Dayton started out sluggish but recovered to top Butler 33-13 and climb 2 into 16th. Southeast Missouri St. joins the club this week with a 41-24 win over Austin Peay; they replace Georgia Southern, who lose their second straight, 35-27 to Chattanooga. North Dakota State loses to Illinois St. 34-24 and drop from 5th to 18th; and Montana avoided dropping out yet again on a FG with 23 seconds left to top Portland St. 23-21. The win kept them hanging on at 19th.
Next week's big games include #1 Delaware vs #10 William and Mary, and #9 Stephen F. Austin facing conference and state rival Sam Houston St. (4-2). Also, Montana takes their turn with the slayers of their state rival, Northern Arizona.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Chris' FCS page #4
On a week where the FBS shook with the losses to #s 1, 9, 14, and the routs of #s 13 and 18, I bring you the relative tranquility of this weeks FCS football. I was looking at my ratings vs the coaches poll. The 10 teams in their top 25 not in my top twenty have a combined record of 29-26; the five teams in my top 20 not in their top 25 are 24-5. Go figure.
The top three hold the same this week. Delaware (their #2) retains #1 with a 26-7 pasting of Maine; James Madison (their #6) stays at 2 with a narrow 17-13 win over Towson; and Montana St. (their #10) holds onto 3rd with another shootout win, 44-31 over Portland St. The next 4 spots are climbers. Liberty (26) goes up to 4 with a 44-20 romp on Charleston Southern; North Dakota St. (17) moves up to 5 with a 34-29 win vs tough Youngstown St.; Appalachian St. (their #1) moves into 6th after a desperate 34-31 battle with hard luck Elon; and Wofford(25), who moved into my countdown with an upset of #16 last week, climbs 6 spots to 7 with a 33-31 classic win over last weeks' #5 Georgia Southern (13), who then drops to 11th.
Jacksonville St. (3) and UMass (8) hold their spots at 8 and 9 on my chart; William and Mary (5) move into the top ten at 10 after a 26-7 rout of URI. Western Illinois (15), who vaulted to 4th last week with a win over then #2 N. Dakota St., plummet to 12th after losing to previously winless South Dakota St., prompting them to abandon their invasion of the Dakotas; South Carolina St.(12), who were a victim of the numbers game last week, move back up to 16th with a 34-13 win over Norfolk St. Stephen F. Austin (their #4) slips a pair with a last minute 32-27 win over McNeese St.; and Villanova (7), taking a week off after their beatdown by William and Mary last week, hold at 15th.
Four of my last 5 teams rank no higher than 31st on the coaches poll. Coming in at 16th is undefeated Bethune-Cookman (42), fresh off a rout of winless Delaware St.; Montana (12) whops hapless Idaho St. 30-7 to climb to 17th; the Dayton Flyers (45) enter at 18th after a narrow 21-20 win over doormat San Diego; Jacksonville (31) slips to 19th after a 39-34 slugfest with Drake; and Robert Morris (43) catches hold of the last spot on the way down after edging Monmouth 17-16. South Dakota (3-3, last week's 11th) and Texas State (3-2, 20th) drop out after sustaining losses to teams they should've beat this week.
Scanning the schedule next week, it looks like the Armageddon matchup will be #16 Bethune-Cookman and #13 South Carolina State. Since this game would be #42 vs #12 on the coaches poll, I guess it will tell us how good I really am.
The top three hold the same this week. Delaware (their #2) retains #1 with a 26-7 pasting of Maine; James Madison (their #6) stays at 2 with a narrow 17-13 win over Towson; and Montana St. (their #10) holds onto 3rd with another shootout win, 44-31 over Portland St. The next 4 spots are climbers. Liberty (26) goes up to 4 with a 44-20 romp on Charleston Southern; North Dakota St. (17) moves up to 5 with a 34-29 win vs tough Youngstown St.; Appalachian St. (their #1) moves into 6th after a desperate 34-31 battle with hard luck Elon; and Wofford(25), who moved into my countdown with an upset of #16 last week, climbs 6 spots to 7 with a 33-31 classic win over last weeks' #5 Georgia Southern (13), who then drops to 11th.
Jacksonville St. (3) and UMass (8) hold their spots at 8 and 9 on my chart; William and Mary (5) move into the top ten at 10 after a 26-7 rout of URI. Western Illinois (15), who vaulted to 4th last week with a win over then #2 N. Dakota St., plummet to 12th after losing to previously winless South Dakota St., prompting them to abandon their invasion of the Dakotas; South Carolina St.(12), who were a victim of the numbers game last week, move back up to 16th with a 34-13 win over Norfolk St. Stephen F. Austin (their #4) slips a pair with a last minute 32-27 win over McNeese St.; and Villanova (7), taking a week off after their beatdown by William and Mary last week, hold at 15th.
Four of my last 5 teams rank no higher than 31st on the coaches poll. Coming in at 16th is undefeated Bethune-Cookman (42), fresh off a rout of winless Delaware St.; Montana (12) whops hapless Idaho St. 30-7 to climb to 17th; the Dayton Flyers (45) enter at 18th after a narrow 21-20 win over doormat San Diego; Jacksonville (31) slips to 19th after a 39-34 slugfest with Drake; and Robert Morris (43) catches hold of the last spot on the way down after edging Monmouth 17-16. South Dakota (3-3, last week's 11th) and Texas State (3-2, 20th) drop out after sustaining losses to teams they should've beat this week.
Scanning the schedule next week, it looks like the Armageddon matchup will be #16 Bethune-Cookman and #13 South Carolina State. Since this game would be #42 vs #12 on the coaches poll, I guess it will tell us how good I really am.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Chris' FCS page #3
I've gotten confident enough at this that I'm using my point system as a basic structure, and making adjustments according to my judgement. Eh, it's not life and death, right? And it's still better than the official chart. Their #1 last week was my 11th; their #2 (who got beat today, BTW) was my 10th; their #3 was my number one- annnd...
A matchup of #1 vs #3 saw Delaware beat James Madison 13-10; thus, Delaware rises into my top spot, with JMU sliding 1 down to the 2nd spot. What happened to the old #2? They got beat by the old #7. Western Illinois toppled North Dakota St. 28-16
; Western moves into the 4 slot, while ND ST falls to 7. Montana State moves into #3, up 1, after a 64-61 OT win over Sacremento St.- a game they led 37-10 at the half, and trailed 45-44 after three quarters. Georgia Southern had the week off and stayed at #5.
Liberty moves up 2 to #6 after an impressive 52-14 win over Savannah St.; while Jacksonville St. posted a less than impressive 40-34 win over Murray St.- a 16 point lead whittled to 6 in the last 4 minutes and change- and drops to 8th. UMass holds the #9 slot after their 27-14 win over Towson. Appalachian St. moves into the top ten at 10 despite being idle this week. South Dakota beat rival North Dakota 27-17 to climb a spot to 11; Stephen F. Austin does likewise to 12th despite a week off.
Wofford comes in at 13th after routing former #16 Furman 38-17; William and Mary move up 4 to 14th with a 31-24 win over the Official #2 (my # 10) Villanova. 'Nova drops then to 15th; the climb of Wofford and W&M pushes South Carolina St. down one to 16th despite a 19-0 win over Florida A&M. Jacksonville U. holds at 17th after a 35-28 win over San Diego. Robert Morris climbs one to 19th on a 35-14 rout of St. Francis PA; Montana moves back up one to 19th with a 30-7 romp on Northern Colorado; and the top 20 gets rounded out by idle newcomer Texas St.
And there you have it. Remember here at TAW, we give it to ya straight, because no one else does it right!
A matchup of #1 vs #3 saw Delaware beat James Madison 13-10; thus, Delaware rises into my top spot, with JMU sliding 1 down to the 2nd spot. What happened to the old #2? They got beat by the old #7. Western Illinois toppled North Dakota St. 28-16
; Western moves into the 4 slot, while ND ST falls to 7. Montana State moves into #3, up 1, after a 64-61 OT win over Sacremento St.- a game they led 37-10 at the half, and trailed 45-44 after three quarters. Georgia Southern had the week off and stayed at #5.Liberty moves up 2 to #6 after an impressive 52-14 win over Savannah St.; while Jacksonville St. posted a less than impressive 40-34 win over Murray St.- a 16 point lead whittled to 6 in the last 4 minutes and change- and drops to 8th. UMass holds the #9 slot after their 27-14 win over Towson. Appalachian St. moves into the top ten at 10 despite being idle this week. South Dakota beat rival North Dakota 27-17 to climb a spot to 11; Stephen F. Austin does likewise to 12th despite a week off.
Wofford comes in at 13th after routing former #16 Furman 38-17; William and Mary move up 4 to 14th with a 31-24 win over the Official #2 (my # 10) Villanova. 'Nova drops then to 15th; the climb of Wofford and W&M pushes South Carolina St. down one to 16th despite a 19-0 win over Florida A&M. Jacksonville U. holds at 17th after a 35-28 win over San Diego. Robert Morris climbs one to 19th on a 35-14 rout of St. Francis PA; Montana moves back up one to 19th with a 30-7 romp on Northern Colorado; and the top 20 gets rounded out by idle newcomer Texas St.
And there you have it. Remember here at TAW, we give it to ya straight, because no one else does it right!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
FCS this weekend
With a little more info and a little more knowledge, I can now make a top 20 for the FCS football, and this expansion means that teams I missed last time will be added this time. So without further ado...
James Madison remains numero uno with a 10-3 victory over LW#6 Liberty. Second is North Dakota State after a 38-16 rout of LW #3 South Dakota. Liberty will drop 2 to #8, while South Dakota slips all the way to #12.
Delaware beats up on former powerhouse Richmond 34-13 to go 4-0 and climb to #3. Montana St. routed LW#14 Eastern Washington 30-7 to move up to #4. I moved previously unnoticed Georgia Southern into the #5 slot after they rolled over LW#12 Elon 38-21, which means Jacksonville St. slips all the way to 6 after a lackluster 28-23 win over Eastern Illinois.
Another team I slighted last week, Western Illinois, I put into the #7 slot notwithstanding their 40-7 rout of perennial noodle Indiana St. The next 3 teams after Liberty, UMass (3-1), Villanova (3-1), and Appalachian St. (4-0), all get squeezed down a notch. #9 UMass had a snoozy 26-21 win over Stony Brook; #10 'Nova (the official #1 coming in) waited until the last 5 minutes to put together a 22-10 win over crosstown rival Penn; and App St. beat up on lowly Samford 35-17.
That brings us to #13 Stephen F. Austin, who blasted local doormat Lamar 17-0 (in the first quarter), 21-3 (in the second quarter), 33-0 (in the third quarter, 21 of that in the last 6:40), and 71-3 overall. Another team that got slighted was Youngstown St., which I put in at #14 after a 31-28 win over Southern Illinois (who was in the official top 5 last week despite being 1-2 coming in). South Carolina St. (2-1) took the week off, and slip to 15th for the privilege. Furman (2-1) comes in at 16th, having been on last weeks' official chart, and posting a 31-14 over The Citadel (who always sounds much more impressive than they really are). Also coming in new this week is Jacksonville U (3-1), with a 42-15 rout of Davidson.
William and Mary (3-1) show up at 18 despite a hard fought 24-21 win over Maine, in which they came back from 14-3 at the half and 21-17 with under 5 minutes left. Rounding out the list is #19 Robert Morris (3-1), who rolled over Wagner 30-9; and #20 Montana (2-2), who reached .500 with a less than impressive 28-25 win over Sacramento St.
James Madison remains numero uno with a 10-3 victory over LW#6 Liberty. Second is North Dakota State after a 38-16 rout of LW #3 South Dakota. Liberty will drop 2 to #8, while South Dakota slips all the way to #12.
Delaware beats up on former powerhouse Richmond 34-13 to go 4-0 and climb to #3. Montana St. routed LW#14 Eastern Washington 30-7 to move up to #4. I moved previously unnoticed Georgia Southern into the #5 slot after they rolled over LW#12 Elon 38-21, which means Jacksonville St. slips all the way to 6 after a lackluster 28-23 win over Eastern Illinois.
Another team I slighted last week, Western Illinois, I put into the #7 slot notwithstanding their 40-7 rout of perennial noodle Indiana St. The next 3 teams after Liberty, UMass (3-1), Villanova (3-1), and Appalachian St. (4-0), all get squeezed down a notch. #9 UMass had a snoozy 26-21 win over Stony Brook; #10 'Nova (the official #1 coming in) waited until the last 5 minutes to put together a 22-10 win over crosstown rival Penn; and App St. beat up on lowly Samford 35-17.
That brings us to #13 Stephen F. Austin, who blasted local doormat Lamar 17-0 (in the first quarter), 21-3 (in the second quarter), 33-0 (in the third quarter, 21 of that in the last 6:40), and 71-3 overall. Another team that got slighted was Youngstown St., which I put in at #14 after a 31-28 win over Southern Illinois (who was in the official top 5 last week despite being 1-2 coming in). South Carolina St. (2-1) took the week off, and slip to 15th for the privilege. Furman (2-1) comes in at 16th, having been on last weeks' official chart, and posting a 31-14 over The Citadel (who always sounds much more impressive than they really are). Also coming in new this week is Jacksonville U (3-1), with a 42-15 rout of Davidson.
William and Mary (3-1) show up at 18 despite a hard fought 24-21 win over Maine, in which they came back from 14-3 at the half and 21-17 with under 5 minutes left. Rounding out the list is #19 Robert Morris (3-1), who rolled over Wagner 30-9; and #20 Montana (2-2), who reached .500 with a less than impressive 28-25 win over Sacramento St.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Chris' FCS page
This story starts out three years ago. As KC and I watched college football, we had fun with a team named William and Mary. They play in the Football Championship Subdivision, which is NCAA for "the teams that aren't big enough to warrant bowl games, and have a playoff to determine their champions". Last year I decided to follow Wm & Mary after they upset Football Bowl Subdivision (NCAA for, "the big boys") member Virginia in their opener. This was a couple seasons after Appalachian St. (also FCS) upset Michigan in that much ballyhooed game. Actually managed to watch a couple of their games, as they ended up ranked 4th and losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Villanova.
When I would check on their national ranking on CBSSports.com (which otherwise is the best general sports site) I would find that their ranking had them listed by abbreviations ( i.e. W&M, App, Vil) which you often couldn't tell who's who. Last year, at least, you could click the name and get a team page that had their names and schedules, if no news like the big boys. This year, on the new improved CBSSports.com, you can still click the link, but it takes you to a page with NO info. So I finally fought my way through the NCAA site, only to question their poll. Why? Well, for one thing, the 5th through 9th teams have one win and 2 losses, and the #20 is 0-2! So, I looked at the factors that led to this(i.e. that they all play a certain amount of big boy teams; the poll is heavily skewed to the bigger conferences-16 of the top 25 come from 4 conferences, and 10 come from just 2- and the conference mates tend to beat each other up; a tendency of the voters to name recognition rather than quality of results), and decided I could do better.
Thus, I came up with a rather ill-defined point system based on how they fared against a) big boy teams, b) teams at their level of assumed quality, and c) "guys they should have beat". This gave me a workable framework which, while not perfect, is better than the "official" rankings. Here then is my first FCS top 15 (my one caveat to my non-expertness is that I'm only including teams in the official top 25).
1. James Madison (2-0, ranked 3 on the "official" poll), Harrisonburg, VA. Member of the Colonial Athletic Conf. They combined the aforementioned upset of #16 big boy VA Tech with a 48-7 rout of Morehead St.
2. Jacksonville State (3-0, #4) Jacksonville, FL, Ohio Valley Conf. Among their wins is a 49-48, 2OT win over Ole Miss.
3.South Dakota (2-1, #25) Vermillion, SD, Great West Conf. They've actually had 2 big boy games, including a 41-38 win over Minnesota.
4. North Dakota State (2-1, #23) Fargo, ND, Missouri Valley Conf. Among their wins is the 6-3 opening upset of Kansas, and their loss was to perennial power Northern Iowa.
5. Delaware (3-0, #11) Newark, DE, Colonial Ath. While they don't have a big boy on the schedule, they have outscored three opponents 87-9.
6. Liberty (2-1, # 15) Lynchburg, VA, Big South Conf. They beat big boy Ball State 27-23, and lost to always tough Robert Morris.
7. Montana State (2-1, #22) Bozeman, MT, Big Sky Conf. Their big boy game was a 23-22 loss to Washington State.
8. UMass (2-1, #16) Amhearst, MA, Colonial Ath. Not only did they top William and Mary in their opener 27-23, but narrowly lost to Michigan 42-37 this weekend.
9.Villanova (2-1, #1) Radnor Township (near Philly), PA, Colonial Ath. Blasted two kids their own size by a combined 78-7, but lost their big boy game to Temple 31-24.
10. Appalaichian State (3-0, #2) Boone, NC, Southern Conf. A couple of easy games weighed down by a narrow 42-41 win vs Chattanooga.
11. Stephen F. Austin (2-1, #10) Nacogdoches, TX, Southland Conf. Blown out in their big boy game 48-7 by Texas A&M and a 22-20 win over Northern Iowa (that knocked NI off my list).
12. Elon (1-2, #7) Elon, NC, Southern Conf. They were competitive in a 41-27 loss to big boy Duke, and lost in OT to Richmond (who just misses my list).
13.South Carolina State (2-1, #14) Orangeburg, SC, Mid- East Athletic Conf. While they lost their big boy game to GA Tech 41-10, they've outscored their other opponents 105-20.
14. Eastern Washington (2-1, #18) Cheney, WA, Big Sky. They were competitive in 49-24 loss to big boy Nevada, and upset "official" #6 Montana 36-27.
15. William and Mary (2-1, #12) Williamsburg, VA, Colonial Ath. Did you think I'd leave them out? Their only loss was the opener to UMass.
And there it is, the first FCS Martin poll.
When I would check on their national ranking on CBSSports.com (which otherwise is the best general sports site) I would find that their ranking had them listed by abbreviations ( i.e. W&M, App, Vil) which you often couldn't tell who's who. Last year, at least, you could click the name and get a team page that had their names and schedules, if no news like the big boys. This year, on the new improved CBSSports.com, you can still click the link, but it takes you to a page with NO info. So I finally fought my way through the NCAA site, only to question their poll. Why? Well, for one thing, the 5th through 9th teams have one win and 2 losses, and the #20 is 0-2! So, I looked at the factors that led to this(i.e. that they all play a certain amount of big boy teams; the poll is heavily skewed to the bigger conferences-16 of the top 25 come from 4 conferences, and 10 come from just 2- and the conference mates tend to beat each other up; a tendency of the voters to name recognition rather than quality of results), and decided I could do better.
Thus, I came up with a rather ill-defined point system based on how they fared against a) big boy teams, b) teams at their level of assumed quality, and c) "guys they should have beat". This gave me a workable framework which, while not perfect, is better than the "official" rankings. Here then is my first FCS top 15 (my one caveat to my non-expertness is that I'm only including teams in the official top 25).
1. James Madison (2-0, ranked 3 on the "official" poll), Harrisonburg, VA. Member of the Colonial Athletic Conf. They combined the aforementioned upset of #16 big boy VA Tech with a 48-7 rout of Morehead St.
2. Jacksonville State (3-0, #4) Jacksonville, FL, Ohio Valley Conf. Among their wins is a 49-48, 2OT win over Ole Miss.
3.South Dakota (2-1, #25) Vermillion, SD, Great West Conf. They've actually had 2 big boy games, including a 41-38 win over Minnesota.
4. North Dakota State (2-1, #23) Fargo, ND, Missouri Valley Conf. Among their wins is the 6-3 opening upset of Kansas, and their loss was to perennial power Northern Iowa.
5. Delaware (3-0, #11) Newark, DE, Colonial Ath. While they don't have a big boy on the schedule, they have outscored three opponents 87-9.
6. Liberty (2-1, # 15) Lynchburg, VA, Big South Conf. They beat big boy Ball State 27-23, and lost to always tough Robert Morris.
7. Montana State (2-1, #22) Bozeman, MT, Big Sky Conf. Their big boy game was a 23-22 loss to Washington State.
8. UMass (2-1, #16) Amhearst, MA, Colonial Ath. Not only did they top William and Mary in their opener 27-23, but narrowly lost to Michigan 42-37 this weekend.
9.Villanova (2-1, #1) Radnor Township (near Philly), PA, Colonial Ath. Blasted two kids their own size by a combined 78-7, but lost their big boy game to Temple 31-24.
10. Appalaichian State (3-0, #2) Boone, NC, Southern Conf. A couple of easy games weighed down by a narrow 42-41 win vs Chattanooga.
11. Stephen F. Austin (2-1, #10) Nacogdoches, TX, Southland Conf. Blown out in their big boy game 48-7 by Texas A&M and a 22-20 win over Northern Iowa (that knocked NI off my list).
12. Elon (1-2, #7) Elon, NC, Southern Conf. They were competitive in a 41-27 loss to big boy Duke, and lost in OT to Richmond (who just misses my list).
13.South Carolina State (2-1, #14) Orangeburg, SC, Mid- East Athletic Conf. While they lost their big boy game to GA Tech 41-10, they've outscored their other opponents 105-20.
14. Eastern Washington (2-1, #18) Cheney, WA, Big Sky. They were competitive in 49-24 loss to big boy Nevada, and upset "official" #6 Montana 36-27.
15. William and Mary (2-1, #12) Williamsburg, VA, Colonial Ath. Did you think I'd leave them out? Their only loss was the opener to UMass.
And there it is, the first FCS Martin poll.
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