TOP 25

Started by short, July 11, 2008, 10:56:29 PM

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Pat Coleman

This is the third or fourth year of the USA Today preseason ranking and each one has either been done by me or Keith or a combination of the two.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

Knightstalker

Quote from: Ron Boerger on July 15, 2008, 12:27:03 PM
I wish I knew why so many of these ratings overrate W&J year in and year out. 

And you notice USAT does not.  Wonder why  ;)

According to the OAC board somebody is smoking crack.   ;D

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Ralph Turner

Quote from: Ron Boerger on July 15, 2008, 12:27:03 PM
I wish I knew why so many of these ratings overrate W&J year in and year out.***

And you notice USAT does not.  Wonder why  ;)
*** Maybe it is an obligatory "shout-out" to W&J and to the Commissioner of the NFL.

:D ;D

K-Mack

So I did my top 25 vote.

Let me just say it was uncertainty top to bottom. I voted for two JV teams in my top 3 (more or less), and two teams I didn't even vote for at the end of last year in my top 11.

Obviously the goal is to stick to what you know, and at the same time try to have some prescience about the whole thing, so I like to lean on teams with lots of players back, especially within one unit.

I think with Mount Union bringing only six starters back total, and Whitewater eight, this is one of the more wide-open years at the top in recent memory. Unfortunately a handful of other elite programs were gutted too, leaving voters to slide some names into the top 10-15 that you might not normally see up there.

I definitely revised it a few times and still didn't feel all that great about it. But that's sort of how it is in the preseason, if you care about getting it right, and there are so many unknowns, you really can't hit the mark.

Anyway, let me just say that I did the best I could with what I know now, but I sure would have liked to have read Kickoff '08 before doing that :)
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short

Quote from: K-Mack on August 04, 2008, 03:59:05 PM
So I did my top 25 vote.


Please share your TOP 25 K-Mack, or maybe the two teams that have made their way from Others receiving votes to top 11.

K-Mack

Quote from: short on August 04, 2008, 10:13:33 PM
Quote from: K-Mack on August 04, 2008, 03:59:05 PM
So I did my top 25 vote.

Please share your TOP 25 K-Mack, or maybe the two teams that have made their way from Others receiving votes to top 11.

I'll have to check with the man on that.

But suffice it to say, despite 23 of the 25 teams in the top 25 being teams I voted for, the group's poll and my ballot aren't all that similar.

I think, historically, the group has a better track record than just me though :)

25 heads are better than one!
Former author, Around the Nation ('01-'13)
Managing Editor, Kickoff
Voter, Top 25/Play of the Week/Gagliardi Trophy/Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year
Nastradamus, Triple Take
and one of the two voices behind the sonic #d3fb nerdery that is the ATN Podcast.

Ralph Turner

Quote from: K-Mack on August 05, 2008, 01:57:17 AM
Quote from: short on August 04, 2008, 10:13:33 PM
Quote from: K-Mack on August 04, 2008, 03:59:05 PM
So I did my top 25 vote.

Please share your TOP 25 K-Mack, or maybe the two teams that have made their way from Others receiving votes to top 11.

I'll have to check with the man on that.
...
Save it for an ATN column!   ;)

HScoach

Wow.  There are some definite surprises.  Biggest of which is Bethel at #5. 
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Pat Coleman

Yeah, that's pretty high for me. I'd like to see them have a quarterback first.
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Quote from: old 40 on September 25, 2007, 08:23:57 PMLet's discuss (sports) in a positive way, sometimes kidding each other with no disrespect.

gordonmann

#24
I was surprised SJU ended up so high.

For what it's worth, I had 23 of the 25 teams on my ballot.  I had RPI and Millsaps instead of Mississippi College and Trinity (TX).

JT

I've got 23 of 25. RPI and Montclair St instead of Miss College and Trinity(TX).  Both Miss College and Trinity are in my top 30. Agree with many of 26-40.

smedindy

I hope that pollsters are kind to SJF after their first game, and remember who they are playing.

Good Top 25 +, but of course, it'll be about week 5-6 for it to all shake out.

Ralph Turner

Quote from: smedindy on August 05, 2008, 10:14:46 PM
I hope that pollsters are kind to SJF after their first game, and remember who they are playing.

Good Top 25 +, but of course, it'll be about week 5-6 for it to all shake out.
#1 should beat #10.  The voters in the Top 25 have always been very just about match-ups between Top 25's.  If SJF executes as a #10, then there won't be any problem.  :)

ADL70

Over at Foxsports.com coulmnist Pete Fiutak asserts that the idea for preseason polls "is to ranks [sic] teams on how good they are going into the season and not where they will end up."

He doesn't explaim what  he means by that, but he compares Ohio St. and SoCal and asks which is "the better team RIGHT NOW?."  I guess that means that you don't consider depth as a factor to lessen the impact of injuries or a team's history of being able to replace departed players with back-ups who may not have played much the previous season or who were even redshirted.

What do d3.com's voters think about that statement?     
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dc_has_been

Quote from: K-Mack on August 04, 2008, 03:59:05 PM
I think with Mount Union bringing only six starters back total, and Whitewater eight, this is one of the more wide-open years at the top in recent memory. Unfortunately a handful of other elite programs were gutted too, leaving voters to slide some names into the top 10-15 that you might not normally see up there.

Even though Mount Union is bringing back a few starters, most of their back ups have probably had the opportunity to see plenty of action on the field.  This is always beneficial for those players to step up into the starting position the next season. 
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