We come in at #28 in USA Today's ranking of all FBS teams!

Arkansas is currently rated at #44.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nca.../15648445/

Yeah, but....

Quote:Three big leaps:

No. 30 East Carolina (No. 48). ECU makes a huge climb for both battling tough with South Carolina two weeks ago and Saturday's impressive victory in Blacksburg.

No. 44 Arkansas (No. 70). It seems as if the Razorbacks are nicely ahead of schedule under second-year coach Bret Bielema.

No. 49 Boston College (No. 89). Steve Addazio and his bunch of dudes ran at will on USC's defense.

Like 0-3 Kent State being ranked above WMU despite WMU solidly beating Idaho on the road (because WMU completely 100% sucked last year)...

... Arkansas also has to crawl from the bottom, so their ranking is going to be lower-than-expected in the first 3-4 weeks. That's why Arkansas is understandably a solid favorite by bettors.

BUT, it's good that NIU doesn't have to start so low, despite Ward & Lynch gone. IF they are able to beat Arkansas -- it's a sign they'll be in the rankings in not too long a time -- especially if Arkansas were to do decent in the SEC afterwards.

Early rankings don't mean much but if we win at Arkansas and get in the top 25 it is good for exposure and polishing the brand.

(09-15-2014 05:18 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  rankings don't mean much

FTFY

(09-15-2014 05:18 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  Early rankings don't mean much but if we win at Arkansas and get in the top 25 it is good for exposure and polishing the brand.

Ive been thinking about this, and I know NIU has had bigger wins in its own seasons like Maryland, Alabama, MACCs. But for solely national perception of the NIU football program, a win @ Arkansas given the circumstances this year would be one of the most important wins in school history in my opinion.

(09-15-2014 06:47 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 05:18 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  Early rankings don't mean much but if we win at Arkansas and get in the top 25 it is good for exposure and polishing the brand.

Ive been thinking about this, and I know NIU has had bigger wins in its own seasons like Maryland, Alabama, MACCs. But for solely national perception of the NIU football program, a win @ Arkansas given the circumstances this year would be one of the most important wins in school history in my opinion.

Agreed, given recent history and us losing a national star in lynch...it reiterates the strength of our program and where we are....that were still here even without JL....especially given it being the one true visible speed bump to a perfect season...


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(09-15-2014 07:12 PM)NIU8484 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 06:47 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 05:18 PM)bikechuck Wrote:  Early rankings don't mean much but if we win at Arkansas and get in the top 25 it is good for exposure and polishing the brand.

Ive been thinking about this, and I know NIU has had bigger wins in its own seasons like Maryland, Alabama, MACCs. But for solely national perception of the NIU football program, a win @ Arkansas given the circumstances this year would be one of the most important wins in school history in my opinion.

Agreed, given recent history and us losing a national star in lynch...it reiterates the strength of our program and where we are....that were still here even without JL....especially given it being the one true visible speed bump to a perfect season...


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Sean Frazier: "Hi It's me again. I meant to call back sooner but we've been pretty busy beating NW, UNLV, and now Arkansas." "Is the Big 12 commissioner available?"

Assistant: "Hold Please." "Sir we have the gentleman that beat an SEC team on line 2. "

Big 12 Commissioner: "Yes pass him through."

If the season ended today and you were using the old BCS system to rank the teams, your college football playoff would have the following seeds

1. Florida State
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. Oregon


Your top G5 team would be East Carolina to the Peach Bowl

BCS Standings for G5 teams:

34) East Carolina 0.0174
37) Marshall 0.0117
40) Cincinatti 0.0055
44) Northern Illinois 0.0022
48) Memphis 0.00043

As a side note, I'll say that going by the BCS rankings this early would be silly -- plus, they won't be paying attention to those at all.

Of course, going by Coaches Polls (since selectors are more tied to athletic admin than being press people), which would be a better reflection of who they'd select, yes, would get the same results. :)

34) East Carolina (44)
36) Marshall (35)
39) Cincinnati (15)
40) NIU (10)
47) Memphis (2)
49) Boise (1)

IF NIU were to beat Arkansas, and Marshall barely edges Akron, and E. Carolina Loses a close one to North Carolina, while Memphis edges Midd Tennesee... (assumed votes just to show disparity):

31) Marshall (46)
32) NIU (44)
38) Cincinnati (19)
43) Memphis (8)
49) E Carolina (1)

(09-16-2014 11:22 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  As a side note, I'll say that going by the BCS rankings this early would be silly -- plus, they won't be paying attention to those at all.

Of course, going by Coaches Polls (since selectors are more tied to athletic admin than being press people), which would be a better reflection of who they'd select, yes, would get the same results. :)

34) East Carolina (44)
36) Marshall (35)
39) Cincinnati (15)
40) NIU (10)
47) Memphis (2)
49) Boise (1)

IF NIU were to beat Arkansas, and Marshall barely edges Akron, and E. Carolina Loses a close one to North Carolina, while Memphis edges Midd Tennesee... (assumed votes just to show disparity):

31) Marshall (46)
32) NIU (44)
38) Cincinnati (19)
43) Memphis (8)
49) E Carolina (1)

...because the BCS ranking system no longer exists and the Committee is using their own ranking system which doesn't come out until October.

Need the Tar Heels to beat ECU this weekend.

Dunno if that's going to happen, though. Here are the odds in important games such as that, and a couple others that'll help the conference (and NIU indirectly):

North Carolina @ECU (-2.5)
Marshall @Akron (+9.5)
Miami-OH @Cinci (-28)
UNLV @Houston (-21) [If UNLV pulls upset, will be good]

BGSU @Wisconsin (-26.5)
Idaho @Ohio (-13)

NIU @Arkansas (-14.5)


ECU is favored, basically by it being at home, but I assume UNC fans will be there, so it should be close.

Marshall losing to Akron I think would be HUGE. Will very possibly knock out Marshall + help the MAC altogether for trickle-down effect.

Ohio NOT losing to Idaho would be good... and BGSU solidly beating the spread, and only losing by 13 or 14 points would be good for the conference.

(09-16-2014 11:31 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(09-16-2014 11:22 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  As a side note, I'll say that going by the BCS rankings this early would be silly -- plus, they won't be paying attention to those at all.

Of course, going by Coaches Polls (since selectors are more tied to athletic admin than being press people), which would be a better reflection of who they'd select, yes, would get the same results. :)

34) East Carolina (44)
36) Marshall (35)
39) Cincinnati (15)
40) NIU (10)
47) Memphis (2)
49) Boise (1)

IF NIU were to beat Arkansas, and Marshall barely edges Akron, and E. Carolina Loses a close one to North Carolina, while Memphis edges Midd Tennesee... (assumed votes just to show disparity):

31) Marshall (46)
32) NIU (44)
38) Cincinnati (19)
43) Memphis (8)
49) E Carolina (1)

...because the BCS ranking system no longer exists and the Committee is using their own ranking system which doesn't come out until October.

The Committee has said it will use some of the computer guidance as an aid in their decision process, so as time goes on it will be interesting to see how the old system compares to what the committee comes up with. I hope they keep their word about using the computers as guidance.