http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball...gs/coaches

1 Alabama Crimson Tide (25)
2 Florida State Seminoles (30)
3 Oregon Ducks (6)
4 Mississippi State Bulldogs
5 TCU Horned Frogs
6 Baylor Bears
7 Ohio State Buckeyes
8 Michigan State Spartans
9 Georgia Bulldogs
10 UCLA Bruins
11 Kansas State Wildcats
12 Arizona Wildcats
13 Arizona State Sun Devils
14 Wisconsin Badgers
15 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
16 Auburn Tigers
17 Missouri Tigers
18 Oklahoma Sooners
19 Ole Miss Rebels
20 Marshall Thundering Herd 383
21 Colorado State Rams 304
22 Minnesota Golden Gophers
23 Louisville Cardinals
24 Clemson Tigers
25. Boise State Broncos 85

Others Receiving Votes: LSU (7-4) 43; Nebraska (8-3) 41; Arkansas (6-5) 19; Utah (7-4) 19; Louisiana Tech (7-4) 7; Stanford (6-5) 7; Cincinnati (7-3) 7; Duke (8-3) 5; Southern California (7-4) 4; Texas (6-5) 4; Texas A&M (7-4) 4; Northern Illinois (9-2) 3; Iowa (7-4) 1; Utah State (9-3) 1; Notre Dame (7-4) 1

What gets me is that LA-Tech has 2x more votes than NIU. LA-Tech has been impressive in some games; they're the helping hand to Marshall keeping the CUSA above the Sun Belt.

But they lost to a D1AA non-powerhouse... and just lost to a D1AA transfer Old Dominion this weekend. At 7-4, they should not be above 9-2 NIU, even with the understanding that NIU isn't as good as record itself indicates -- still, it's 9-2. And LA-Tech has embarrassment on their record @ 7-4.

We have more votes now than TSISB. So all is right with the world.

LT is probably just being propped up by other CUSA coaches who are voting biased. As we have learned in the past, MAC coaches do not really vote for their own. I think i remember Pete Lembo not putting NIU in his top 25 (or putting us really low compared to other coaches) the last couple seasons.

(11-23-2014 03:59 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  LT is probably just being propped up by other CUSA coaches who are voting biased. As we have learned in the past, MAC coaches do not really vote for their own. I think i remember Pete Lembo not putting NIU in his top 25 (or putting us really low compared to other coaches) the last couple seasons.

The good thing is these polls don't matter at all. So by all means hype up every team in your conference, it's all for nothing.

(11-23-2014 01:21 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  What gets me is that LA-Tech has 2x more votes than NIU. LA-Tech has been impressive in some games; they're the helping hand to Marshall keeping the CUSA above the Sun Belt.

But they lost to a D1AA non-powerhouse... and just lost to a D1AA transfer Old Dominion this weekend. At 7-4, they should not be above 9-2 NIU, even with the understanding that NIU isn't as good as record itself indicates -- still, it's 9-2. And LA-Tech has embarrassment on their record @ 7-4.

I would bet my left nut that some who voted for Louisiana Tech just assumed they won this weekend and aren't even aware they lost to Old Dominion.

That's why it's nice that the coach's poll doesn't count for anything anymore.

We might be the worst 9-2 team in NCAA history so after a decade that I disagreed with the rankings, I finally can't complain.


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Quote:We might be the worst 9-2 team in NCAA history so after a decade that I disagreed with the rankings, I finally can't complain.

Well, maybe not. If NIU ends up getting blown out by WMU and a Sun Belt team in a bowl -- then going 9-4 in the end, they'd be one of the least-impressive 9-win teams. But there's still a chance for them to improve to look back and say they weren't that bad for their record.

I think the main issue is too-close games against Bad Competition (Kent, EMU, Miami-OH, UNLV), and no big-wins -- they all seem close whether they're G5-level good (NorthW), okay (Ohio), or bad as noted there.

I think it's a combo of luck (Toledo playing with injuries & @NIU; SoS) + Carey making sure they're all somewhat close for his gambling problems.

(11-24-2014 02:39 AM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:We might be the worst 9-2 team in NCAA history so after a decade that I disagreed with the rankings, I finally can't complain.

Well, maybe not. If NIU ends up getting blown out by WMU and a Sun Belt team in a bowl -- then going 9-4 in the end, they'd be one of the least-impressive 9-win teams. But there's still a chance for them to improve to look back and say they weren't that bad for their record.

I think the main issue is too-close games against Bad Competition (Kent, EMU, Miami-OH, UNLV), and no big-wins -- they all seem close whether they're G5-level good (NorthW), okay (Ohio), or bad as noted there.

I think it's a combo of luck (Toledo playing with injuries & @NIU; SoS) + Carey making sure they're all somewhat close for his gambling problems.

Every team has injuries. But you are right about Carey, there is a certain "good enough for now" mentality which this coaching staff seems to take that drives me crazy. If NIU is forced to score, it often will, but 3/4ths of all drives lack the sense of urgency. I feel sometimes that there is such a fear of having your players make mistakes, that it can be really handicapping. I was thinking the other day about Hare only having one INT on the season. At face value, that is great, but it is almost a sign of another problem, a far too passive/conservative offensive philosophy. It is a good strategy to add up the wins against the bad MAC teams, but you sure aren't going to win the big game like that.