I really don't see any reason to believe NIU won't win the West again this year. Is it a lock? Far from it, but they're the clear favorites, IMO.

(02-19-2015 01:01 PM)7 Wrote:  I really don't see any reason to believe NIU won't win the West again this year. Is it a lock? Far from it, but they're the clear favorites, IMO.

The beauty of football is how every game means more being only 12 games, but its almost the downside of it where scheduling is everything. Trying to beat a healthy Toledo team this year will be a chore at their place. If the game was @ DeKalb, Id pick NIU

(02-19-2015 12:53 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Toledo has everything set up for them this year with the schedule. If I had a vote in the preseason poll they would be my favorite to win the MAC. If they don't win it this year, they never will. As far as Boise, losing your star QB and star RB is a big big blow. I think they are overrated in this poll. Utah State would be my favorite for the big bowl this year.

I don't know if I would call someone with 23 TDs/14 INTs a "star quarterback".

Boise is far and away the favorite based on name recognition alone. This is where the tOSU game helps us. IF we can stay close, it will be looked upon as better than a win over a marginal team. Look at Memphis last year, they played 2 tough teams (they lost both) but were still in the discussion with 3 losses.

(02-19-2015 12:53 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Toledo has everything set up for them this year with the schedule. If I had a vote in the preseason poll they would be my favorite to win the MAC. If they don't win it this year, they never will. As far as Boise, losing your star QB and star RB is a big big blow. I think they are overrated in this poll. Utah State would be my favorite for the big bowl this year.

Losing their OC to ND will also have some negative impact too.

(02-19-2015 01:32 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 12:53 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Toledo has everything set up for them this year with the schedule. If I had a vote in the preseason poll they would be my favorite to win the MAC. If they don't win it this year, they never will. As far as Boise, losing your star QB and star RB is a big big blow. I think they are overrated in this poll. Utah State would be my favorite for the big bowl this year.

Losing their OC to ND will also have some negative impact too.

Great point. I think Boise will be solid but right now these projections are based much too heavily just on beating Arizona in my opinion. Utah State was ravaged by injury, and I think a healthy Utah State team will beat out Boise.

(02-19-2015 11:03 AM)huskiebob Wrote:  Doesn't bother me that RTB is ramked ahead of us. More fuel for when we play them in November IN DEKALB. It bothers me more to see the LaLas ranked ahead of us.

Facit is that the Huskies have a lot to prove (and improve on) after what happened in Boca Raton. Right now,we're not iwhere we wanna be, which is the top tier of G5 schools.

The article put lots of weight on returning players. WMU has a young team, so they are rated high. The article puts Temple in their top ten too. Temple was the epitome of average last year, but they have lots of players returning, so watch out!

(02-19-2015 01:40 PM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 11:03 AM)huskiebob Wrote:  Doesn't bother me that RTB is ramked ahead of us. More fuel for when we play them in November IN DEKALB. It bothers me more to see the LaLas ranked ahead of us.

Facit is that the Huskies have a lot to prove (and improve on) after what happened in Boca Raton. Right now,we're not iwhere we wanna be, which is the top tier of G5 schools.

The article put lots of weight on returning players. WMU has a young team, so they are rated high. The article puts Temple in their top ten too. Temple was the epitome of average last year, but they have lots of players returning, so watch out!

The schedule pretty much eliminates WMU in my opinion.

(02-19-2015 01:40 PM)Huskie_Jon Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 11:03 AM)huskiebob Wrote:  Doesn't bother me that RTB is ramked ahead of us. More fuel for when we play them in November IN DEKALB. It bothers me more to see the LaLas ranked ahead of us.

Facit is that the Huskies have a lot to prove (and improve on) after what happened in Boca Raton. Right now,we're not iwhere we wanna be, which is the top tier of G5 schools.

The article put lots of weight on returning players. WMU has a young team, so they are rated high. The article puts Temple in their top ten too. Temple was the epitome of average last year, but they have lots of players returning, so watch out!

It also puts a lot on the rankings of the recruiting classes, which most of us know is an imperfect statistic, and the previous year's rankings on offense and defense, which is a more concrete stat for teams like NIU and WMU, but not so much for Marshall who lost their top offensive playmakers from last year.

(02-19-2015 12:53 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Toledo has everything set up for them this year with the schedule. If I had a vote in the preseason poll they would be my favorite to win the MAC. If they don't win it this year, they never will. As far as Boise, losing your star QB and star RB is a big big blow. I think they are overrated in this poll. Utah State would be my favorite for the big bowl this year.

MD picking Toledo? I'm shocked!

(02-19-2015 01:49 PM)DiehardHuskie Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 12:53 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Toledo has everything set up for them this year with the schedule. If I had a vote in the preseason poll they would be my favorite to win the MAC. If they don't win it this year, they never will. As far as Boise, losing your star QB and star RB is a big big blow. I think they are overrated in this poll. Utah State would be my favorite for the big bowl this year.

MD picking Toledo? I'm shocked!

haha I despise Toledo as much as anyone on this board. Its just about scheduling, I would have taken whoever had all their big MAC West games at home, this year it just happens to be Toledo.

(02-19-2015 12:33 PM)7 Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 12:23 PM)huskiebob Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 11:06 AM)7 Wrote:  WMU plays Michigan State, Ohio State, and Georgia Southern next year next year. They shouldn't be anywhere on the list.

RTB is ranked too high. But, the fact they have a tough schedule shouldn't be held against them before the games have been played.

Huh? Why not?

Obviously, Pete Volk didn't hold it against them. The RTB schedule is also an opportunity if they perform well. If they go 3-1 non-conference (possible) and hang around against o$u, they're definitely going to be in the conversation. Not likely, but it is possible.

(02-19-2015 02:06 PM)huskiebob Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 12:33 PM)7 Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 12:23 PM)huskiebob Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 11:06 AM)7 Wrote:  WMU plays Michigan State, Ohio State, and Georgia Southern next year next year. They shouldn't be anywhere on the list.

RTB is ranked too high. But, the fact they have a tough schedule shouldn't be held against them before the games have been played.

Huh? Why not?

Obviously, Pete Volk didn't hold it against them. The RTB schedule is also an opportunity if they perform well. If they go 3-1 non-conference (possible) and hang around against o$u, they're definitely going to be in the conversation. Not likely, but it is possible.

WMU will have to beat Michigan State at home to have any chance

I'll buy you a car if they go 3-1 OOC. 1-3 is way more likely than 3-1.

(02-19-2015 12:19 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 11:52 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  Toledo will be just fine. Come August, I see them in a virtual tie with WMU for the coveted APC (August Pre-season Crown).

Yes, Rockets will be fine. Remember it was a down year because Toledo was going to miss Reedy, Fluellen, and Owens.

And we lost a HEISMAN FINALIST QB...aka, superman. How'd that turn out for us? You'd think with all the highly ranked talent you would never have to play the "rebuild" card

You are a great poster Boca...just having some Feb fun.

(02-19-2015 12:19 PM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(02-19-2015 11:52 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  Toledo will be just fine. Come August, I see them in a virtual tie with WMU for the coveted APC (August Pre-season Crown).

Yes, Rockets will be fine. Remember it was a down year because Toledo was going to miss Reedy, Fluellen, and Owens.

Are you sure you wanna group Owens in with the other 2? Yeah, he played QB for parts of 4 years, but it seems like NIU fans were more upset to see him leave than Toledo fans were.

Most importantly for Toledo, they lose their entire offensive line along with a couple of stalwarts on defense.

(02-19-2015 02:28 PM)7 Wrote:  I'll buy you a car if they go 3-1 OOC. 1-3 is way more likely than 3-1.

I'm feelin' it!

Yeah, I admit that WMU being #4 is too high as far as expectations go. Sure, if you're going by a team's 2013->2014 improvement and applying that to 2014->2015, I can easily see that. But obviously, that'd be asking too much.

I'd put WMU around NIU in #7-8. But WMU plays @NIU, so obviously the wind blows NIU's way in that case. But that wouldn't matter if they're saying How Good the team is. Of course, how well they End Up -- well, that's influenced by their schedule. WMU having to play MSU, @Ohio State, @GA-Southern, @NIU, and @Toledo is pretty much going to set them to be a 7-5 team next year. Anything above 7-5 for WMU will be a Great season, given that schedule.

I think if the WMU/NIU game goes to OT, the winner should be decided by who lost by the least amount vs Ohio State. :)

I like how the wind blows NIU's way just because we are at home.

You guys forget the past few years, all of you. We don't seem to have trouble winning at Toledo lately either.

When we start losing important regular season games, I'll start worrying, until then I will be putting aside $20 every month to save for my room overlooking Canada and my bar tab.

Boat Rowers won't beat GA Southern.