Top 25

[StLRedbird]

Talk of the Valley right now should be USD, maybe Youngstown too. Happy to fly under the radar for now.

 

[fourthandshort]

Let them sleep.

Agreed ... and our defense sucks .. way over rated ! Nothing to see here.

 

[fourthandshort]

Let them sleep.

This....We control our own destiny. I don't care what we are ranked after just 2 weeks.

FIFY

 

[Redbird]

Let them sleep.

This....We control our own destiny. I don't care what we are ranked.

Except a high ranking will likely boost attendance/sell more tickets and increase press for ISU.

You mean like when we were seeded #2 in 2015 playoffs and couldn't sell out a Friday night game in December to Richmond when the weather was awesome? Increase press, maybe. Increase attendance, not really.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

This....We control our own destiny. I don't care what we are ranked.

Except a high ranking will likely boost attendance/sell more tickets and increase press for ISU.

You mean like when we were seeded #2 in 2015 playoffs and couldn't sell out a Friday night game in December to Richmond when the weather was awesome? Increase press, maybe. Increase attendance, not really.

Nope....exact opposite. i mean a high ranking early in the season (or even better a high preseason ranking) that gets press for ISU football so that additional fans get excited and can plan ahead to buy tickets and attend games....games that are not played on a 6 day notice and during the holiday season as well as when students are loaded down finishing semester projects and finals are around the corner.

There is an extra challenge for FCS playoffs regarding attendance and that is the time of year games are played combined with the lack of time to plan to attend the game. ISU has years to work on their regular season football schedule and months to promote the games including any noteworthy national ranking.

 

[fourthandshort]

I'm with Chiredbirdfan .. for many related reasons.

Everything helps on some level ... incrementally and/our cumulatively. And it's not just butts in seats we're trying to attract, but donors with checks, and recruits with talent .. not to mention assistant coaches. Have to assume more success over longer period of time will result in postiive things on all fronts .. whether we happen to notice the short term incremental differences or not .. need to think of and be commited to everything our program does in terms of incremental and cumulative benefits. No other way to build and market a successful program .. much less think seriouisly about FBS.

So rankings do matter, much easier to market the program - we want to be in the hunt every year. But it is only week 2, so I am fine being a little under the radar ranked 12th by FCP Coaches and 14th by STAT/TSN. Seems about right, even though I feel real good we will end up with top 8 seed .. possibly top 4, which means extra home playoff game.

But don't tell any Bison fans ... just buy those Nov 18th game tickets now, before they realize that game may decide who hosts who in a playoff rematch.

 

[MPE773]

I'd rather be a sleeper, like in 2014, than be #1 and totally exposed, like in 2015.

Being afraid to be #1 is weak. Do you think NDSU is afraid to be #1? We need to grow a pair.

 

[StLRedbird]

Want to see the difference between the objective polls and the popular dog and pony show polls? It's all in here...

 

[ThisIsTheLineup]

I'd rather be a sleeper, like in 2014, than be #1 and totally exposed, like in 2015.

Being afraid to be #1 is weak. Do you think NDSU is afraid to be #1? We need to grow a pair.

If I recall, when we were #1 two years ago all everyone talked about was how we are now exposed and life was better in 2014 when everyone undervalued us. I was merely repeating that.

 

[ThisIsTheLineup]

Want to see the difference between the objective polls and the popular dog and pony show polls? It's all in here...

That's Craig Haley for you.

 

[StLRedbird]

That's Craig Haley for you.

It would be hard to criticize Haley for trying to maximize his readership by 'spreading the wealth'. But 4&s is right. This is looking like a banner year for the Valley. As far as the top five goes, maybe the best ever.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

I'd rather be a sleeper, like in 2014, than be #1 and totally exposed, like in 2015.

Being afraid to be #1 is weak. Do you think NDSU is afraid to be #1? We need to grow a pair.

:text-+1:

 

[isuquinndog]

Want to see the difference between the objective polls and the popular dog and pony show polls? It's all in here...

Incase the image is too small for you, click this link for a bigger version.

 

[fourthandshort]

That's Craig Haley for you.

It would be hard to criticize Haley for trying to maximize his readership by 'spreading the wealth'. But 4&s is right. This is looking like a banner year for the Valley. As far as the top five goes, maybe the best ever.

I would expand to top 6 .. USD is on a roll. WIU looks tougher this year. YSU is showing surprising bounce back after big roster hits. Then what I think are firsm top 3: NDSU, SDSU, ISU ... NDSU seems to be on a roll so far, while SDSU is doing well, but not as dominant as I originally thought in preseason. As for ISU ... arrow points up.

As for Haley ... his poll uses coaches, sportswriters, and maybe ADs ? So he can;t control the polls. but he certainly steers the ship indirection of getting more clicks .. which means spreading his love to all conferences, and as many teams as he can. Whether that influences his polls a little or a lot .. who knows how much. But it is a lazy group.

 

[TreRoberson4Heisman]

https://twitter.com/NCAA_FCS/status/912347656529285120

Illinois State T-8 in Coaches.

 

[TreRoberson4Heisman]

MVFC:

2 North Dakota State (1) 625 2 3-0
4 South Dakota State 551 4 3-0
T-5 Youngstown State 530 5 2-1
T-8 Illinois State 396 12 3-0
10 South Dakota 383 14 3-0
16 Western Illinois 276 21 3-0
20 Northern Iowa 103 24 1-2

 

[isuquinndog]

Wow. Color me surprised.

 

[Adunk33]

T25 breakdown by conference:

MVFC: 7
CAA: 5
Southland: 3
OVC: 3
SoCon:3
Big Sky: 2
MEAC: 1
SWAC: 1

 

[fourthandshort]

Wow. Color me surprised.

I'm going with "shocked"

 

[cpacmel]

12th in the STATS Poll

https://twitter.com/FCS_STATS/status/912361737550286848