2023 Polls

[bigticket1]

USD has the advantage of still having to play all of the bottom three ( WIU, ISU-B and Murray State.) That almost guarantees at least 6 wins for them. NDSU also gets to play WIU and Murray State. The Valley brass should have to answer how they made SDSU's schedule without including any of the bottom 3.

[JackJD]

Here's the FCS Coaches Poll as of today (covers games since October 1

:

1	South Dakota St. (26)	4-0	650	1
2	Montana St.	4-1	621	3
3	Idaho	4-1	595	6
4	Furman	3-1	533	7
5	Southern Illinois	4-0	514	10
6	UIW	3-1	509	8
7	Sacramento St.	4-1	505	9
8	North Dakota St.	3-1	497	2
9	William & Mary	4-1	393	4
10	Delaware	3-1	390	12
11	North Carolina Central	4-1	336	13
12	Holy Cross	3-2	333	5
13	Montana	4-1	297	16
14	Weber St.	3-2	292	14
15	North Dakota	2-2	244	11
16	Florida A&M	4-1	234	18
17	Western Carolina	4-1	228	21
18	UC Davis	3-2	215	20
19	Harvard	3-0	200	24
20	Chattanooga	4-1	188	22
21	South Dakota	3-1	100	NR
22	Illinois St.	3-1	62	NR
23	UT Martin	4-1	60	NR
24	New Hampshire	2-3	51	17
T-25	Eastern Illinois	4-1	45	NR
T-25	Rhode Island	3-2	45	NR

MVFC teams getting votes: UNI; Youngstown;

Link (has been posted in prior posts but here it is again): https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...

[JackJD]

...and here's the Stats Perform top 25, also as of today (covers games after 10/1/23):

1	South Dakota State (56)	4-0	1,400	1
2	Montana State	4-1	1,334	3
3	Idaho	4-1	1,293	4
4	Sacramento State	4-1	1,145	8
5	Furman	3-1	1,114	7
6	Southern Illinois	4-0	1,104	10
7	North Dakota State	3-1	1,078	2
8	UIW	3-1	999	9
9	Delaware	3-1	860	11
10	William & Mary	4-1	848	5
11	Western Carolina	4-1	721	17
12	Holy Cross	3-2	718	6
13	Weber State	3-2	624	13
14	North Carolina Central	4-1	572	15
15	South Dakota	3-1	524	NR
16	North Dakota	2-2	519	12
17	Montana	4-1	409	18
18	UT Martin	4-1	393	22
19	Florida A&M	4-1	374	20
20	UC Davis	3-2	334	21
21	Harvard	3-0	241	NR
22	Eastern Washington	2-3	215	19
23	Central Arkansas	3-2	204	25
24	Chattanooga	4-1	167	NR
25	Elon	3-2	166	NR

UNI and Youngstown getting votes but not ranked.

Link: https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...orm-fcs-top-25

[JackJD]

Although a good win, I wouldn't read too much into the USD win in Fargo. They also won there in 2015. NDSU won it all that year and USD finished under .500.

That win might mean USD is good and it might not mean anything.

And it might just be the motivation NDSU needs to start playing up to their talent level. In any event, we can expect the Bison to come to Brookings in a few Saturdays, ready to play.

[jakejc795]

Josh Davis is doing a great job down there.

He will be a head coach next season somewhere.

Sneaky suspicion discussions were had like those had fairly recently at SDSU among Admin., Stig, and Rogers

[jakejc795]

STATS FCS media poll being new addition to FCS playoff committee criteria was one item discussed by Sam Herder in this week's podcast (prior criteria were Coaches and Simple Ratings System). He also discussed this on Hot Mic with Dom Izzo.

General themes are that increased influence on topics like playoff seeding should result in commensurate transparency among poll voters, school/conference reps/employees should not be among the voters (due to potential conflicts of interest), and that the committee should develop their own "rankings" as the season progresses rather than relying on polls.

[JackJD]

FCS Coaches poll for games through 10/8/23;

From left to right: Current poll rank; School (first-place votes); Season Record; Total Points in the Poll; Rank from prior week.
(MVFC teams in bold for easy location.)

1	South Dakota State (26)	5-0	650	1
2	Montana State	4-1	621	2
3	Idaho	5-1	600	3
4	Furman	4-1	554	4
5	Sacramento State	4-1	519	7
6	UIW	4-1	488	6
7	North Dakota State	4-1	486	8
8	Delaware	4-1	435	10
9	North Carolina Central	5-1	394	11
10	Montana	5-1	375	13
11	Holy Cross	4-2	358	12
12	William & Mary	4-2	352	9
13	Southern Illinois	4-1	325	5
14	Western Carolina	5-1	317	17
15	North Dakota	3-2	312	15
16	Florida A&M	5-1	248	16
17	South Dakota	4-1	246	21
18	Harvard	4-0	208	19
19	UT Martin	5-1	177	23
T-20	Chattanooga	4-2	90	20
T-20	Youngstown State	3-2	90	NR
22	Rhode Island	4-2	83	T-25
23	Weber State	3-3	67	14
24	New Hampshire	2-3	54	24
25	Central Arkansas	4-2	52	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Iowa, 51; UC Davis, 49; Illinois State, 43; Fordham, 37; Austin Peay, 34; Mercer, 31; Albany, 25; Eastern Washington, 19; Lafayette, 19; Villanova, 12; Eastern Illinois, 10; Northern Arizona, 8; Eastern Kentucky, 6; Hampton, 4; Jackson State, 1.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...s-coaches-poll

[JackJD]

Here's the Stats Perform Poll for games through 10/8/23:

From left to right: Current poll rank; School (first-place votes); Season Record; Total Points in the Poll; Rank from prior week.
(MVFC teams in bold for easy location.)

1	South Dakota State (56)	5-0	1,400	1
2	Montana State	4-1	1,333	2
3	Idaho	5-1	1,296	3
4	Sacramento State	4-1	1,181	4
5	Furman	4-1	1,138	5
6	North Dakota State	4-1	1,110	7
7	UIW	4-1	1,010	8
8	Delaware	4-1	947	9
9	Western Carolina	5-1	906	11
10	South Dakota	4-1	771	15
11	William & Mary	4-2	759	10
12	Holy Cross	4-2	744	12
13	Southern Illinois	4-1	721	6
14	North Carolina Central	5-1	681	14
15	North Dakota	3-2	567	16
16	Montana	5-1	564	17
17	UT Martin	5-1	492	18
18	Florida A&M	5-1	410	19
19	Harvard	4-0	367	21
20	Central Arkansas	4-2	318	23
21	Eastern Washington	2-3	205	22
22	Weber State	3-3	201	13
23	Youngstown State	3-2	197	NR
24	Albany	4-2	182	NR
25	Chattanooga	4-2	107	24

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Northern Iowa 95; Villanova 94; UC Davis 75; Rhode Island 73; Austin Peay 56; Mercer 52; New Hampshire 49; Eastern Illinois 32; Elon 19; Samford 18; Fordham 16; Tarleton State 5; Lafayette 4; Northern Arizona 3

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...orm-fcs-top-25

[JackJD]

SAGARIN THROUGH GAMES ON 10/7/2023.
Sagarin ranks all 261 D1 football teams. The following list shows the this week’s top 25 FCS teams and also lists the remaining MVFC teams which are not in the top 25. The first number is the FCS team’s current rank in the top 25 FCS followed by last week’s Top 25 rank in parenthesis. Next, the overall Division I rank is stated followed with last week’s overall DI rank in parenthesis. Last is the school and conference.

FCS Rank Overall D1 School and Conference
(prior week) Current Rank
(Prior week)

1 (1) 43 (43) South Dakota State – MVFC
2 (2) 67 (70) Montana State – Big Sky
3 (3) 68 (78) North Dakota State – MVFC
4 (5) 96 (94) Idaho – Big Sky
5 (6) 107 (110) Sacramento State – Big Sky
6 (4) 108 (93) Southern Illinois – MVFC
7 (8) 111 (120) North Dakota – MVFC
8 (14) 113 (130) Youngstown – MVFC
9 (12) 124 (127) South Dakota – MVFC
10 (11) 125 (126) Central Arkansas - United Atlantic
11 (10) 126 (125) Austin Peay – United Atlantic
12 (9) 127 (120) Northern Iowa – MVFC
13 (16) 128 (136) Western Carolina – Southern
14 (7) 132 (117) Furman – Southern
15 (13) 133 (128) Incarnate Word – Southland
16 (17) 134 (137) Holy Cross – Patriot
17 (--) 136 (----) Montana – Big Sky
18 (21) 137 (144) Delaware – Coastal
19 (19) 138 (142) Eastern Washington – Big Sky
20 (18) 143 (138) UC – Davis – Big Sky
21 (20) 145 (143) William & Mary – Coastal
22 (--) 149 (156) Illinois State – MVFC
23 (25) 151 (152) Southeast Missouri State – Sun Belt West
24 (--) 152 (----) Harvard – Ivy League
25 (15) 153 (131) Weber State – Big Sky


The remainder of the MVFC:
160 (149) Missouri State
203 (209) Indiana State
209 (204) Murray State
233 (231) Western Illinois

http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

[bigticket1]

Interesting ranking system that combines all levels in the NCAA. Jacks are at 31. http://www.twitter.com/ESPN_BillC/st...525779/photo/1

[jbjack]

Coyotes up to 6 in the STATS poll but not much love from the coaches (16).

SIU 12 in both polls.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...s-coaches-poll

Montana State and Sacramento State rumble on Saturday so a top 5 team will lose (barring a tie I suppose) this week.

[mnjackrbt]

Interesting ranking system that combines all levels in the NCAA. Jacks are at 31. http://www.twitter.com/ESPN_BillC/st...525779/photo/1

Did you ever think you'd see the day that someone ranked SDSU football ahead of: Florida, Auburn, South Carolina, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, Nebraska, Cal, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Stanford, and a lot alot more?

[JackJD]

Here's the FCS Coaches Poll for games through 10/15/23.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...s-coaches-poll

I question whether all of the voters were paying attention. E.g. NDSU ranked ahead of USD?

Rank / School (first place votes) / Season Record / Points / Prior Rank

1	South Dakota State (26)	6-0	650	1
2	Montana State	5-1	623	2
3	Furman	5-1	570	4
4	Sacramento State	5-1	566	5
5	UIW	5-1	511	6
6	Montana	6-1	495	10
7	Delaware	5-1	464	8
8	Idaho	5-2	418	3
9	North Dakota	4-2	409	15
10	North Carolina Central	5-1	408	9
11	Holy Cross	4-2	365	11
12	Southern Illinois	5-1	349	13
13	William & Mary	4-2	335	12
14	Western Carolina	5-1	329	14
15	North Dakota State	4-2	320	7
16	South Dakota	5-1	305	17
17	Harvard	5-0	234	18
18	Florida A&M	5-1	227	16
19	UT Martin	5-1	190	19
20	Chattanooga	5-2	151	T-20
21	Central Arkansas	5-2	120	25
22	New Hampshire	3-3	81	24
23	UC Davis	4-3	67	NR
24	Austin Peay	4-2	59	NR
25	Illinois State	4-2	58	NR

Others Receiving Votes: Fordham, 47; Villanova, 38; Lafayette, 21; Youngstown State, 17; Eastern Kentucky, 6; Northern Iowa, 6; Rhode Island, 6; Penn, 2; Albany, 1; Mercer, 1; Portland State, 1.

[JackJD]

Here's the FCS Stats Perform Top 25 Poll for games through 10/15/23.

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/footba...orm-fcs-top-25

In my view, this poll (with USD ranked 6) makes more sense than the FCS Coaches' Polll.

Rank / School (first place votes) / Season Record / Points / Prior Rank

1	South Dakota State (56)	6-0	1,400	1
2	Montana State	5-1	1,342	2
3	Sacramento State	5-1	1,203	3
4	Furman	5-1	1,195	4
5	UIW	5-1	1,023	7
6	South Dakota	5-1	1,002	10
7	Delaware	5-1	985	8
8	Western Carolina	5-1	981	9
9	Montana	6-1	978	16
10	Idaho	5-2	946	3
11	North Dakota	4-2	930	15
12	Southern Illinois	5-1	725	13
13	William & Mary	4-2	687	11
14	North Dakota State	4-2	673	6
15	Holy Cross	4-2	653	12
16	North Carolina Central	5-1	607	14
17	UT Martin	5-1	504	17
18	Harvard	5-0	446	19
19	Florida A&M	5-1	403	18
20	Central Arkansas	5-2	373	20
21	Chattanooga	5-2	268	25
22	Villanova	5-2	229	NR
23	UC Davis	4-2	136	NR
24	Austin Peay	4-2	125	NR
25	Youngstown State	3-3	108	23

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): New Hampshire 68; Fordham 44; UAlbany 39; Lafayette 32; Northern Iowa 23; Weber State 23; Eastern Kentucky 13; Eastern Washington13; Illinois State 11; Tennessee State 6; Lamar 2

[JackJD]

SAGARIN THROUGH GAMES ON 10/14/2023.
Sagarin ranks all 261 D1 football teams. The following list shows the this week’s top 10 FCS teams.* The first number is the FCS team’s current rank in the top 10 FCS followed by last week’s rank in parenthesis. Next, the overall Division I rank is stated followed with last week’s overall DI rank in parenthesis. Last is the school and conference. *In prior weeks I have listed the fop 25 FCS teams according to Sagarin...too much work!

For the rank of other D1 teams, see the site:
http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm

See the FBS teams determined by Sagarin's computer program to be inferior to #34 overall ranked SDSU. Of course, Sagarin's ranking, just like polls, doesn't dictate what will happen in the remaining games, but....going to be a fun second half of the season!


FCS Rank Overall D1 School and Conference
(prior week) Current Rank
(Prior week)

1 (1) 34 (43) South Dakota State – MVFC
2 (2) 63 (67) Montana State – Big Sky
3 (3) 58 (68) North Dakota State – MVFC
4 (7) 99 (111) North Dakota – MVFC
5 (4) 103 (96) Idaho – Big Sky
6 (6) 106 (108) Southern Illinois - MVFC
7 (5) 112 (107) Sacramento State - Big Sky
8 (8) 115 (113) Youngstown State - MVFC
9 (11) 112 (126) Austin Peay - United Atlantic
10 (9) 124 (124) South Dakota - MVFC

Six MVFC teams in the top 10 in Sagarin's rankings. That's impressive.