Pre-Season Rankings

[paladinfan12]

We all know these polls are garbage until week 8 or so, but it is nice to see 3 SoCon teams ranked. I feel like it is usually 1 team ranked and one other either barely in or out.

Just makes it that much better when Furman knocks them off

[The Jackal]

We all know these polls are garbage until week 8 or so, but it is nice to see 3 SoCon teams ranked. I feel like it is usually 1 team ranked and one other either barely in or out.

Just makes it that much better when Furman knocks them off

Yes and no.

There's no doubt the polls are not an accurate reflection of the likely top 25 teams in the country.

At the same time, the polls are a reflection of subjective national perception. In the beauty contest that is seeding and at large bids, it's much better to subjectively appear strong even if that appearance isn't based on evidence.

[FUBeAR]

Lindy’s doesn’t do an online edition of their FCS Pre-Season preview…or, if they do, FUBeAR hasn’t found it. Anyway, someone posted a pic of this page on Facebook…showing OT Anderson Tomlin named as a 1st Team All-American. That’s a big honor. Congrats to him and all the FU OL Peeps cuz if 1 guy is getting honors, all of ‘em are doing good things.

[apaladin]

Used to there were rules and regulations regarding practice, when teams could start, how many practices were allowed etc. Since the NCAA no longer has any enforcement power if teams wanted to can they now start practice whenever they want to and practice as much as they want?

[AllTimeFU]

Lindy’s doesn’t do an online edition of their FCS Pre-Season preview…or, if they do, FUBeAR hasn’t found it. Anyway, someone posted a pic of this page on Facebook…showing OT Anderson Tomlin named as a 1st Team All-American. That’s a big honor. Congrats to him and all the FU OL Peeps cuz if 1 guy is getting honors, all of ‘em are doing good things.

Congrats to Anderson. An anchor on the line and key to the Furman offense having a big year.

[Purple rain]

One heck of an honor.

[FUBeAR]

2022 College Football America FCS Preseason Top 30

9. ETSU
19. Chattanooga
23. Mercer

No other SoCon Teams - seems CFA watched the 1-130 guy video and moved a few around to come up with their “rankings.” Just copycatting each other now. This is part of the circular-logic BS that is hurting the SoCon’s post-season selections/seedings in recent years.

[The Jackal]

Furman will have their shot early to vault up the rankings.

The Paladins get ETSU in week 3. Hopefully the Bucs will have beaten Mars Hill and Citadel to hold on to a lofty top 10 ranking when Furman rolls into town to upend the national picture.

As a football fan, this will be a fun season. There are going to be a lot of really good games on the schedule throughout the entire season.

[Furmanoid]

Furman will have their shot early to vault up the rankings.

The Paladins get ETSU in week 3. Hopefully the Bucs will have beaten Mars Hill and Citadel to hold on to a lofty top 10 ranking when Furman rolls into town to upend the national picture.

As a football fan, this will be a fun season. There are going to be a lot of really good games on the schedule throughout the entire season.

I’m kinda hoping none of them are good games. If the new OC is who I suspect he is, we kill them all.

[AllTimeFU]

Furman will have their shot early to vault up the rankings.

The Paladins get ETSU in week 3. Hopefully the Bucs will have beaten Mars Hill and Citadel to hold on to a lofty top 10 ranking when Furman rolls into town to upend the national picture.

As a football fan, this will be a fun season. There are going to be a lot of really good games on the schedule throughout the entire season.

I’m kinda hoping none of them are good games. If the new OC is who I suspect he is, we kill them all.

That gets the blood pumpin!

[gofurman]

Furman will have their shot early to vault up the rankings.

The Paladins get ETSU in week 3. Hopefully the Bucs will have beaten Mars Hill and Citadel to hold on to a lofty top 10 ranking when Furman rolls into town to upend the national picture.

As a football fan, this will be a fun season. There are going to be a lot of really good games on the schedule throughout the entire season.

I’m kinda hoping none of them are good games. If the new OC is who I suspect he is, we kill them all.

THIS. ETSU was an exciting game last year. We lost on basically the last play. Exciting sucks. I want to win every game inn BORING fashion. Think Clemson ACC. That’s how you win national titles. Exciting games are 50/50. Don’t want that.
Boring rocks. Like that 40 point beat down of Georgia Southern w Louis Ivory. Boring Loved it

[FUBeAR]

AGS Poll Results - Wk. 0 - 2022 SEASON
8/1/2022 AGS Poll Results

Rank Team: Total Points First Place Votes
1 North Dakota State Bison 1048 41
2 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 992 1
3 Montana Grizzlies 950
4 Montana State Bobcats 932
5 Villanova Wildcats 794
6 Sac State Hornets 753
7 Kennesaw State Owls 733
8 Missouri State Bears 719
9 Southern Illinois Salukis 624
10 East Tennessee State Buccaneers 615
11 Eastern Washington Eagles 506
12 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 493
13 Southeastern Louisiana Lions 462
14 Incarnate Word Cardinals 435
15 Chattanooga Mocs 398
16 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 366
17 Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 359
18 Northern Iowa Panthers 357
19 Holy Cross Crusaders 348
20 Weber State Wildcats 267
21 Mercer Bears 192
22 South Dakota Coyotes 174
23 Jackson State Tigers 158
24 UC Davis Aggies 157
25 Rhode Island Rams 140
ORV:
26 Dartmouth Big Green 130
27 Richmond Spiders 98
28 Harvard Crimson 74
29 Eastern Kentucky Colonels 47
30 Central Arkansas Bears 45
31 William & Mary Tribe 42
32 Sacred Heart Pioneers 39
33 Princeton Tigers 36
34 North Dakota Fighting Hawks 31
35T Illinois State Redbirds 23
35T Nicholls Colonels 23
37 Florida A&M Rattlers 14
38 Elon Phoenix 12
39 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 11
40 Monmouth Hawks 10

Usual BS…that’s why FUBeAR stopped being a voter in the AGS poll

[The Jackal]

Did they run out of CAA teams to list?

It's a put up or shut up year for a few SoCon teams, including Furman.

[FUBeAR]

Did they run out of CAA teams to list?

It's a put up or shut up year for a few SoCon teams, including Furman.

8 of 11 MVFC Teams; 4 in the Top 10
6 Big Sky Teams; 4 in the Top 11
7 CAA Teams, including a Team that lost to winless-in-the-SoCon-Woffy last year

[fupaladin01]

A comparison of current CAA members (14) and SoCon members in the last 7 years of post-season:

Teams making the playoffs- 12 of 14 members of CAA (no Hampton, Rhode Island)
7 of 9 SoCon (no WCU, Mercer)

Record in post-season- CAA 17-22 (.772) SoCon 9-15 (.600)

Record vs Big Sky and MVFC in post-season: CAA 3-9 (.333) SoCon 1-4 (.250)

Quarterfinal appearances: CAA - 5 SoCon - 3

Semi-final appearances: CAA - 3 SoCon - 0

CAA vs SoCon in post-season 0-2

Each conference (CAA and SoCon) has been eliminated by another current member of the same conference twice.

My takeaways:
The Chasm between CAA and SoCon is no longer as large as many have assumed in recent years. Yes, we are behind when it comes to post-season performance, but much of that can be explained by geography (9 of CAA's 17 wins came against Patriot League or NEC competition compared to 1 of SoCon W's) and SoCon is paired with perennial powers Kennesaw St and Jacksonville St (now FBS) in early rounds (5 of our 9 losses)

CAA gets all the credit for championships and post-season wins with JMU as much as SoCon claims ASU and GSU. But... if pollsters and committee members will look at the two leagues objectively for their current make-up, I see no reason to assume the CAA will be a 4-5 bid league and the SoCon 1-2.

We need 3 teams (hopefully FU is one) to dominate the conference this season, make the post-season, and win 2-3 games apiece at least to get the narrative to shift. Having a balanced league is not doing us any favors when it means we beat each other up and get left home on selection Sunday.