PreSeason Poll

[The Jackal]

HERO came out with a preseason poll with Furman at 14.

https://furmanpaladins.com/news/2024/5/ ... -poll.aspx

The only SoCon team ahead of them is Chattanooga, who, of course, we beat twice last year.

[The Jackal]

I suppose top 15 is a good market entry this season. We proved we belonged in the national conversation last season. We did lose a lot of players off that team. A top 15 ranking is a balance between recognizing where this program is as well as conceding we need to replace some guys.

Of course, the poll has its usual propping up of non-SoCon teams.

[FUBeAR]

Of course, the poll has its usual propping up of non-SoCon teams.

Sisyphus may have been the 1st Paladin

[Flagman]

Certainly not representative of where we finished in ‘23. And, Chattanooga ahead of us? Didn’t we beat them last year… twice!?

[apaladin]

This poll doesn’t matter. Let’s see where we are in the STATS poll and Coaches poll.

[FUBeAR]

This poll doesn’t matter. Let’s see where we are in the STATS poll and Coaches poll.

2 of the 3 creators of this poll are voters in the 56 member STATS poll.

It will be similar.

We lost the QB & RB that didn’t play when we lost to 1 (other) win Woffy, along with a host of other veterans…and excellent Players…4 to the NFL.

We will get some credit for the ‘23 season, although we were ranked #7 in the final STATS poll, when we should have been 3rd, but certainly no lower than 4th…but will get 0 credit for prior outstanding recruiting classes, continuity of our Coaching Staff, and the overall “they’re just always good” respect we deserve.

Nope … go ahead and order your 2024 FU game day gear with “SISYPHUS” stitched on it. Unless we beat likely FBS Top 5 Ole Miss AND completely DOMINATE in the next 4 games ( Charleston Southern, Stetson, @ William & Mary, and Samford), we gonna be rolling that rankings rock back up that hill again!

[apaladin]

I am afraid the football season will turn out similar to the basketball seasons. High expectations but reality will quickly set in. Not only a lot of talent loss but this past season was the the oldest and most experienced team in FU history. You can replace talent to a certain degree but not the experience/age.

[The Jackal]

I am afraid the football season will turn out similar to the basketball seasons. High expectations but reality will quickly set in. Not only a lot of talent loss but this past season was the the oldest and most experienced team in FU history. You can replace talent to a certain degree but not the experience/age.

Furman's 2023 roster had a lot of players playing out extra eligibility. We are likely not going to see that sort of long list of guys on medical waivers and COVID eligibility at Furman or anywhere else.

But I go back to my initial question from earlier. We all know Furman is going to have to replace some talented players, but which SoCon team do you see stepping up to knock us off?

Yes, Furman lost some guys, but WCU, Mercer, and Samford lose a ton of production on offense and some key defensive players.

Citadel, ETSU, Wofford, and VMI are still a long way behind us talent wise.

UTC was pretty good, but we beat them twice, convincingly at home and also on the road with our backup.

Remember too, we were the biggest game of the year for every team in the conference. We got everyone's best shot and still beat most of those teams by multiple scores.

We've lost some veteran guys, but we have some veteran guys to replace them. Even with the losses, it's not like we're going to be running out a team full of freshmen next season. There's plenty of talented players we haven't really seen play yet.

[FUpaladin08]

And didn’t UTC lose their defensive coordinator? Arguably their strongest asset the last few seasons.

[FUBeAR]

Any ranking of SoCon Football Teams pre-season 2024 is folly.

The only thing we know for certain is the bellhops will suck. But they will suck no matter if they go 0-12 or 12-0. Other than that, get out your dart set, your Ouija board, your tarot deck, and your prediculatin’ terrarium turtle.

[The Jackal]

And didn’t UTC lose their defensive coordinator? Arguably their strongest asset the last few seasons.

Looks like he just took a gig at Clemson.

They also lost Jay Person, their freakshow pass rusher that was the SoCon's best defensive player. I think Person played in every UTC game but the playoff game against Furman, where the Moc defense really didn't have anything for the Furman offense.

[tim]

Should be fun. In a weird sort of way.

[cavedweller2]

We are going to be very good.

[apaladin]

With the current ever changing rosters year to year, preseason polls may become out of date/irrelevant/obsolete.

[FUBeAR]

With the current ever changing rosters year to year, preseason polls may become out of date/irrelevant/obsolete.

Some years we might have an idea.

Last season - except for the Wofford loss - played out pretty much as FUBeAR expected. Probably can’t pull up the specific posts, but FUBeAR had FU, Mercer, and Chatt at the top. Samford had too many losses on D and lost continuity with too many transfers. Didn’t think WCU had all the pieces they thought they had…and didn’t see the other 4 as ready to compete.

This year - with Coaching changes (HC’s and Coord’s), mass losses to graduation, and portal transitions…

¯\_(ツ)_/¯


…found it… 1st FUBeAR rankings for 2023 below…

FUBeAR allowed ChatGPT to do his Week1 rankings, so those (sucked) didn’t count. This was for Week 2, 2023 - AFTER Chatt had lost to North Alabama…

FUBeAR's SoCon POWER RANKINGS

1) Furman - swarming D is KILLER. O is solid and will get better and better. Special Teams are really sound. Let's go 1-0 in the SEC East this week
2) Mercer - secondary MUST repair itself or the Bears are in for a long season. No reason to think they can't. Good win in Week 0 over good UNA Team
3) Samford - Placeholder only - no credit for RecBall win - enjoy Cullowhee - show us what your 43 Transfers got
4) WCU - Placeholder also really - no D in Little Rock - think they will have one - real ranking after Saturday
5) Wofford - Placeholder higher than warranted just so we won't have to move the PorchYappers up too far after they beat William & Mary this week (2024 Note - FUBeAR didn’t really believe this. He was just messing with the CAA peeps by hypin’ the little dogs)
6) Chattanooga - Lot to fix - may include heart transplant / acquisition - not gonna crucify 'em for the loss to UNA as all of FCS did Mercer after a double-digit win over UNA - Lions are good
7) ETSU - Expected more in JaxVegas - think we'll see more as year moves along
8) The Citadel - Expected more in StinkBurro - think we'll see more as year moves along
9) VMI - Expected good D. Didn't expect 0 Offense. Must find a way to score against scholarship Players...this week.