[fcsfan]

http://www.southernpigskin.com/SoCon/vi ... at-the-top

Link

[goflames87]

Flames are ranked 17 going into this season!

[Sly Fox]

The more respected polls don't come out for awhile but here are a couple more ...

1. App St
2. EWU
3. Ga Sou
4. Delaware
5. Montana St
6. W&M
7. UNI
8. UNH
9. Wofford
10. Villanova
11. Jacksonville St
12. Lehigh
13. Montana
14. NDSU
15. SFA
16. SEMO
17. SC St
18. Bethune-Cookman
19. JMU
20. Penn
21. McNeese St
22. Richmond
23. Colgate
24. Grambling St
25. Liberty

MVP: DeAndre Presley, App St, QB
OFF POY: Bo Levi Mitchell, EWU, QB
DEF POY: Ameet Pall, Wofford, DE
Newcomer: Tray Robinson, RB, Montana St

1. EWU
2. W&M
3. App St
4. UNI
5. Montana St
6. Ga Sou
7. Delaware
8. Montana
9. UCA
10. Wofford
11. UNH
12. SIU
13. McNeese St
14. Murray St
15. WIU
16. Southern Utah
17. Richmond
18. SFA
19. JSU
20. Liberty
21. UTC
22. Lehigh
23. Bethune-Cookman
24. Penn
25. UC Davis

TOP PLAYERS
OFF: DeAndre Presley
DEF: Ameet Pall
Newcomer: Jewell Hampton, RB, SIU

[Sly Fox]

1 Eastern Washington Eagles 1182 (35)
2 Georgia Southern Eagles 1088 (6)
3 William & Mary Tribe 1081 (4)
4 Appalachian State Mountaineers 1059 (3)
5 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens 978
6 Montana State Bobcats 884
7 Wofford Terriers 830
8 North Dakota State Bison 749
9 Northern Iowa Panthers 731
10 New Hampshire Wildcats 703
11 Jacksonville State Gamecocks 633
12 Montana Grizzlies 526
13 Villanova Wildcats 513 (1)
14 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 496
15 Lehigh Mountain Hawks 429
16 Richmond Spiders 375
17 James Madison Dukes 365
18 Chattanooga Mocs 363
19 Liberty Flames 309
20 Cal Poly Mustangs 244
21 South Carolina State Bulldogs 230
22 Southeast Missouri State Redhawks 188
23 Southern Illinois Salukis 187
24 Central Arkansas Bears 163
25 Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 127


Other Receiving Votes:

McNeese State Cowboys 125, Pennsylvania Quakers 114, Western Illinois Leathernecks 100, Southern Utah Thunderbirds 98, Indiana State Sycamores 60, Eastern Kentucky Colonels 57, Old Dominion Monarchs 47, Florida A&M Rattlers 45, Harvard Crimson 44, South Dakota State Jackrabbits 41, Furman Paladins 33, Robert Morris Colonials 27, Jacksonville Dolphins 26, Murray State Racers 22, Weber State Wildcats 19, Elon Phoenix 19

Click Here for Thread

[jcmanson]

I expect to be in the 14-19 range

[Chippy]

NC State, Lehigh, JMU and Stony Brook will provide us tough competition. Robert Morris and CCU won't be easy pickings either. Looking forward to the season already.

[BJWilliams]

The opening stretch of NC State, then RMU and JMU at home and Lehigh on the road really is going to set the course for the season. To have a chance at an At-Large I think we can go no worse than 3-1 over those four games if we take a loss in conference. if we somehow went 4-0 that would really boost the resume (especially if we won convincingly over either Lehigh, RMU or JMU). getting on a streak like we did to open 2008, we should be solidly a top 10 team.

[jbock13]

If we take a loss in the conference, either we win it or we're done.

look at 08 and last year for proof. Whether we should have been in or not.

[Chippy]

We should be good - the question will we be good enough? Psychologically it will be important to beat a higher ranked team (eg Lehigh and JMU) but we still need to not have a letdown in conference as has been our recent history. This has the makings of a very good year if we can play with consistency. I believe that will hinge on the defense. Offensively we have the guns even though the Oline will be relatively untested. Consistent defense wins the close games when the O sputters. We may not be the "Steel Curtain" but we do have a core of good defenders to build around.

[LUnpretty11]

If we take a loss in the conference, either we win it or we're done. Look at 08 and last year for proof. Whether we should have been in or not.

Couldn't disagree more. Our 08 schedule and this years schedule are not even comparable. We did not play an FBS in 08. We only played 1 top 25 FCS team, which came at the end of the season. We're playing 2 top 25 FCS teams plus a good FBS from a BCS conference. If Beej's scenario of 4-0 ends up happening, then we can afford to lose a game in conference. I'm not saying that is preferable... but if we will be in the top 10 and I'd say definitely deserving of a top 5 spot with a 4-0 start. If we go 10-1 with the only loss coming in conference then the BSC will send 2 to the playoffs without a doubt. If another BSC member shows up and has a good record, then we could lose an OOC game and conference game and still go with an at-large.

[TH Spangler]

?? No JMU in the The Sporting News poll ??

[BJWilliams]

Some of these I think after number 1 they just put them in a hat and draw until they have 25...

[LUminary]

Some of these I think after number 1 they just put them in a hat and draw until they have 25...

Preseason FCS polls aren't very accurate, and mostly based on last season's results or reputation. The major polls (coaches and media) get better as the season goes along, although I question credibility when non-athletic-scholarship programs (glorified D IIIs) get voted in based solely on record, but the preseason polls aren't worth much other than conversation pieces.

[flameshaw]

I am surprised that Stony Brook is not getting any love.

[Chris Lang]

Stony Brook did nothing out of conference and got destroyed by Liberty in its biggest game of the year last year. Big South is still perceived as an extremely weak conference. Gotta put something else on that resume before you get any sort of national recognition.

[flameshaw]

Understand, I guess I was just considering the incoming talent from Hofstra, etc. might help them some. However as someone else said, this is probably more about last year than what is expected this year.

[Chris Lang]

It is ... as are the polls at the FBS level. Really hard to predict how well the new players are going to mesh in and which guys will be impact players. No one really knew what Cam Newton would do at Auburn last year, and that's why they were outside the top 20 when the season started. I'm an advocate of not starting polls until the first weekend of October, but I know that'll never happen.

[jcmanson]

Phil Steele has released his top 40:
http://www.gomocs.com//pdf8/772775.pdf

He will have a writeup on us on his website on Saturday July 23rd.

1) William & Mary
2) Eastern Washington
3) Georgia Southern
4) Northern Iowa
5) Appalachian St
6) Delaware
7) James Madison
8) Montana St
9) Wofford
10) Sacramento St
11) Jacksonville St
12) Montana
13) Central Arkansas
14) New Hampshire
15) Stony Brook
16) Lehigh
17) Southern Illinois
18) South Carolina St
19) Chattanooga
20) North Dakota St
21) Murray St
22) Sam Houston St
23) Massachusetts
24) Southern Utah
25) Jackson St
26) Albany
27) Colgate
28) UT Martin
29) Harvard
30) Indiana St
31) Liberty
32) Florida A&M
33) Jacksonville
34) Grambling
35) McNeese St
36) Richmond
37) Youngstown St
38) UC Davis
39) SF Austin
40) Bethune-Cookman

[Jbrown]

We can and should win our conference. If our team can maintain their focus and keep from having a meltdown in one of our games late in the season which has been so common place the last couple of seasons we should be good to go. Overall I like our team this year and I think Liberty is on the verge of taking a step into the ranks of the FCS elite.

[BigAl57]

Phil Steele has released his top 40:
http://www.gomocs.com//pdf8/772775.pdf

He will have a writeup on us on his website on Saturday July 23rd.

1) William & Mary
2) Eastern Washington
3) Georgia Southern
4) Northern Iowa
5) Appalachian St
6) Delaware
7) James Madison
8) Montana St
9) Wofford
10) Sacramento St
11) Jacksonville St
12) Montana
13) Central Arkansas
14) New Hampshire
15) Stony Brook
16) Lehigh
17) Southern Illinois
18) South Carolina St
19) Chattanooga
20) North Dakota St
21) Murray St
22) Sam Houston St
23) Massachusetts
24) Southern Utah
25) Jackson St
26) Albany
27) Colgate
28) UT Martin
29) Harvard
30) Indiana St
31) Liberty
32) Florida A&M
33) Jacksonville
34) Grambling
35) McNeese St
36) Richmond
37) Youngstown St
38) UC Davis
39) SF Austin
40) Bethune-Cookman

Where's V'Nova? did they jump to D1?

[jcmanson]

Nova is and always has been D1 FCS. They are not in his top 40. They lost a lot.

[BigAl57]

Nova is and always has been D1 FCS. They are not in his top 40. They lost a lot.

JC - sorry meant did they jump to BCS. knew they were D1 FCS. my bad

[jcmanson]

Nova is and always has been D1 FCS. They are not in his top 40. They lost a lot.

JC - sorry meant did they jump to BCS. knew they were D1 FCS. my bad

No problem. Just a pet peeve of mine. They have been offered a Big East invite but haven't accepted it as of now. UMass is jumping to the MAC after this year but is still competing in the CAA. They are ineligible for the playoffs this year.

[jcmanson]

Even if Nova lost a lot, not having them in the top 40 is as dumb as having Liberty at 31 and SBU at 15...all three happened.

I can't argue with him. It's a preseason poll. It's a crap-shoot.

[jcmanson]

Even if Nova lost a lot, not having them in the top 40 is as dumb as having Liberty at 31 and SBU at 15...all three happened.

I can't argue with him. It's a preseason poll. It's a crap-shoot.

Well, that's true, to a degree. If he put Presby in the top 10 would you argue?

haha of course. But I can see Stony Brook finishing in the top 15. I don't think it will happen, but I could envision it.

I could also see us going 7-4 which would probably put us around 31.