Poll time

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Here is my top 25 ballot for The Sports Network media poll. The philosophy: I start over more than look at last year (but still take last year into account), meaning I take a look at the first week’s games and pick out the most impressive win for No. 1, in this case Youngstown State’s victory over Big East Pitt, and then try to rate them from there. Certainly, never an exact science.

  • 1. Youngstown State
  • 2. NDSU
  • 3. Sam Houston State
  • 4. Georgia Southern
  • 5. Eastern Washington
  • 6. Montana State
  • 7. Old Dominion
  • 8. James Madison
  • 9. Northern Iowa
  • 10. McNeese State
  • 11. Appalachian State
  • 12. Wofford
  • 13. Montana
  • 14. Indiana State
  • 15. Towson State
  • 16. New Hampshire
  • 17. Delaware
  • 18. Illinois State
  • 19. Stony Brook
  • 20. Liberty
  • 21. Maine
  • 22. Eastern Illinois
  • 23. Stephen F. Austin
  • 24. Central Arkansas
  • 25. William & Mary

 

44 thoughts on “Poll time”

  1. If Youngstown and Eastern Washington get a ranking booster for their wins against Fbs programs, I think you also have to knock Indiana State and N. Iowa down further. N. Iowa lost to a good Iowa team while Indiana State lost to Indiana who may not win a conference game this year. Tough to make ranking moves after week one when the disparity in competition is looked at closely.

    • What is painful about the Indiana State loss if you watched the game was they had a chance to win (or take control of) the game a couple of times. In fact they played better than Indiana the last three quarters of the second half. In fact I feel strongly that we would be talking about a Sycamore win if it was not for three dropped passes and horrible officiating. Even the annoucers were talking about a number of missed calls. Indiana is still a Big 10 school. With that said, most likely would be a middle of the pack Missouri Valley Football Conference School.

      Enjoyed the first hour of the Bison game (I knew they would win so I swiched to the ISU/IU game). But I will agree with other comments that I don’t think it was a really good test. RM looked very slow compared to the Bison. Not nearly enough talent to compete.

  2. Youngstown ? We are gonna kill them just like Colo St. Big week there are tickets on Craigslist Fargo go roadtrip down there people !!

  3. Pitt suspended 6 players hours before the game. I wonder if they would have made a difference.

    Northern Iowa’s offense looked helpless for much of the game but exploded to make it close against WISCONSIN. They play an easy game this week and then travel to Iowa. Iowa does not look very good this year so I expect UNI to have a very good chance at beating them. I am pretty sure Iowa State beats Iowa this weekend.

    Indiana State played a good game and Trent Miles received high praise from the announcers. They had a bunch of chances to make plays and actually win the game but they didn’t make the plays.

    Bison were thoroughly dominant. Robert Morris was a very bad team. Hard to judge just how good all the new players are against a team of their caliber. I’m still expecting a win at Colorado State next weekend though.

    • 5 of the 6 suspended were not starters.YSU was driving for another TD @ the end of the game but ran the clock out.According to what I read on the Pitt blogs it wouldn’t have made much difference.

  4. I think the Bison will play very tough against Colorado State, but to expect a win against them is ridiculous. Bison fans need a reality check and I think CSU will give it to them.

    • CSU is a poor FBS team. After watching highlights of the CSU/CU game, the Gophers were a better team than CSU. Their offense is pathetic. Their defense will give the Bison some trouble but there is no way they are head-and-shoulders above the Bison.

      Bison win

    • Sue trolls not welcome here. It is quite obvious you pay no attention to Bison football. Why would it be ridiculous to expect this team to win given their record against FBS schools? I guess this is the capacious difference between NDSU fans and fans of the area D1 schools. We expect to win regardless of the opponent. That is the tradition here…to expect wins. It is a unique attribute to the area schools, including the U of M. Call us crazy, or delusional or arrogant. If it helps you sleep to label us then I say do it.

    • I love seeing you guys get so bent out of shape over a frivolous comment. Good luck this weekend Bison, I think you’ll need it.

  5. Sean… Reality check? Huh? Look at ndsu track record against FBS. 5-3. You are damn right we expect to win and so does the coaches a nd players.

    HAIL THE BISON

  6. I think this week against CSU will be a good measuring stick for NDSU’s program. How will a top, if not THE top FCS team play against a good (maybe top 60) FBS team?
    This weekend’s game against Robert Morris was a highly attended scrimmage against a junior varsity level program. CSU will be a real test.

      • Hey Bigtime….Saragin rankings have NDSU #80 and Colorado State #124 on 8/30/2012.

        Colorado State is a weak FBS team….period. Yes, they will give the Bison some problems, they should with 22 more scholarships but NDSU will win.

        GO BISON

        • “a weak FBS team…will give the Bison problems.”. I concur. The game next weekend will speak for itself. No excuses.

          • Will give the Bison problems. You don’t even know what that means. Does that mean NDSU wins a close one? If winning close is a loss to you then the Suzies lost to Sioux Falls last year….AGAIN! The Bison win by 13, after CSU “gives them problems”.

  7. I agree with Jeff. Youngstown is worthy of the top spot. I do know our conference schedule is gonna be a bear. NDSU is obviously good. So is Youngstown. UNI will be good as always. Indiana State was worthy. Even the Jacks did alright and the Yotes held their own at the Griz. Clearly SIU and WIU suck pretty bad. Not sure what to think of Missouri State. Looked great for 3 quarters and then had an epic collapse

  8. No matter what the excuse, Youngstown’s win at Pitt is impressive. The first few weeks of the Valley Football season will go a long way in determining how things will shake out as NDSU, N. Iowa, and Youngstown play each other round robin style to start things out. I’m figuring Wisconsin got bored by halftime and almost fell asleep in the second half to let the Panthers make the score look good. I got bored watching it and was looking forward to seeing that game. Indiana St. should have beat Indiana, but their RB Bell can only do so much by himself. As for the Colorado St. game, this is a winnable match up for NDSU. Colorado St. should win this game because they are FBS, but if Youngstown St. can beat Pitt., NDSU should easily beat the Rams, as the Rams are not even relavent in MW.

  9. I watched the NDSU-RMU game on TV. NDSU was very impressive in the 2nd half; not so much in the 1st half. However, while RMU was totally out classed, the game did provide the Mighty Bison roster valuable game experience. Many of those players may never see the field again in a real game this season, but if they do, they at least were exposed to the real deal. The staff also got a chance to evaluate a lot of players under game conditions.

  10. CSU is no where near a top 60 FBS program. They have a terrible offense and an average defense. The game will be a heck of a party for fans as the Bison win by 17.

  11. NDSU #80 Sagarin. CSU #124. UofM (82) needed some ots to beat UNLV (140.) So does it mean anything?

    • nope. But Minnesota is a team that historically beats it’s self. The Bison don’t and CSU is still horrible. The Bison will run away with this one.

    • Sarcasm? I can’t tell. Memphis may be the worse FBS program in the nation over the last three years (4-22).

      • Not sarcasm. Memphis may be bad, but still have like 25% more scholarships. Anytime an FCS beats an FBS, I’m impressed.

  15. Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem is a UND graduate. Usually signatures on petitions that dont pan out as legit are thrown out. In this case it appears the Attorney General is running an agenda.

  16. Go back and read my post about Jemison from a few days ago. Bohl does not kick starters off the team. Willing to let this legal process play with starters involved but quick with the hook if your a backup or walk on. I got called troll by lakes for posting that but this just revalidates my post.

  17. It sounds like the players were employed to gather signatures, but instead decided to forge names found in phone books, and topped it off by signing their own names to confirm the “work” they had done. To claim stenejem has an agenda is ludicrous and makes true bison fans look foolish.

  18. The REAL reason the Fargo media and atty general are out for blood on this minor misdemeaner is……….. THEY ARE GOING TO LOSE THOUSANDS OF ISSUE ADVERTISING FOR THESE 2 PETITIONS..

    however if these sales managers were smart and rational they’d realize they weren’t gonna make it anyways…but it’s not a better front page (news at 6) story.

    That’s the bottom line

  19. Hietkemp (who is giddy like a goat) just admitted on air it cost him some money so we have him on record now

    • The media didn’t make this up. The state of North Dakota held a press conference.

      I thought you of all people would know the meaning of the word “fraud”.

    • He is a bad media rep for ND unless bias and ignorance are suddenly desirable qualities. He is just a color guy for the left and UND.