My SoCon rankings after week 4

[GSU Eagle]

Appalachian surprised me some by stomping Citadel yesterday, so they solidified my belief they are the team to beat this year in the SoCon. Furman continues to win in games they could easily have lost. I am beginning to have some real questions about how good Furman really is. Western Carolina -- it is hard to say. They lost a game which would have told me alot vs. Nicholls St. due to the hurricane, so I am not exactly sure how good they are either. The Eagles finally showed up to play ball yesterday, but the sentiments that Chattanooga had arrived as a contender were far overstated, at least from what I saw of their swiss cheese defense yesterday.

So here goes:
1. Appalachian St. I believe a clear #1.
2. Western Carolina. I keep them at #2 but the distance between them and Appalachian got bigger this week.
3. Wofford. I move them ahead of Furman, even though Furman won yesterday.
4. Furman. Still don't really know if this is a real good Furman team
5. GSU. Beating Chattanooga does not jump them over anyone, but the gap between Furman and GSU got less this week in my mind.
6. Elon. Big gap between #5 and #6, but Elon did get a nice win.
7. Chattanooga. I really expected a better Chattanooga team than what I saw yesterday.
8. Citadel. Getting hammered at home vs. Appalachian yesterday did not show me much at all.

Thoughts?

[youwouldno]

Elon is not better than UTC. Speaking of UTC, they've been helpless against the run for a long time so GSU doesn't deserve great props for beating them... Furman's win over Hofstra was significant more because of Hofstra's offense than because they were #17. When we needed to stop them, we did, which was not the case against Pitt, ASU, or JMU last year.

Wofford and App St. play @ Furman, which gives the Paladins a huge edge. If App St. is so great this year they'll get to prove it in a couple weeks. WCU's game vs Nicholls was going to tell us more about them but with that canceled, the Catamounts are difficult to place.

I won't rank the teams, but I'd say Furman has the best offense, WCU the best defense, while maybe App St. has the best balance. GSU will improve as the year goes along and Wofford remains solid... the bottom three are better than in the past so upsets are quite possible in conference play.

One thing there is not, in the SoCon, is any kind of clarity.

[fuEMO]

I think GSU Eagle is so biased against FU he can't think straight.

I watched the GSU/UTC game when I got home from the FU/Hofstra. If you think your win over a sloppy, self-destructing UTC team closed the gap between GSU and Furman. You'll be in for a big surprise in November.

I agree with youwouldknow, APP and Woffy have to come play in the Dungeon. Furman will play 3 spread offenses 3 in a row before APP. I think they will be ready. The question is will APP be ready for Furman's offense. 102 offensive plays, 15 of 22 on third down conversions against Hofstra. That's pretty damn good against anybody.

[OL FU]

Elon is still at the bottom.
Chattanooga has the potential to put it all together in a game and win a surprise or two. But I don't think you will see alot of consistency.

I would put ASU in the number one spot right now but I don't think I would put them way ahead of everyone else. They have won by some large margins. It may change but I have seen nothing from the Citadel to think they will have many close games. Coastal? Who knows? I think they still had their head in the clouds from JMU. My biggest worry with ASU is they get next week off before they come to Paladin stadium.

Georgia Southern looked better but I don't think we will know until the Western Game. I think Chattonooga will be too up and down and therefore judging a team on a game with them will be difficult.

As the two earlier posts stated the Nichols St game would have told us a lot about Western. But I agree with youwouldknow, the appear to have the best defense in the conference, although I don't think the Mountaineers are that far behind.

Wofford, once again it is hard to tell until we learn more about GSU. Wofford has Elon, Chattanooga and VMI before they get to Appalachian.

Furman, I feel better after the Hofstra win. Yep, it was close and I thought it would be. Considering the offense Hofstra had last year and their expectations this year, 380 yards and 28 offensive points isn't great but it is not horrible. Furman cut down on the turnovers but the 2 we had cost us 14 points.


I will rate the teams subject to wild weekly adjustments.


1. Appalachian State
2. Western Carolina
3. Furman
4 Wofford
5. Georgia Southern
6. Chattanooga
7 Citadel
8 Elon

That is how I rate them now, not how I expect they will finish.
.

[GSU Eagle]

My ratings could change dramatically from week to week also. My ratings are how I see it after week 4, not necessarily how I see it finishing.

You Furman fans have no worry. I know our defense will have big trouble stopping Furman's offense. What we GSU fans are hoping is that our offense is beginning to hit its stride also. Time will tell.

[Baldy]

Appalachian surprised me some by stomping Citadel yesterday, so they solidified my belief they are the team to beat this year in the SoCon. Furman continues to win in games they could easily have lost. I am beginning to have some real questions about how good Furman really is. Western Carolina -- it is hard to say. They lost a game which would have told me alot vs. Nicholls St. due to the hurricane, so I am not exactly sure how good they are either. The Eagles finally showed up to play ball yesterday, but the sentiments that Chattanooga had arrived as a contender were far overstated, at least from what I saw of their swiss cheese defense yesterday.

So here goes:
1. Appalachian St. I believe a clear #1.
2. Western Carolina. I keep them at #2 but the distance between them and Appalachian got bigger this week.
3. Wofford. I move them ahead of Furman, even though Furman won yesterday.
4. Furman. Still don't really know if this is a real good Furman team
5. GSU. Beating Chattanooga does not jump them over anyone, but the gap between Furman and GSU got less this week in my mind.
6. Elon. Big gap between #5 and #6, but Elon did get a nice win.
7. Chattanooga. I really expected a better Chattanooga team than what I saw yesterday.
8. Citadel. Getting hammered at home vs. Appalachian yesterday did not show me much at all.

Thoughts?

I believe the App/Cit game was much much closer than you realize. ASU scored 17 points in the final quarter after Cit imploded with 2 trunovers inside it's own 6 yardline and a fumble at the App's 11 returned for a 89 yard TD.

[WUTNDITWAA]

I believe the App/Cit game was much much closer than you realize. ASU scored 17 points in the final quarter after Cit imploded with 2 trunovers inside it's own 6 yardline and a fumble at the App's 11 returned for a 89 yard TD.

It may be closer, but I'd not go as far to say "much much". That said, I don't think Appalachian is that far above the rest of the league. First, we've got to straighten out all facets of our kicking game. It cost us a touchdown at El Cid, and took a total of seven points off the board in our game against Coastal. Not to mention a missed FG at Kansas, and on and on...If it's not straightened out I don't see us running the Furman, GSU, Wofford gauntlet unscathed -- losing one or two of those three. If it does come around, we're going to be okay, but to win those three, and in a row (with LSU on its heels) is still a tall order. Theres a lot of football yet to be played, but at 3-1, 1-0 we're at our best case scanerio a month into the season. So, we got that going for us, which is nice. :cool:

My rankings

1. ASU -- Will our kcking game wind up kicking us in the rear?
2. Furman -- Survive and advance
3. WCU -- Nine games. Has to win out.
4. Wofford -- Not much flash, just there, hanging around.
5 GaSou -- They won't be down long (down being a relative term).
6. Chatty -- and below (the Professor and Mary Ann, or in earlier episodes...and the rest)
7. Elon -- NCA&T? Come on. That's almost a moral loss.
8. The ghost of East Tennessee -- A three point favorite against El Cid.
9. The Citadel -- Ninth in an eight-team league.

[WCU LawCat]

8. The ghost of East Tennessee -- A three point favorite against El Cid.
:nod:

Hurry and post your bottom 10 in the smack room. The wait is killing me!

[SoCon48]

I believe the App/Cit game was much much closer than you realize. ASU scored 17 points in the final quarter after Cit imploded with 2 trunovers inside it's own 6 yardline and a fumble at the App's 11 returned for a 89 yard TD.

Take a look at the stats and you won't say that. ASU killed them. Subs played much of the 4th quarter.

[Go Lehigh TU owl]

From a Yankee perspective App State has really impressed me so far this year. They along with UNH have caught my attention more so than any other team '05.

[AppGuy04]

I think I'll have to go with this order as of now. I'm a little biased, but I think App is gonna take it this year, as long as the D shows up consistently. Thus far, they've only allowed a little over 10 points per game to I-AA opponents, and ofcourse the offense will always be there with Richie. Lets just hope Furman's stable of running backs can be stopped on the 8th.

1. Appalachian State
2. Furman
3. Western Carolina
4. Wofford
5. Georgia Southern
6. Chattanooga
7. Citadel
8. Elon

[Baldy]

Take a look at the stats and you won't say that. ASU killed them. Subs played much of the 4th quarter.

Stats don't mean squat. If you look at just the stats, GSU beat Furman and UNH last season. There is a reason for scoreboards.

The game was much closer than the score indicates.

[youwouldno]

App St. didn't stop Furman's offense too much last year and still won. But this is in Greenville... no offense to App but I think the jury is out on how good their defense really is. It's better, to be sure, but App gave up a good number of yards against EKU, and EKU is no Furman offensively.

With the three tough conference games in a row (@Furman, GSU, @Wofford), App would have to be thrilled with winning 2/3. The problem for App St. is that the 2 I-A losses (I'll go ahead and assume LSU wins) mean they essentially have to.

A 7-4 App St. with losses to Kansas, LSU, Furman, and another SoCon team would be playoff worthy in my opinion... if the SoCon losses were close I'd say it's not even a question. The committee, however, might disagree. Lot of pressure on the Mountaineers.

note: when all is said and done, App St. might well have beaten 2 I-AA conference champs-- EKU and CCU. And of course they only play 4 home games. Should App go 7-4, it would put the supposed changes in the playoff selection process to the test.

[DotCat]

3. WCU -- Nine games. Has to win out.

I totally agree, with only nine game, WCU has to win out to make the play-offs.

[walliver]

I totally agree, with only nine game, WCU has to win out to make the play-offs.

Since the NCAA is allowing Tulane to play football this year (waiving the rule that players must attend classes at the school they play for), I would hope the selection committee would show a little leniency with WCU and other I-AA schools affected by the hurricanes.

Winning out for WCU would guarantee a bid, but I think WCU could go 6-1 in the SoCcon and most likely receive an at-large bid. In fact, 6-1 may be enough to win the conference this year.

[Black and Gold Express]

We get a week off to focus on Furman. The timing couldn't have been better. It prevented a look-ahead to FU and GSU, and gives us more than enough time to focus on Furman.

ASU has looked very solid so far, a pleasant surprise to me so far. Furman on the other hand has looked shaky. Top teams would not need last-second miracles and overtime at home to beat lesser caliber teams. IMO, ASU will easily be the best team Furman will face up to that point in the season. It won't be easy, but I'm feeling very confident right now that we have what it takes to leave Furman with a fourth win in a row against them.

[OL FU]

We get a week off to focus on Furman. The timing couldn't have been better. It prevented a look-ahead to FU and GSU, and gives us more than enough time to focus on Furman.

ASU has looked very solid so far, a pleasant surprise to me so far. Furman on the other hand has looked shaky. Top teams would not need last-second miracles and overtime at home to beat lesser caliber teams. IMO, ASU will easily be the best team Furman will face up to that point in the season. It won't be easy, but I'm feeling very confident right now that we have what it takes to leave Furman with a fourth win in a row against them.

I agree ASU will be the best team on Furman's schedule to date. So it should be another close one. We have done ok in close ones so far. I can't help but believe this one has been on all of FU's players minds since last year. I don't think number four will happen.

PS Would you have my say anything different :)

[Black and Gold Express]

I agree ASU will be the best team on Furman's schedule to date. So it should be another close one. We have done ok in close ones so far. I can't help but believe this one has been on all of FU's players minds since last year. I don't think number four will happen.

PS Would you have my say anything different :)

Well, yeah, I would have you say it different. Believing it may be another story though. ;)

[SoCon48]

Stats don't mean squat. If you look at just the stats, GSU beat Furman and UNH last season. There is a reason for scoreboards.

The game was much closer than the score indicates.

Let's see. Stats don't mean squat. Score doesn't mean squat.
Guess just opinions do.
Truth is, ASU DID beat the dogcrap out of Citadel. LIke you said, there is a reason for scoreboards. ASU 45 Citadel 13 Nuff said. :cool:

Or else last year's GSU-ASU game was closer than it looked. Yeah right.

[Eagle_77]

I will take a shot at ranking teams as of now although I feel that things will probally look different come seasons end.

1. ASU- Seems to be the best team so far hands down. But ASU's schedule is a monster. This team goes to Furman, comes home to GSU, and then travels to Wofford, back home for UTC, heads to LSU, and then battles for the Old Mountain Jug at home against WCU. The only easy looking game is UTC but lets not forget UTC beat App St last year. If they survive this and make it to the playoffs then everyone better look out. This team could just as easily not make the playoffs though with this 6 game stretch.

2. WCU- I agree that the jury is still out but going with what I have it’s hard to put Furman ahead of WCU with how the Clash of the Purples sorted out. This team may have the best schedule to make a run with only GSU, Wofford, and App St left on the schedule that looks to pose a threat. The only thing that could hurt is that they travel to both GSU and App St. Neither GSU nor Wofford has had much success throwing the ball so WCU’s Defense may be able to take these two and in the Rivalry game with App St anything could happen. If WCU wins 2 out of the 3 I think they make the playoffs.

3. Furman- This team is my biggest question mark in all of I-AA football. There offense seems to finally be kicking but their defense still looks real shaky. They won another close one and put up a bunch of points against Hofstra but they really don’t seem to have a defense either. The offense has playmakers and will keep them in every game but their defense must improve to win out in the SoCon. They are lucky to have both App St and Wofford at home but have to travel to GSU. I think they must win out the SoCon to make the playoffs.

4. Wofford- They have only really played two games to judge them by and one was I-A West Virginia and the other is GSU and who really knows with them either. I do think that from the GSU game this team looked a lot like the 2003 team with great ball control, not committing turnovers, and a hard nosed defense. Although they already have one big conference win over GSU the still have a tough road ahead. They travel to Chattanooga, WCU, and Furman. They will have to use great ball control and keep Chattanooga’s and Furman’s offenses off the field to take these games and the WCU seems to be a low scoring affair that I believe could go either way. The App St game in Boone seems to be a tough one because for one it is in Boone and two I don’t think Wofford can shut down both the run and pass of this offense. Once again the key to this game is ball control. If Wofford gets beat in any of these games in TOP then they will most likely loss the game.

5. GSU- Here is another question mark team. The offense looked much improved and did stuff we have not done all year but once again it was against a team that still has never won a game in Statesboro. The defense still gave up way to many yards and suffered yet another loss on the DL so I don’t see us stopping many teams at this point. We have WCU and Furman at home as well as the Citadel for homecoming in which the Citadel one the last time we scheduled them for this event. Team that with trips to App St and a seemingly much improved South Dakota St team and the outlook could be questionable. This is another team that has to win out its conference schedule to make the playoffs in my book

6. UTC- Well I think we got a little better look at the Mocs this past weekend but this team has some talent. They could upset a few teams and really stir the pot in the SoCon. Their schedule is too harsh to really make a run at the SoCon with trips to Liberty and App St left. But the good news is that they get Wofford, WCU, and Furman all at home. There seems to be a little more separation here between Chattanooga and the teams ahead of them but this team has a very important roll in the SoCon this year with playing the possible spoiler team. This program certainly has made strides in the right direction and can hopefully improve as the soon continues.

7. Citadel- This looks to be a very rough year for the Citadel with a 1-2 start their schedule does not get any easier. They still travel to WCU, Mississippi, GSU, and Chattanooga while also having home dates against Furman and Wofford. This team will most likely win 2 games and maybe three this year with that schedule. Their new coach does seem to have the program going in the right direction but it will take a few years to make them a major week in and week out threat.

8. Elon- 3-1 is a nice start for Elon but it looks like the winning stops right here. The still have home games against GSU, UTC, and App St but travel to Wofford, Furman, WCU, and The Citadel. The trips to Wofford, Furman, and WCU are all part of a three game road stretch. They will do good to win 2 or 3 of these with only none or one likely.

[OL FU]

Eagle 77,

Good post. I only really disagree with one point. I don't think FU has to win out in the SoCon to make the playoffs. If we beat Gardner Webb this weekend. One more loss in the SoCon leaves us 9-2 and we are in. Two losses and we are 8-3 three and it will probably depend on how the conference standings look. If we get in at 8-3 it may because we started rank high pre-season and dropping us in the polls was tough.

I am still confused on Western and the Playoffs. Rules are you need 7 D-I wins for an at large bid ( I think) . They had nine D-I games at the start of the season. They lost one and one was cancelled. If my math is right, one more loss and they only have six.