SoCon Week 3 Power Rankings/Pick 'Em.

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I was 5-1 last week. Wow, it looked like I went out on a limb with Furman and I fell a few hundred feet or so. Would have been 4-2 if it wasn't for some later game heroics by Florida State. After last night games, here's where I see it.

1) Samford - Beginning to look like the team to beat.
2) Wofford - Already has two SoCon wins in the barn.
3) Chattanooga - Will get a better feel once the season progresses.
4) Mercer - Bears manhandle former conference foe.
5) East Tennessee State - Looked like they came out a trash compactor powered by the T.
6) Western Carolina - Took the week off.
7) Furman - Another year, another weak start.
8) The Citadel - Almost got one.
9) VMI - Two beatdowns in a row land them here.

This Week's Games
Colgate @ Furman - Raiders rule the day.
East Tennessee State @ VMI - Bucs dominate on the road.
Mercer @ Samford - Bulldogs defend this house.
Wofford @ Wyoming - Terriers get corraled on the road.
Chattanooga @ UT Martin - Mocs go to 3-0
Charleston Southern @ The Citadel - Bulldogs run roughshod over cross-town rival.
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Catamounts claw their way to another win.

[ElCid]

I was 5-1 last week. Wow, it looked like I went out on a limb with Furman and I fell a few hundred feet or so. Would have been 4-2 if it wasn't for some later game heroics by Florida State. After last night games, here's where I see it.

1) Samford - Beginning to look like the team to beat.
2) Wofford - Already has two SoCon wins in the barn.
3) Chattanooga - Will get a better feel once the season progresses.
4) Mercer - Bears manhandle former conference foe.
5) East Tennessee State - Looked like they came out a trash compactor powered by the T.
6) Western Carolina - Took the week off.
7) Furman - Another year, another weak start.
8) The Citadel - Almost got one.
9) VMI - Two beatdowns in a row land them here.

This Week's Games
Colgate @ Furman - Raiders rule the day.
East Tennessee State @ VMI - Bucs dominate on the road.
Mercer @ Samford - Bulldogs defend this house.
Wofford @ Wyoming - Terriers get corraled on the road.
Chattanooga @ UT Martin - Mocs go to 3-0
Charleston Southern @ The Citadel - Bulldogs run roughshod over cross-town rival.
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Catamounts claw their way to another win.

I realize that the power ratings are your own, but how on earth can you rate ETSU at 5 when they got thumped so bad? Or is a 59-3 loss a good performance in your eyes?

[BlackNGoldR3v0lut10n]

I realize that the power ratings are your own, but how on earth can you rate ETSU at 5 when they got thumped so bad? Or is a 59-3 loss a good performance in your eyes?

The 59-3 loss was against a Tennessee team that started playing with a chip on their shoulder. I fully expect Tennessee to be significantly improved over last season.

[Milktruck74]

The 59-3 loss was against a Tennessee team that started playing with a chip on their shoulder. I fully expect Tennessee to be significantly improved over last season.

So 2 wins over P5 oponents?

[The Cats]

Colgate @ Furman
ETSU @ VMI
Mercer @ Samford
Wofford @ Wyoming
Chattanooga @ UT Martin
CSU @ The Citadel
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb



1) Samford
2) Wofford
3) Chattanooga
4) Western Carolina
5) Mercer
6) Furman
7) The Citadel
8) ETSU
9) VMI

[JSUSoutherner]

Colgate @ Furman
ETSU @ VMI
Mercer @ Samford
Wofford @ Wyoming
Chatt @ UTM
Chuck South vs. El Cid Florence
WCU @ GWU

Sam
Wof
Chat
Cid
Mercer
Furman
WCU
ETSU
VMI

[bonarae]

Colgate
ETSU
Samford
Wyoming
Chattanooga
The Citadel
Western Carolina

[wcugrad95]

Colgate @ Furman - this will be very interesting to see how FU responds. Taking them at home.
ETSU @ VMI - Me thinks you need players that match the air-raid to switch to the air-raid
Mercer @ Samford - I expect a bit of a letdown from Samford and Mercer will want to redeem themselves on O from last years game, so closer than many might think
Wofford @ Wyoming - really considered picking the Terriers, but taking the FBS home team over the FCS school that has to travel that far
Chattanooga @ UT Martin - UTC equals last year's win total and gets some revenge on UT-Martin
CSU @ The Citadel - this is my SoCon homerism (we need OOC wins)
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Cats offense rolls, but can the D rebound from their first game performance?

Power Rankings:
1 - Samford: Hodges probably won't throw 4 more picks the rest of the season, and they were the better team who just ran out of gas vs FSU
2 - Wofford: 2-0 in conference play
3 - 7: Who the heck knows. FU needs to find consistency at QB and were totally shell-shocked yesterday but have a ton of talent; UTC had talent last year and this year, and are definitely better (still just don't know how much better yet); Mercer is hard to gauge based on their first 2 games but has talent; WCU is going to have a high-powered offense again but still has to do something on D; ETSU got hammered yesterday, but that was kind of expected and I wouldn't be surprised to see them beat 1 or more of the teams in this grouping.
8 - Citadel: Have to be here because they are 0-2. But the caveat is they were in it to the end of both conference games. If they somehow pulled both off they would be #2 or #3.
9- VMI

3-8 just shows how topsy-turvy I think the SoCon is this season. The difference in finishing maybe tied for 3rd and tied for 6th very well might be 1 game (5-3 in conference versus 4-4). I think the middle teams will beat up on each other.

[Milktruck74]

Furman - Gets back on track.
East Tennessee State - Well, they are playing VMI
Samford - They shot their wad at FSU, but there is still plenty of powder to take out the mini bears
Wyoming - but Woffy keeps it respectable
Chattanooga - Mocs go to 3-0, it ain't pretty or flashy, but they get it done.
Citadel - they have plenty of fight in them to take out CSU
Western Carolina -the SoCon Homer says Cats, but something tells me GW will give them a better game than expected.

[Reign of Terrier]

I was 5-1 last week. Wow, it looked like I went out on a limb with Furman and I fell a few hundred feet or so. Would have been 4-2 if it wasn't for some later game heroics by Florida State. After last night games, here's where I see it.

1) Samford - Beginning to look like the team to beat.
2) Wofford - Already has two SoCon wins in the barn.
3) Chattanooga - Will get a better feel once the season progresses.
4) Mercer - Bears manhandle former conference foe.
5) East Tennessee State - Looked like they came out a trash compactor powered by the T.
6) Western Carolina - Took the week off.
7) Furman - Another year, another weak start.
8) The Citadel - Almost got one.
9) VMI - Two beatdowns in a row land them here.

This Week's Games
Colgate @ Furman - Raiders rule the day.
East Tennessee State @ VMI - Bucs dominate on the road.
Mercer @ Samford - Bulldogs defend this house.
Wofford @ Wyoming - Terriers get corraled on the road.
Chattanooga @ UT Martin - Mocs go to 3-0
Charleston Southern @ The Citadel - Bulldogs run roughshod over cross-town rival.
Western Carolina @ Gardner-Webb - Catamounts claw their way to another win.

1.Samford: can't say anything bad about them now
2. Wofford: one of our better wins. We set a school record for total yardage and we completed 15 of 17 passes. We made VMI look like an NAIA team, which was an improvement from last year
3. Chattanooga. 2-0. Nuff said
4. Citadel: I'm putting them here because they haven't been routed yet and could have easily been 2-0. They have problems though
5. Mercer: don't know enough about them yet
6. Western Carolina
7. ETSU
8. Furman: did not look good. Can't really spin that to a positive. I don't think they are a playoff team this year
9. VMI: I think they need to rethink their program

Picks:
Furman
ETSU
Samford (game of the week!)
Wofford (Wyoming is vulnerable)
Chattanooga
Citadel
Western Carolina

I'm really not confident about any of these picks, except for ETSU-VMI