Biggest Surprises?

[Preferred Walk-On]

With just over half the season finished (6 games in with 5 remaining for most teams), just wondering what teams are the biggest surprises (good or bad).

I am torn, because it seems like almost all of the teams that have made perhaps an unexpected jump have mostly played the weaker parts of their schedules. For the teams that have dropped precipitously, it is unclear and somewhat debatable in most cases whether or not that team deserved its ranking in the first place. For my money, I would have to say my biggest surprise is Youngstown State. I don't know if losing to Butler was just the demoralizing loss that sunk the remainder of the season, but I truly did not think they would be a team that could only manage to beat Southern Illinois by 3.

Below is a listing of the AGS preseason rankings compared to the AGS rankings after week 7:

BOLD CAPS = Moved from NR to Top 25 (or vice versa)
Bold italics = Moved from ORV to Ranked (or vice versa)
bold lowercase = Moved from NR to ORV (or vice versa)



Rank
Preseason
Week 7


1
North Dakota State
North Dakota State


2
James Madison
South Dakota State


3
South Dakota State
James Madison


4
Kennesaw State
Kennesaw State


5
Sam Houston State
California-Davis


6
Eastern Washington
Illinois State


7
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Eastern Washington


8
Jacksonville State
TOWSON


9
Weber State
Jacksonville State


10
SAMFORD
Weber State


11
Northern Iowa
McNeese State


12
Delaware
Elon


13
Wofford
Maine


14
Elon
Wofford


15
Illinois State
Colgate


16
Central Arkansas
Stony Brook


17
Nicholls State
RHODE ISLAND


18
Furman
Central Arkansas


19
North Carolina A&T
PRINCETON


20
Stony Brook
EAST TENNESSEE STATE


21
Western Illinois
IDAHO STATE


22
VILLANOVA
Sam Houston State


23
SOUTHERN UTAH
Northern Iowa


24
YOUNGSTOWN STATE
Delaware


25
McNeese State
Nicholls State


ORV




26
austin peay
north dakota


27
Northern Arizona
dartmouth


28
Montana
North Carolina A&T


29
South Dakota
missouri state


30
idaho
Montana State


31
san diego
chattanooga


32
richmond
South Dakota


33
yale
florida a&m


34
sacramento state
Furman


35
grambling state
Northern Arizona


36
Colgate
Montana


37
monmouth
Western Illinois


38
Maine



39
Montana State



40
California-Davis

[ST_Lawson]

It's not my vote, but I do want to give a shout out to Missouri State.
Curb-stomped Northern Arizona then beat a really good Illinois State team. They're not world-beaters yet, but they definitely took a step up this year. They've done much better than I expected them to.

[Redbird 4th & short]

great thread .. too hard to choose. Can you split thread to Most Favorable and Unfavorable Surprises ?

Agree some teams have played easier or tougher part of schedule. Would be interesting to do this again after regular season or playoffs end.

Unfavorable Surprise .. As much grief as I've given UNH AD Scarano, I thought for sure UNH would be top 8-10 this year with everything they had coming back and their history. So UNH gets my vote.

Favorable Surprise .. toss up between UC Davis and Towson, so I'll go with Towson, since Colonial is tougher conference

But UNH gets my vote overall.


Great thread !!!

[Professor Chaos]

The biggest surprise has to be Princeton with their QB lovechild of Joe Montana and Barry Sanders.... doesn't it?

[Redbird 4th & short]

The biggest surprise has to be Princeton with their QB lovechild of Joe Montana and Barry Sanders.... doesn't it?
maybe to Mrs Montana and Mrs Sanders .. but not to World.

[World]

The biggest surprise has to be Princeton with their QB lovechild of Joe Montana and Barry Sanders.... doesn't it?

ha!

same guy

#2 in FCS in Passing Efficiency
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fcs/current/individual/8

#1 in FCS in Rushing yards per Carry
https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fcs/current/individual/907

[TheKingpin28]

The biggest surprise has to be Princeton with their QB lovechild of Joe Montana and Barry Sanders.... doesn't it?That's disrespect to John Lovett. Those guys are not even in the same class as him. Hell, I've heard rumors of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers taking advice from him on how to not be a complete bust. xcoffeex

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[World]

That's disrespect to John Lovett. Those guys are not even in the same class as him. Hell, I've heard rumors of Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers taking advice from him on how to not be a complete bust. xcoffeex

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Let's save this quote from ThKingpin28 to show his continued attacks on a college football player, something which I have rarely seen in decades of following college football

[grizband]

I voted for East Tennessee State, based primarily on their record over the past three years (2-9; 5-6; 4-7), compared to this year (6-1), and conference expectations coming into the season (picked 8th in coaches and media poll).

[TheKingpin28]

Let's save this quote from ThKingpin28 to show his continued attacks on a college football player, something which I have rarely seen in decades of following college footballYes, cause that is EXACTLY what I am doing.

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[RootinFerDukes]

Although many listed are surprising, I would have to pick UNH because after a 13 or 14 year playoff streak, it is shocking to see them be completely noncompetitive both with and without Trevor Knight (the CAA Preseason Offensive POTY).

[MTfan4life]

I picked Towson because their offense was beyond terrible last season. They didn't score 20 in a game until November! They pick up baby Flacco and now they're arguably one of the top 10 offenses in the country. Their schedule is downright nasty after this next weekend, though. Final four are @Delaware, vs. Maine, @Elon, and vs. James Madison.

[Ivytalk]

Rhody keeps winning when it seems like they’re supposed to lose. That was my pick.

[Preferred Walk-On]

Just curious about the 3 "Other" votes. Full disclosure, I had more teams on the list for the poll; however, a poll is limited to 10 choices.

[SochorField]

I voted Davis. But re-thinking this decision.

Idaho State has been even worse than Davis from 2010-2017, and that's saying something.

Idaho State 23-67 .255 winning %
UC Davis 31-58 .348 winning %

UC Davis being ranked in the Top-10 is remarkable, but Idaho State being in the Top-25 might be even more so.

(I only analyzed these two teams - some others might be more surprising!)

[POD Knows]

Yes, cause that is EXACTLY what I am doing.

Sent from my SM-J727V using TapatalkThis World guy is so freaking slow, he doesn't even know when he is being smacked down.

[MSUBobcat]

Let's save this quote from ThKingpin28 to show his continued attacks on a college football player, something which I have rarely seen in decades of following college football

I'll save this quote to show when a person is completely oblivious that the smack is directed at himself and thinks it's aimed at a completely different person, something which I've only seen in decades of stupid people.

[POD Knows]

I had Idaho State in this poll, but there have been a lot of surprises, both positive and negative this year. It was a tough call.

[BEAR]

SLC surprises:

SFA is laden with FBS transfers. Thought they would be competitive.
SLU- appeared to be an early season beast. That went down hill quickly.
Nicholls- is one game away from elimination. whoda thunk!
Sam or UCA starting over with so much talent lost are still in not only the conference race but spots in the playoffs.

[Go Green]

Just curious about the 3 "Other" votes.

I gave one of those votes to Dartmouth. Not a surprise to me, but should be a surprise to the rest of you. Picked sixth in the Ivy preseason poll, and given "3.5" on the AGS' over/under predictions.

And now we're making a strong case for a Lambert Cup.

[TheKingpin28]

He's making me look smart and that is hard to do
This World guy is so freaking slow, he doesn't even know when he is being smacked down.

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[Bisonoline]

Let's save this quote from ThKingpin28 to show his continued attacks on a college football player, something which I have rarely seen in decades of following college football

You serious Clark?????

[IBleedYellow]

Let's save this quote from ThKingpin28 to show his continued attacks on a college football player, something which I have rarely seen in decades of following college footballAll in favor of renaming World to either "JBB", "MplsHarvard" or "IvyTownMocs"?

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[TheKingpin28]

All in favor of renaming World to either "JBB", "MplsHarvard" or "IvyTownMocs"?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using TapatalkAt least Chattanooga participates in the fcs playoffs, that does not mean they show up for them though.

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[POD Knows]

All in favor of renaming World to either "JBB", "MplsHarvard" or "IvyTownMocs"?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using TapatalkSecond

[Preferred Walk-On]

Hey, we beat Craig to this...barely. Doesn't have biggest disappointments though.

http://www.fcs.football/cfb/story.asp?i=20181019102221473887804