Matt

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs FCS Coaches' Poll RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS 1 North Dakota State (26) 4-0 650 1 2 Eastern Washington 4-1 623 2 3 Coastal Carolina 5-0 582 3 4 McNeese State 2-1 558 4 5 Villanova 3-1 541 5 6 New Hampshire 3-1 504 7 7 Montana 3-2 502 6 8 Jacksonville State 3-1 454 8 9 South Dakota State 3-1 439 9 10 Northern Iowa 2-2 411 10 11 Southeastern Louisiana 3-2 390 11 12 Youngstown State 3-1 331 12 13 William & Mary 4-1 326 13 14 Chattanooga 2-2 269 15 15 Montana State 3-2 267 17 16 Southern Illinois 4-1 250 16 17 Bethune-Cookman 3-1 230 14 18 Eastern Kentucky 4-0 224 18 19 Fordham 4-1 198 19 20 Tennessee State 4-1 161 20 21 Richmond 2-2 137 21 22 Illinois State 3-0 121 22 23 Missouri State 3-1 71 24 24 Charleston Southern 5-0 60 25 25 Northern Arizona 3-2 19 NR Dropped out: No. 23 Liberty. Others receiving votes: Alcorn State 17, Stephen F. Austin 17, Albany 15, Harvard 15, Indiana State 14, Sam Houston State 14, South Dakota 11, Yale 9, Delaware 5, Southeast Missouri State 4, North Carolina A&T 3, Alabama State 2, Bucknell 1, Liberty 1, Samford 1, San Diego 1, Towson 1, Western Carolina 1.

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/misc/cfoot225poll.aspx The Sports Network FCS Top 25 College Football Poll Team (First-place votes) 2014 Record Points Previous Rank 1. North Dakota State Bison (153) 4-0 4017 1 2. Eastern Washington Eagles (8) 4-1 3865 2 3. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 5-0 3501 3 4. New Hampshire Wildcats 3-1 3408 4 5. McNeese State Cowboys 2-1 3274 5 6. Villanova Wildcats 3-1 3249 6 7. Montana Grizzlies 3-2 3000 7 8. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 3-1 2888 8 9. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 3-1 2710 9 10. Northern Iowa Panthers 2-2 2489 10 11. Southeastern Louisiana Lions 3-2 2308 11 12. William & Mary Tribe 4-1 1999 12 13. Montana State Bobcats 3-2 1902 13 14. Chattanooga Mocs 2-2 1661 14 15. Southern Illinois Salukis 4-1 1615 17 16. Fordham Rams 4-1 1614 16 17. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats 3-1 1479 15 18. Youngstown State Penguins 3-1 1351 18 19. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 4-0 1222 19 20. Richmond Spiders 2-2 1066 20 21. Tennessee State Tigers 4-1 858 21 22. Illinois State Redbirds 3-0 600 23 23. Albany Great Danes 4-0 453 24 24. Delaware Blue Hens 3-1 343 25 25. Indiana State Sycamores 3-1 270 NR Others receiving votes: Missouri State 147, Charleston Southern 146, Northern Arizona 142, Sam Houston State 105, Southeast Missouri State 72, Liberty 62, North Carolina A&T 61, Alabama State 57, Harvard 50, Alcorn State 40, Yale 39, Samford 25, Maine 24, Northwestern State 22, South Dakota 20, Furman 20, Eastern Illinois 19, Towson 17, Bucknell 16, Presbyterian 15, South Carolina State 13, Saint Francis-PA 11, Bryant 10, Abilene Christian 9, Wofford 9, Western Carolina 8, Tennessee Tech 5, James Madison 4, Jacksonville 4, Sacred Heart 3, San Diego 3, Central Arkansas 2, Lafayette 2, Stephen F. Austin 1

They need two conference wins by the time Weber comes to town on Nov 8th. I think that is doable. If they only have 1 win at that time there will be blood in the water, and it will be very difficult to get back in the boat.

Great to see the improvements on both sides of the ball this week. If they are gonna lose, it is nice to have a conference loss we don't have to be ashamed of for a change. Regarding the QB situation, I go back and forth on this. On the one hand, you would be hard pressed to convince me that if it were a linebacker playing as poorly as Joe has been that bubba would allow him to continue to be a starter. That said, I don't think the alternative would be a significant improvement. They know what they have in both guys so I guess they are just gonna go with it. However, someone wrote earlier that Joe has the potential to be a "dominant" qb at this level? He is so freaking far off from that kind of hyperbole it is laughable to read that. Joe is scarcely holding on to a starting job with a team that is in the lower half of the conference, let alone on a path to dominance at the fcs level. Joe hasn't shown he can execute the most basic of qb duties on even a proficient level yet. The bar is set so low now, if he simply would stop throwing it to the other team we would probably award him the game ball.

Do you consider a 21pt win "close"?

The problem is, around here what we consider to be a "close" game has morphed into a 3 possession loss. So in that vein I do think this game will be "close" next year.

MSU-27 UND-10 Weather will be a factor, but not enough to give the dome team an advantage.

Have to smile when you see the opponent giving UND props for keeping this one "closer" with a 30pt loss and giving up 40+ points. Feels like UND is a cute little puppy chasing it's tail...no threat to anyone.

With all the talk about ball control, TOP, and defense...it raises a question. How many first downs will the offense need to accumulate, and how many first downs will the defense need to limit, for UND to be in position to win?

Alternative conclusion: playing teams of lesser quality than MSU and SJSU has gotten UND two wins, regardless of game plan. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." Mike Tyson

that game wasn't a squeaker. MSU led 37-7 going into the 4th and it never got closer than a 2 possession game after that.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs/sports-network Rankings Last Updated - September 22, 2014 The Sports Network RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS 1 North Dakota State (150) 4-0 3966 1 2 Eastern Washington (9) 3-1 3819 2 3 Coastal Carolina 4-0 3405 5 4 New Hampshire 2-1 3292 7 5 McNeese State 1-1 3207 6 6 Villanova 2-1 3180 8 7 Montana 2-2 3008 4 8 Jacksonville State 2-1 2825 9 9 South Dakota State 3-1 2710 10 10 UNI 1-2 2350 11 11 Southeastern Louisiana 2-2 2323 3 12 William & Mary 3-1 2008 13 13 Montana State 2-2 1739 14 14 Chattanooga 1-2 1619 15 15 Bethune-Cookman 2-1 1539 12 16 Fordham 3-1 1502 18 17 Southern Illinois 3-1 1500 16 18 Youngstown State 3-1 1383 19 19 Eastern Kentucky 4-0 1186 23 20 Richmond 2-2 1124 17 21 Tennessee State 3-1 906 20 22 Liberty 3-1 739 24 23 Illinois State 2-0 291 NR 24 Albany 3-0 269 NR 25 Delaware 2-1 181 NR Dropped out: No. 21 Furman, No. 22 Northern Arizona, No. 25 Sam Houston State. Others receiving votes: Sam Houston State 161, Northern Arizona 145, Towson 137, Furman 136, Samford 118, Missouri State 116, Southeast Missouri State 73, James Madison 65, Indiana State 61, Charleston Southern 60, Harvard 55, Bryant 55, Alabama State 46, North Carolina A&T 42, Alcorn State 36, Eastern Illinois 35, South Carolina State 33, South Dakota 27, Maine 25, Presbyterian 23, Wofford 19, Northwestern State 18, Bucknell 18, Sacramento State 17, Gardner-Webb 17, San Diego 14, Abilene Christian 13, Texas Southern 10, Tennessee Tech 8, Princeton 6, Western Illinois 4, Stephen F. Austin 3, Cal Poly 2, Sacred Heart 2, Central Arkansas 2, Western Carolina 1, Lamar 1.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs Rankings Last Updated - September 22, 2014 FCS Coaches' Poll RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS 1 North Dakota State (26) 4-0 650 1 2 Eastern Washington 3-1 623 2 3 Coastal Carolina 4-0 578 5 4 McNeese State 1-1 545 6 5 Villanova 2-1 526 7 6 Montana 2-2 505 3 7 New Hampshire 2-1 494 9 8 Jacksonville State 2-1 492 8 9 South Dakota State 3-1 449 10 10 UNI 1-2 408 11 11 Southeastern Louisiana 2-2 368 4 12 Youngstown State 3-1 303 15 13 William & Mary 3-1 301 17 14 Bethune-Cookman 2-1 273 12 15 Chattanooga 1-2 271 14 16 Southern Illinois 3-1 269 13 17 Montana State 2-2 241 16 18 Eastern Kentucky 4-1 210 22 19 Fordham 3-1 188 19 20 Tennessee State 3-1 154 2 21 Richmond 2-2 141 18 22 Illinois State 2-0 101 24 23 Liberty 3-1 80 NR 24 Missouri State 3-1 65 NR 25 Charleston Southern 4-0 39 NR Dropped out: No. 21 Furham, No. 23 Northern Arizona, No. T25 Bryant, No. T25 Sam Houston State Others receiving votes: Sam Houston State 26, Towson 22, Furman 18, Alcorn State 16, Samford 16, Harvard 13, Northern Arizona 13, Sacramento State 12, Stephen F. Austin 9, Indiana State 7, North Carolina A&T 7, Albany 5, Alabama State 3, South Dakota 3, Bryant 2, Cal Poly 2, Northwestern State 1, Southeast Missouri State 1

Looks like we aren't the only ones trying to figure out how the team will win games with this offensive offense. User Actions Follow Colter Nuanez‏@Bobcat_Beat These UND stats are rather astounding. North Dakota averaging 9 1st downs, 9.8 points, 205 yards of offense, yet are 2-2 #BigSkyFB

This is a very good MSU team. They manhandled a good Central Arkansas team (that lost on a 53 yard FG to Missouri St on Saturday) before taking their foot off the gas in the 4th qtr and made it a two possession final score. Central Ark was never in position to threaten MSU. I don't see a UND win, but as the week progresses I could get more optimistic and figure out a scenario where this thing could be a 3 possession game in the 4th qtr.

C'mon man, don't be like that. Here's the top ten in defense right now: 1 Stony Brook 2 Tennessee St. 3 Charleston So. 4 North Dakota St 5 Sacred Heart 6 Furman 7 Alcorn 8 Jackson St. 9 Bethune-Cookman 10 Lafayette I think we've both been following these things long enough to know that 80% of the teams on that list are pretenders. At this point I suspect SB is a lot less like ndsu and a lot more like the rest, but as you say they have 8 more CAA games to prove something.

If that is the case, then I'll look forward to posting a mea culpa after watching how they finish the year. They will have plenty of chances to prove that.

Oh, they've "been in" every game they've played and they have a better D than RM? Ok, my bad then. This team is exactly where I thought they'd be as well, but putting lipstick on the pigs that are RM (I know you didn't think much of RM so I'm not addressing you here) and SB doesn't do anyone any favors. Ultimately it doesn't matter-we are in conference now, we'll see how good the D is.

Are you serious? I read the same BS around here after beating Robert Morris. Yes, that Robert Morris which was subsequently dispatched 50-3 by Lafayette, and 31-7 to Dayton. Where does anyone think Robert Morris or Stony Brook would finish in this conference? Please...at the bottom with UNC. I've already stated earlier, I can't say enough good things about the turnaround of this defense but that statement is relative to the level of competition they are playing. I would put the over/under for scoring defense next week at 30pts. For EWU and UM I would put that at 40. For the middle tier of the conference I would say 20. Does that mean the D is crap again? No. It just means they aren't playing RM or SB anymore.

I can't say enough good things about this defensive turnaround. Starting next week we are really gonna find out what they're made of.

How bad does Tillman have to play until they take him off returns?

If anyone is there, hows the crowd? hard to tell on tv

I agree. John Crockett was brought up as an example of that here recently. He's the type of academic risk I think we are talking about here, and that risk paid off for the ac.

My comment wasn't about the twins specifically, or about whether I think Bubba should focus more of high risk kids in Florida. It is my opinion, after reading Bubba's comments on his recruiting philosophy thus far, that putting more focus on high risk recruits in Florida doesn't fit with that philosophy. I could certainly be wrong.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs/fcs-coaches-poll FCS Coaches' Poll RANK SCHOOL RECORD POINTS PREVIOUS 1 North Dakota State (25) 3-0 649 1 2 Eastern Washington (1) 2-1 624 2 3 Montana 2-1 564 4 4 Southeastern Louisiana 2-1 552 3 5 Coastal Carolina 3-0 546 5 6 McNeese State 1-1 529 6 7 Villanova 1-1 496 7 8 Jacksonville State 1-1 460 8 9 New Hampshire 1-1 454 9 10 South Dakota State 2-1 413 10 11 UNI 0-2 380 11 12 Bethune-Cookman 2-0 321 13 13 Southern Illinois 3-0 307 14 14 Chattanooga 1-2 277 17 15 Youngstown State 2-1 269 16 16 Montana State 2-1 266 18 17 William & Mary 2-1 251 19 18 Richmond 2-1 211 21 19 Fordham 2-1 158 23 20 Tennessee State 2-1 150 22 21 Furman 2-1 118 12 22 Eastern Kentucky 3-0 114 25 23 Northern Arizona 2-1 54 NR 24 Illinois State 2-0 47 NR T25 Bryant 3-0 37 NR T25 Sam Houston State 1-3 37 15 Dropped out: No. 20 Maine, No. 24 Eastern Illinois. Others receiving votes: Missouri State 28, Liberty 24, Maine 20, Towson 17, Indiana State 13, Sacred Heart 13, Princeton 12, Alcorn State 8, Harvard 8, Samford 5, Central Arkansas 4, Charleston Southern 3, Wofford 3, Alabama State 2, James Madison 2, North Carolina A&T 2.