SI D2 preseason poll

[bigmrg74]

1 NORTH DAKOTA 12-2 2 

QB John Bowenkamp, FB David Wisthoff and TB Adam Roland return from last year's national runner-up

2 GRAND VALLEY STATE (MICH.) 14-1 1

Two-time defending champs bring back senior QB Cullen Finnerty (2,764 yards), but the Lakers have a new coach and a revamped offensive line

3 BENTLEY (MASS.) 10-1 21

Duo of senior QB Marc Eddy (3,051 yards, 36 TDs) and senior WR Dallas Mall (79 catches, 19 TDs) led the nation's highest-scoring offense 

4 NORTH ALABAMA 13-1 5

At 6'5", 285 pounds, senior DE Skipper Best anchors a stingy defense

5 CARSON-NEWMAN (TENN.) 11-2 6 

The nation's top-ranked rushing offense features senior RBs J. J. Chatmon (933 yards) and Ray Hightower (632)

6 INDIANA (PA.) 10-1 9

The defense, led by senior LB Brad Potts (93 tackles), is loaded, with LB Kris Griffin (101 tackles in '02) back after missing last season with an elbow injury

7 SAGINAW VALLEY STATE (MICH.) 12-1 4

Cardinal senior QB Mark Radlinski (3,428 yards, 32 TDs) is a Harlon Hill Trophy favorite; senior LB John DiDiorgio (138 tackles) anchors the D

8 DELTA STATE (MISS.) 7-2 16 

Junior All-America WR Ellis Debrow led the nation with 148.8 all-purpose yards per game for top-ranked passing offense (346.4 yards)

9 TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE 11-2 3

Led by senior RB Larry Williams (1,570 yards, 19 TDs) and senior DT Wilbert Martin (45 tackles), Javelinas are formidable on both sides of the ball

10 SHIPPENSBURG (PA.) 8-3 -

Senior LB Dan Walsh (78 tackles) leads a unit that had three shutouts and held eight of 11 opponents under 100 yards rushing

Now, I know that you guys will be happy to see yourselfs ranked number one here, but come on!! Bentley at 3? Hell, Three northeast teams in the top ten?? I sure hope Sports Illustrated isn't going to be keeping that inturn aroung long!!!

[BananaOil]

I agree. Where's Bentley coming from? Oh well. Maybe we can start taking polls seriously after the fifth week.

My guess is that the first five by then will be (in some random order): UND, GVSU, TAMUK, UNA, and Carson-Newman. But it doesn't take a lot of smarts to come up with those.

[bigmrg74]

That sure would make a lot more sense there BananaOil. If anybody saw any of the first round playoff game between Bentley and GVSU, it would be pretty clear to them that they ain't exactly D2 elite yet. The only reason why the score was even as close as it was because of the f'ning PSAC reffs trying to make GVSU look bad, so it wouldn't be seen as such an obvisious ploy to send the GLIAC west so they don't get bounced out early all the time now.