USA Today 1-128 Rankings

[TheMoody1]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... /31820541/


App in a t 79.

[hapapp]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... /31820541/


App in a t 79.

The consensus is beginning to form that Ga Southern is the class of the league and we are the 4th best team. Obviously, many pundits apparently think last year was a fluke. I have a belief we will do all we can to prove them wrong. It bothers me none whatsoever that folks are selling us short.

[EastHallApp]

Opponent ranks:

13. Clemson
54. Georgia Southern
61. UL-Lafayette
74. Arkansas St.
79. App State
85. South Alabama
90. Old Dominion
94. Wyoming
96. UL-Monroe
110. Troy
125. Georgia State
127. Idaho

Other Sun Belt teams:

87. Texas State
120. New Mexico State

[ASU84]

54. Georgia Southern
61. Louisiana-Lafayette
74. Arkansas State
79. Appalachian State
85. South Alabama
87. Texas State
96. Louisiana-Monroe
110. Troy
120. New Mexico State
125. Georgia State
127. Idaho

Just for fun, coming in at 116 Wake Forest, 94 Wyoming, and 128 Charlotte. Several scratch my head rankings, including some in the Sun Belt. 65 West Virginia?? 117 SMU?? I realize this is a preseason poll like the rest but I'm not sure a lot of thought went into these.

I hope we put on a real good showing at Clemson, however I am tempering my expectations/hopes. This being said, I know we cannot overlook anyone.

My family and I are looking forward to the Sept. 5 game vs. Howard thanks to a very good MMB friend I've yet to meet. That will change soon!!

GO MOUNTAINEERS!!!!

[AtlAppMan]

Here is what is interesting to me.

I am not necessarily offended that people have some doubt that what we did in second half of last year can be sustained for an entire season. I can understand they want to see us play at that level for an entire season and until we do they are going to take a "wait and see" attitude. No problem there. I personally believe our 2015 team will be significantly better than the 2nd half 2014 team (more experienced, stronger, deeper, smarter, much improved special teams) but only time will tell.

However, on the other hand, many analyst seem to view Ga Southern as the real thing. If they rank GSU at top of Sun Belt when they don't play 2 of the top 3 teams that doesn't make them better but rather lucky because they benefit from a favorable schedule. It may yield a better record to win SBC but doesn't mean a better team. When you look at GSU's performance last year they had several close calls last year and seem to play less quality as the season progressed including laying a really big egg with Navy. IMO Navy wasn't even close to as good as GaTech. Even though they have a favorable schedule to win the SBC, they also have lost a significant amount of their OL. Will the second time through the SBC be tougher for them as these teams probably improve on defending GSU's offense? I give GSU total credit for winning the close games in 2014 but at the same time wonder whether some of the close games in the 2nd half were also a byproduct of the opponents learning how to defend them better. If this is true they very well may end up with a few more L's in similar games in 2015 vs W's as in 2014. Again, only time will tell.

One method I use to compare App to GSU is in our head to head game. They definitely beat us and stepped up when they had to and made big plays. However, I also know that we did not play even close to as good as we did in the second half of season. I strongly believe we would have won going away had we played them late in the season. We need to start strong and build on that in 2015 and we will be a very good team this year.

[EastHallApp]

The best team Southern beat last year, depending on how you look at it, was either App (if you judge by how we ended the year, but we know how bad App was in reality at that point) or Texas State (if you go by how they were playing at the time Southern faced them). Throw in USA, and their three best wins were all over teams that had been FBS for three years or less.

That's why their fans are always going on about how they played Georgia Tech close. That loss was the most impressive thing they did all year.

[sixtoes9134]

We are 11-13 in two seasons under Coach Satterfield.

Smart writer's are basically saying this: Georgia Southern is #1 until they prove otherwise and App is #4 until they prove otherwise.

I like it because it give us good motivation and hunger.

That said, if Georgia Southern repeats with all their OL losses, that will be most impressive.

[BurlingtonApp]

But didn't we prove otherwise last year by finishing 3rd last year?

[sixtoes9134]

But didn't we prove otherwise last year by finishing 3rd last year?

We've been 3 or 4 in a lot of pre-season polls.

[EastHallApp]

For those who feel like everybody is just sleeping on App, it's not really true. Here's one site that tracks predictions in preseason mags, computer rankings, polls etc. Of the 12 they've gathered so far, six pick App to either win the Sun Belt outright or win a share of the title::

http://preseason.stassen.com/consensus/ ... l#sun-belt

Note that the team that is really lagging behind in the consensus predictions is ULL.

[S.Lewis15]

I'm fine with our season preview rankings.
It gives the team motivation to prove everyone else in the conference and in the country wrong.

Although we finished exceptionally well last year, we played like garbage, especially on special teams, at the beginning of the year. Preseason rankings and expectations mean nothing, for us and for other schools in the country. Remember the year we beat Michigan? They were #5 in the country, and look what happened to them.

Hopefully this year, we can play the entire season like we finished last year. I believe this is possible.
If we do that, we have a chance of winning the conference and going to a bowl, which would give the team national recognition.

[Eagle22]

Here is what is interesting to me.

I am not necessarily offended that people have some doubt that what we did in second half of last year can be sustained for an entire season. I can understand they want to see us play at that level for an entire season and until we do they are going to take a "wait and see" attitude. No problem there. I personally believe our 2015 team will be significantly better than the 2nd half 2014 team (more experienced, stronger, deeper, smarter, much improved special teams) but only time will tell.

However, on the other hand, many analyst seem to view Ga Southern as the real thing. If they rank GSU at top of Sun Belt when they don't play 2 of the top 3 teams that doesn't make them better but rather lucky because they benefit from a favorable schedule. It may yield a better record to win SBC but doesn't mean a better team. When you look at GSU's performance last year they had several close calls last year and seem to play less quality as the season progressed including laying a really big egg with Navy. IMO Navy wasn't even close to as good as GaTech. Even though they have a favorable schedule to win the SBC, they also have lost a significant amount of their OL. Will the second time through the SBC be tougher for them as these teams probably improve on defending GSU's offense? I give GSU total credit for winning the close games in 2014 but at the same time wonder whether some of the close games in the 2nd half were also a byproduct of the opponents learning how to defend them better. If this is true they very well may end up with a few more L's in similar games in 2015 vs W's as in 2014. Again, only time will tell.

One method I use to compare App to GSU is in our head to head game. They definitely beat us and stepped up when they had to and made big plays. However, I also know that we did not play even close to as good as we did in the second half of season. I strongly believe we would have won going away had we played them late in the season. We need to start strong and build on that in 2015 and we will be a very good team this year.

Let me preface my comments to your post, specifically the bolded, above:

1) We (Georgia Southern) benefitted last year by returning a slew of players with a lot of experience from 2013. Time will tell if we're able to replicate that level of success
2) We have to play in Boone this year, and that is always a tough game for us even when we have had our best teams (national championship caliber, in the past). Most analysts at the FBS level have little clue what type of home field advantage exists in the FCS ranks ... because it isn't a commonly known fact. Going back just 3 years ago, who outside of NDSU, App, Georgia Southern and Montana ... who could claim home field dominance through a majority of their years ?
3) Our late season limp was chiefly due to an injured Kevin Ellison shoulder and the scaled back passing game as a result. Navy was geeked out of their mind on Senior Day and outside of our beatdown in Boone in 2009 I haven't seen us dismantled like that in the last 10 years.
4) Better get us this year. Next year we will probably have our best team in a long time, if ever. The 2014 team has size and speed we haven't had on both sides of the ball since 1989, which remains in my opinion the best complete team we've ever fielded.
5) I'm not normally one to whine and contradict too much about perceptions, but I continue to question the narrative that dodging ULL was grand fortune. ULL weren't some kind of world beaters when they narrowly and luckily escaped, at home, a pathetic bunch of Panthers. The same Panthers you undressed in Boone and we eviscerated in the Dome. ULL was probably lucky they didn't have to play us although I will say that had we played them instead of ULM in the final game it would have probably been a close contest.
6) I expect to see App and GSU continue to contend for the top spot. I think you are as lucky to avoid Texas State as we are to avoid Arkansas State.

[EastHallApp]

Also, most of the Vegas over/under odds seem to like us to win the most games of any Sun Belt team:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootbal ... win-totals

[EastHallApp]

I'm not normally one to whine and contradict too much about perceptions, but I continue to question the narrative that dodging ULL was grand fortune. ULL weren't some kind of world beaters when they narrowly and luckily escaped, at home, a pathetic bunch of Panthers. The same Panthers you undressed in Boone and we eviscerated in the Dome. ULL was probably lucky they didn't have to play us although I will say that had we played them instead of ULM in the final game it would have probably been a close contest.

That's some nice selective evidence there. By that rationale, you could say you guys weren't some kind of world beaters because Navy took you behind the woodshed, but instead you just brush that one off because it was senior day.

ULL also blew out the same Texas State team Southern barely escaped, beat A-State by 15, and beat Nevada by 13.

Obviously we can't know what would have happened if Southern had played the better Sun Belt teams. But it's simply a statement of fact that you guys played the weakest conference schedule in the league last year, avoided the two teams that had won the past three league titles (including last year's second place team), and were (IIRC) the only Sun Belt team to play the entire quartet of awfulness that was Troy, Idaho, NM State and Ga. State.

Now this last part is just opinion - but to me, I don't see how a conference title can possibly be as significant when you didn't have to beat the other top teams in the league to win it, and when you clearly faced an easier slate of opponents than anyone else.

Regardless, you guys got the trophy, and it was a fantastic debut FBS season no matter how you look at it. No argument there. And full credit for blowing out App, obviously. Just glad the new season is almost here.

[JTApps1]

I think one reason Southern went from winning big to barely scraping by late in the season was that everyone had film on their offense by that point. They still play option football, but it is a good bit different from their traditional TO attack. They had all new formations and a decent passing attack that nobody had seen before. It will be interesting to see how they do this year one everyone has had a year to figure them out.

I believe we benefited from that ourselves late in the year although our changes weren't as dramatic.

[sixtoes9134]

I'm certainly not happy about Georgia Southern's success last year, but football is really a pretty simple game. Offensive and defensive schemes aside, when you have better players and good coaching you win games.

I don't buy that it took teams all year to figure out their offense - they just had better players than everyone else - and let's be fair, Willie Fritz is not a rookie - he has a 146-65 record as a head coach.

He took really good players and had a field day with them.

[JTApps1]

I'm certainly not happy about Georgia Southern's success last year, but football is really a pretty simple game. Offensive and defensive schemes aside, when you have better players and good coaching you win games.

I don't buy that it took teams all year to figure out their offense - they just had better players than everyone else - and let's be fair, Willie Fritz is not a rookie - he has a 146-65 record as a head coach.

He took really good players and had a field day with them.

I'd imagine SB coaches would agree with the film idea.

[sixtoes9134]

Just because you know what a team is gonna do doesn't mean you can stop them. Sound familiar?

[MAD Doctor]

Ahhh, the sweet end of the offseason. In two short weeks pundits and predictions will mean squat.
GO APP!

[hapapp]

For those who feel like everybody is just sleeping on App, it's not really true. Here's one site that tracks predictions in preseason mags, computer rankings, polls etc. Of the 12 they've gathered so far, six pick App to either win the Sun Belt outright or win a share of the title::

http://preseason.stassen.com/consensus/ ... l#sun-belt

Note that the team that is really lagging behind in the consensus predictions is ULL.

The composite has us 3rd.