Orlando Sentinel 2019

[Yosef84]

Whether it's an issue of "not paying attention" or just a bias that is implicit in ANY pre-season poll, this ranking does seem to be way off in many cases. Opinion is a factor in any ranking....thus the bias. The issue with this one seems to be that it is very reactionary but it also seems to run about 2 years behind in many cases. It has been been slow to pick up on App's rise...that's fine. We're new to the FBS ranks and it appears it will be recognized this year. He also has been very slow to recognize the rise of Troy and the decline of Arkansas State. He has totally missed the resurgence of Louisiana and still has them ranked with the dregs.

On the other hand, the P5 teams seem to get the benefit of positive projection....like UNC being ranked is the middle of the league coming off of a 2 win season. CUSA has some pretty baffling rankings also, but I have to admit that I enjoyed watching their board self destruct while the rankings came in.

I really don't put any stock at all in these polls. They are really just something to read and chat about until fall camp starts. Pretty meaningless.

[sixtoes9134]

They are clearly not paying close attention to the Sun Belt

Are they not or do people just say that because they don't agree? We bring Matt Murschel on our show regularly and he's not the kind of guy to make s--- up just because. He's the national college football writer for a major newspaper not some random intern?

If that is the case, then so noted. That being said, I don't agree. But I will give you another example. Local sports radio here in Raleigh (who are mostly ACC honks) recently (as in 2019) made the statement that the Sun Belt was the worst FBS conference. My only point is that I just don't know how "close" attention many in the sports media are really paying because the Sun Belt is by far not the worst FBS Conference and the Sentinel rankings generally seem to suggest that. Just look at Bowl results over the last 3-4 years. The one I still can't grasp is Louisiana.

[AppSt94]

They are clearly not paying close attention to the Sun Belt

Are they not or do people just say that because they don't agree? We bring Matt Murschel on our show regularly and he's not the kind of guy to make s--- up just because. He's the national college football writer for a major newspaper not some random intern?

If that is the case, then so noted. That being said, I don't agree. But I will give you another example. Local sports radio here in Raleigh (who are mostly ACC honks) recently (as in 2019) made the statement that the Sun Belt was the worst FBS conference. My only point is that I just don't know how "close" attention many in the sports media are really paying because the Sun Belt is by far not the worst FBS Conference and the Sentinel rankings generally seem to suggest that. Just look at Bowl results over the last 3-4 years. The one I still can't grasp is Louisiana.

Perceptions don't change overnight and excuse makers will always find something to justify their opinions. For instance, many will say that the Sun Belt may be improving, but it is only doing so because of two recent FCS acquisitions. So if two FCS teams are winning championships, what does that say about the established talent?

[97APP]

... Local sports radio here in Raleigh (who are mostly ACC honks) recently (as in 2019) made the statement that the Sun Belt was the worst FBS conference. My only point is that I just don't know how "close" attention many in the sports media are really paying because the Sun Belt is by far not the worst FBS Conference and the Sentinel rankings generally seem to suggest that....

It seems many in sports media don't pay attention to the fact that the pecking order of G5 conferences can and does change. When we joined the SBC it was the worst conference. However, the SBC has improved significantly while CUSA has slid backwards and the MAC is stagnant. If you're specifically talking about Adam and Joe in the afternoon, I didn't hear what they said recently. But, they last year they made a few references about us moving "up" to CUSA if we continued our winning ways. I just shake my head knowing they aren't really paying any attention to what is happening among G5 conferences.

[sixtoes9134]

They are clearly not paying close attention to the Sun Belt

Are they not or do people just say that because they don't agree? We bring Matt Murschel on our show regularly and he's not the kind of guy to make s--- up just because. He's the national college football writer for a major newspaper not some random intern?

If that is the case, then so noted. That being said, I don't agree. But I will give you another example. Local sports radio here in Raleigh (who are mostly ACC honks) recently (as in 2019) made the statement that the Sun Belt was the worst FBS conference. My only point is that I just don't know how "close" attention many in the sports media are really paying because the Sun Belt is by far not the worst FBS Conference and the Sentinel rankings generally seem to suggest that. Just look at Bowl results over the last 3-4 years. The one I still can't grasp is Louisiana.

Perceptions don't change overnight and excuse makers will always find something to justify their opinions. For instance, many will say that the Sun Belt may be improving, but it is only doing so because of two recent FCS acquisitions. So if two FCS teams are winning championships, what does that say about the established talent?

Yea, but you are talking about 2 FCS teams that were long established powers. If NDSU joined the Mountain West, they would be competing for conf. championships year after year.

[97APP]

Perceptions don't change overnight and excuse makers will always find something to justify their opinions. For instance, many will say that the Sun Belt may be improving, but it is only doing so because of two recent FCS acquisitions. So if two FCS teams are winning championships, what does that say about the established talent?

For someone not connected with us and GaSo, I think that was a valid point when we first joined. However, as a conference, we've improved overall and are doing much better against other G5 conferences than when we first joined. IMO, the Ark St team of last year would have won the conference the year before we first joined. Last year they were the 5th best team.

[AppSt94]

They are clearly not paying close attention to the Sun Belt

Are they not or do people just say that because they don't agree? We bring Matt Murschel on our show regularly and he's not the kind of guy to make s--- up just because. He's the national college football writer for a major newspaper not some random intern?

If that is the case, then so noted. That being said, I don't agree. But I will give you another example. Local sports radio here in Raleigh (who are mostly ACC honks) recently (as in 2019) made the statement that the Sun Belt was the worst FBS conference. My only point is that I just don't know how "close" attention many in the sports media are really paying because the Sun Belt is by far not the worst FBS Conference and the Sentinel rankings generally seem to suggest that. Just look at Bowl results over the last 3-4 years. The one I still can't grasp is Louisiana.

Perceptions don't change overnight and excuse makers will always find something to justify their opinions. For instance, many will say that the Sun Belt may be improving, but it is only doing so because of two recent FCS acquisitions. So if two FCS teams are winning championships, what does that say about the established talent?

Yea, but you are talking about 2 FCS teams that were long established powers. If NDSU joined the Mountain West, they would be competing for conf. championships year after year.

Consistent winners for sure but I don't know that I would qualify either as "powerhouses" given that the last title by either one was 7 years prior to moving up. I would also challenge the opinion that NDSU would contend year in and year out in the MWC. You may be correct, but there are just too many factors involved to say that this would be a sure thing.

My point is that the foundation of the perception was laid by the existing members at the time. None of them have been relative on the national stage for an extended period of time. UCF is the top dog of the G5 right now but that is only a recent ascent but they have Memphis and Cincinnati to help with perception of the AAC. The Sun Belt needs two teams to stand out nationally to turn heads. Right now, we are one of those teams but who is going to join us and how long do we stay there? I will give you an example of perception in reverse. Back in the late 80's early 90's, the Big 12 at the time was considered one of the premier conferences. Why? Because Nebraska was good and the second team on any given year floated between Colorado, Oklahoma, and Missouri. What the perception failed to take into account was the fact that Nebraska was beating it's conference foes by an average of 45 points a game. How good can a conference actually be when your best team is beating the snot out of everyone else? If we continue to improve in H2H peer conference matchups and have a few teams that show up against P5 schools then we will sway the tides, but until then, we are what we are in the eyes of the football world. We are the "King of the Dipspits'.

[Stonewall]

I don't see the MAC or CUSA as being superior.

[AppSt94]

I don't see the MAC or CUSA as being superior.

Can't say I disagree with you. We and our conference mates need to take care of business on the field. App beating UNC and USC doesn't help the conference. We need Coastal, Georgia States and South Alabama to beat Eastern Michigan, Western Michigan and UAB to move the needle.

[AtlAppMan]

IF every Sun Belt team beat all their CUSA and MAC opponents every game this year and next, does that alone create a perception that we are better than those two conferences in the eyes of the national media? There is no doubt that it proves we are better but does it impact perception? If this occurs over 3-5 yrs I say it probably does move the needle of perception?

Do wins against P5's by all of our Sun Belt teams impact perception? I say definitely yes even if it does not prove a real measuring stick (i.e. the wins are against low level P5's).

What I am getting at is that the national media/analyst don't pay as much attention to G5/G5 games unless the G5 team creates attention from a P5 take down.

It is not fair but the eyes are mostly on the P5 world so for a G5 to gain attention you have to take down some P5's and also take care of business in your G5 world.

[APPdiesel]

Being a member of sports talk radio show I can tell you there's just not enough time nor is there enough G5 fan interest, especially when you're located in the heart of an FBS market to justify doing much research. These Raleigh guys know their audience - they're NC State, UNC, Duke, and some ECU fans - so they focus their time and effort on those schools. Point is, they're still operating on old opinions. They're not going to care about 10-2 seasons where we beat up on other G5s. The only thing they'll pay attention to is beating P5s.

[AppinVA]

Being a member of sports talk radio show I can tell you there's just not enough time nor is there enough G5 fan interest, especially when you're located in the heart of an FBS market to justify doing much research. These Raleigh guys know their audience - they're NC State, UNC, Duke, and some ECU fans - so they focus their time and effort on those schools. Point is, they're still operating on old opinions. They're not going to care about 10-2 seasons where we beat up on other G5s. The only thing they'll pay attention to is beating P5s.

We have the perfect opportunity to get the attention of the Triangle this September.

[AtlAppMan]

IF we are truly a top 25 team this year we must win UNC and be in a position to win USC game. It goes without saying that we should then win all the remaining games on our schedule.

[GregPercussion]

Some more updates:
Marshall #81
Ohio #79
Duke #78
UNC #69
Arkansas State #67
Wake Forest #63

Only us and Troy left in the SunBelt

[GregPercussion]

Troy #60
USF #53
Appalachian State #52
NC State # 41
Tennessee #40

We had a whole thread about the App ranking a while ago. We were the top rated in the SunBelt moved up from 54 to 52. viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16028&p=207761&hili ... do#p207761

[NewApp]

IF we are truly a top 25 team this year we must win UNC and be in a position to win USC game. It goes without saying that we should then win all the remaining games on our schedule.

You mean like when we beat Michigan and then beat Wofford? Oh, wait... lol

Good point there though, Atlanta. Just joking. It's just than no team ever wins or loses all the games they're supposed to.