Top 25 Watch (real thread)

[FTE_rawr]

Thank god the AP put us over Boise. One less team to worry about.

[AppStFan1]

Thank god the AP put us over Boise. One less team to worry about.

Remember, the CFP rankings are all that really matters. There are people with coaching and media backgrounds on the committee. So this does not mean we don't have to worry about Boise State unless we throttle the rest of the SBC and beat South Carolina by a couple scores. Even then, we still need Boise State to lose one more to feel safe.

Cincinnati is another team we have to worry about. Their only loss is to Ohio State and the committee knows we likely get throttled by them as well.

We could also use one more loss by San Diego State. They are creeping up and could enter the polls in the next two weeks.

[ah59396]

I hope we absolutely body USA on Saturday. We gotta show the pollsters that we aren’t just the “best” Sunbelt team, but that we are on a different level from the conference entirely.

Cincy is on a bye, I think if we win emphatically we have a small shot at leaping them.

[AppStFan1]

#1-0 #BeatSouthAlabama

Here is a look at the AP poll with who everyone plays.

Rank Team #1 Votes Record Points This Week
1 Alabama (7-0) 1486 vs Arkansas
2 LSU (7-0) 1462 vs #9 Auburn
3 Ohio State (7-0) 1429 vs #13 Wisconsin
4 Clemson (7-0) 1408 vs Boston College
5 Oklahoma (7-0) 1343 at Kansas State
6 Penn State (7-0) 1224 at Michigan State
7 Florida (7-1) 1138 Bye
8 Notre Dame (5-1) 1058 at #19 Michigan
9 Auburn (6-1) 1054 At #2 LSU
10 Georgia (6-1) 1031 Bye
11 Oregon (6-1) 979 vs Washington State
12 Utah (6-1) 852 vs California
13 Wisconsin (6-1) 767 at #3 Ohio State
14 Baylor (7-0) 732 Bye
15 Texas (5-2) 627 at TCU
16 SMU (7-0) 587 at Houston
17 Minnesota (7-0) 577 vs Maryland
18 Cincinnati (6-1) 468 Bye
19 Michigan (5-2) 440 vs #8 Notre Dame
20 Iowa (5-2) 347 at Northwestern
21 Appalachian State (6-0) 286 at South Alabama
22 Boise State (6-1) 225 Bye
23 Iowa State (5-2) 185 vs Oklahoma State
24 Arizona State (5-2) 134 at UCLA
25 Wake Forest (6-1) 118 Bye
26 Memphis (6-1) 87 at Tulsa
27 Virginia (5-2) 29 at Louisville
28T San Diego State (6-1) 17 at UNLV
28T Pittsburgh (5-2) 17 vs Miami FL
30 Washington (5-3) 15 Bye
31 Navy (5-1) 9 vs #37 Tulane
32 Texas A&M (4-3) 6 vs Mississippi State
33 Missouri (5-2) 4 at Kentucky
34T UCF (5-2) 3 at Temple
34T USC (4-3) 3 at Colorado
36 Louisiana Tech (6-1) 2 at UTEP
37 Tulane (5-2) 1 at #31 Navy
Temple (5-2) vs #34T UCF
Virginia Tech (5-2) Bye
Utah State (4-2) at Air Force
UAB (6-1) Bye
Indiana (5-2) at Nebraska
Air Force (5-2) vs Utah State
Kansas State (4-2) at Kansas

[AppStFan1]

I hope we absolutely body USA on Saturday. We gotta show the pollsters that we aren’t just the “best” Sunbelt team, but that we are on a different level from the conference entirely.

Cincy is on a bye, I think if we win emphatically we have a small shot at leaping them.

I agree it could happen. Not going to bank on it but it is possible. I think it would need to be a score like 49-3 or something. Make sure people see we are on another level, as you said.

As long as the team does not buy into the fact we are on another level and keep getting better we can do it. Anyone who thinks we just need to win needs to talk to voters and follow their ballots. We have to be on another level from the rest of the SBC. We just have to beat South Carolina but in every other game we have to beat the spread and not by a field goal but by 2-3 more scores than the spread says.

As I say all the time though. If we lose one game or for a few weeks in a row we barely scrape by we will fall or get passed by and all this does not matter. Have to make a statement against South Alabama this week. We need to win by 40 or more and hold them under 10 points.

[hotrod2001]

Boise ahead of us with 1 loss is a joke. Their signature win is against a horrible FSU team.

On the other hand, we have reached the point in our program's history that we are ranked right beside Boise State...something which has been a long-term goal ever since we were announced that we would be moving up.

We're there now. Now we have to sustain it and make it an annual thing.

*ESPN's AP Top 25 is goofed and they have Boise above us.

[EastHallApp]

I hope we absolutely body USA on Saturday. We gotta show the pollsters that we aren’t just the “best” Sunbelt team, but that we are on a different level from the conference entirely.

Cincy is on a bye, I think if we win emphatically we have a small shot at leaping them.

Cincy is 3 spots and 200 points ahead of us - no way we make that up, no matter how bad we demolish USA.

Looks like one of those weeks where App needs to just handle our end and then be glad for any help we might get. I see a few teams ahead of us with tough games (Texas? Michigan?), but none I’m super-confident will lose. Of course I guess that happens the higher we get ranked.

In a perfect world Houston picks off SMU. Could happen, but again, I won’t hold my breath.

[WASU 93]

Boise ahead of us with 1 loss is a joke. Their signature win is against a horrible FSU team.

Take into consideration APPs signature win? Every team that we have played except Louisiana which beat a bad Mississippi State team that has a losing record. I'm all for high as we can be and think we are fielding our history's best team. Boise has that been there before for pollsters, APP is new to this and will take time to establish a perennial name, if we can.

Agreed. As long as we are in the Top 25 and seeing the App Brand scroll across the bottom + be mentioned in multiple conversations by the talking heads, we are in a good place.

It's weird this year in that we are rooting against other G5 schools to help our position, yet overall we want the G5's to beat up on the P5's to close the gap.

Because, aside from us, most of the other top G5s dont have anymore P5 games this year. So nothing they do affects that position.

Agreed. But, if the G5's occupy 5 of the 25 spots (20%), that's better than one or two outliers and a bunch of 4 or 5 loss P5's.
While the G5's will never achieve the parity that the Mid-Majors have in Basketball, every little bit helps.

[AppHawk]

Has anyone noticed the South Carolina fan base temperature for our game in a few weeks? Wonder what their thoughts were at the beginning of the season to now looking at a ranked App State coming to Columbia (if we continue to win).

I've not monitored their boards; just curious as to how they are now viewing our game.

[bigdaddyg]

Ranked 21st

[hotrod2001]

Has anyone noticed the South Carolina fan base temperature for our game in a few weeks? Wonder what their thoughts were at the beginning of the season to now looking at a ranked App State coming to Columbia (if we continue to win).

I've not monitored their boards; just curious as to how they are now viewing our game.

From what I've seen, they're too busy seething over the Florida loss and showing some concern about their upcoming Vandy game.

Did find this post though:

App state will be our second hardest game left. We are not very good on offense and I expect every game to be a battle. Hilinski is hit or miss but he is a true freshman. He has also battled injuries and missed practices.

Their fan base seems pretty dejected though. We'll have to see what they look like after Tennessee and Vanderbilt to see where their heads are at.

[APP93]

Has anyone noticed the South Carolina fan base temperature for our game in a few weeks? Wonder what their thoughts were at the beginning of the season to now looking at a ranked App State coming to Columbia (if we continue to win).

I've not monitored their boards; just curious as to how they are now viewing our game.

SC is currently 3-4, next two games for them before App, @Tennessee and Vandy, both very winnable. After App, @ Texas A&M and Clemson...both they will be big dogs...If they do win next two they will have App circled as game to get to 6 wins and become bowl eligible. Considering their schedule, 6-6 and going to a bowl game would be a very nice season...both the team and their fans will be ready to play that day...should be fun.

[ah59396]

For all the talk about not having playoffs in FBS, this run we are on sure feels like it. Given the opportunity we have in front of us, every game feels so important.

Win each week and we could do something truly remarkable. One mistake and it all crashes. I’ve missed this.

[Mjohn1988]

For all the talk about not having playoffs in FBS, this run we are on sure feels like it. Given the opportunity we have in front of us, every game feels so important.

Win each week and we could do something truly remarkable. One mistake and it all crashes. I’ve missed this.

I realized a few years ago that the FBS format is a full season “playoff”. The is especially true if your trying to get into one on the NY6 bowl games.

[AppStFan1]

Has anyone noticed the South Carolina fan base temperature for our game in a few weeks? Wonder what their thoughts were at the beginning of the season to now looking at a ranked App State coming to Columbia (if we continue to win).

I've not monitored their boards; just curious as to how they are now viewing our game.

From what I've seen, they're too busy seething over the Florida loss and showing some concern about their upcoming Vandy game.

Did find this post though:

App state will be our second hardest game left. We are not very good on offense and I expect every game to be a battle. Hilinski is hit or miss but he is a true freshman. He has also battled injuries and missed practices.

Their fan base seems pretty dejected though. We'll have to see what they look like after Tennessee and Vanderbilt to see where their heads are at.

I know a lot of Gamecock fans and I would say a few of them actually worry about our game and think it could be 50/50 or a loss for them. Most, and I mean probably 80% of the ones I know, think it may be a little closer than they would have expected when the game was signed but they think they still win by 14-20 points. They thought it was going to be a 30-40 point win back when they agreed to play us.

I fully expect the players to overlook us. If they beat Vandy and Tennessee they will expect us to be a win and be more focused on trying to ruin Clemson's playoff berth and hoping a Texas A&M win will get them ranked.

[TurfMonkey]

You can take my man card for shedding a happy year Everytime I see the poll. I've got 3 plus decades invested in this team. So proud of how far we've come and how far we might go.
Scott

[Apptrain]

You guys sure you don’t want to go back to FCS? We could have spent today keeping an eye on the likes of Sacramento State or William & Mary. As opposed to Missouri, Arizona State and Michigan.

I don’t know how long you’ve been a fan but these posts are played out and stupid! We enjoyed success and a lot of fun games at the fcs level. We moved up and have done very well. Making these dumb posts only minimizes the 3 national titles we won. Give it a rest

I'm willing to bet that there are still some crusty old boomers out there who wish we were still the "big fish in the little pond."

Man I loved FCS ball. My fondest memories were all of our natty runs and those wild playoff games. That ‘05 Southern Illinois game I’ll never forget. It was the classic Boone weather game. 34 and “raining”. That same weather helped us out a week later when Ingle Martin slipped on that patch of ice on his way to the end zone. Literally saved the game for us.

I’m just playing around with the FCS talk. Some folks just can’t take a joke.

Edit: Though I’m being a bit of a hypocrite now because I gave someone shit earlier for calling ULM a jv team. So there you, man in the mirror.

I just love some these comments putting down our time in fcs. You do realize that the win over Michigan which skyrocketed this program was only a big deal because we were fcs? Those were exciting times just as these are. But to insinuate that only the highest level of football is meaningful, fun, or any positive adjective you wish to use is arrogant beyond belief. I suppose no one should care about anything but the NFL with that attitude. Damn people. Don’t forget and be grateful for where we came from and those great times. I’m sorry if you were too young to experience the championship run but it was truly special to most App fans, as demonstrated by our attendance at those games.

[ASUTodd]

My fave fcs game was the Youngstown St game in the snow....

[Rekdiver]

1-0 USA next.AND without our successful time incubating in FCS there would be no FBS. I deeply appreciate our roots, success and past that have gotten us where we are today. In 1970 my freshman year I never would have imagined this. Check one off my bucket list.

[Cro-Magnon App]

The South Carolina fan base is fixated on one thing - fire the coach, fire the AD. Bitching is all they do. Still mad they can't play with Clemson.