I think the biggest cause for debate is that there are different philosophies on what the Top 25 polls should be measuring. I sometimes go back and forth with it as well.AppStFan1 wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 2:40 pmI think you guys are misinterpreting. It definitely makes it easier for us and we definitely need that extra press. I'm happy to get it in general. I also know that the more we do well and become a name the voters know the better it is for our ranking.nomadb wrote: ↑Fri Nov 01, 2019 2:02 pmYour argument is so weak. Being ranked does nothing but making it easier to be ranked again. Period. End of story. Guess what.....with the exception of maybe 1 or 2 teams a year, most ranked teams end up losing.AppStFan1 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 10:28 pmIt does not help if we constantly choke. We won't be ranked again this year. That is why many of us want to see we deserve it before we are ranked. We should not have been ranked and now people look at us as the time who gets ranked from beating nobody and then we play someone halfway decent and we lose.BeauFoster wrote: ↑Thu Oct 31, 2019 9:48 pmNope, I’ll always be happy we’re ranked and I understand the value we get from it. Not my fault you’re too short sighted to see it.
We all want to be good enough to be ranked. Bottom line is we are a good team but a ranked team does not lose a game like this against a G5 who has 3 losses.
We can't lose a SBC game and just drop a few spots. We will fall like a rock. I bet we have less than 20 points and that will only be because those who had us 14-17 range will have us 24-25 now. We must win out to have a shot at getting back in.
We have to get a lot better. A lot of things can be pointed to here. Bad play calling, refs screwed us on a few calls, our OL was very bad in the first half, and we dropped too many passes.
I couldn't agree more with the poster who said that some of you seem afraid of success because of the threat of disappointment. It's completely silly.
I'm not sure why you believe we didn't "deserve" our ranking. We deserved it as much as any other team deserves their ranking
The difference in me and you is that you guys seem to think we really are a top 20-25 team and we aren't. Those polls are opinions. The facts are what you do on the field. We have played well but not well enough to truly deserve the ranking. We just beat a bunch of bottom tier teams. One big reason why I want to be in the AAC is because if we win 10-11 games there then I know we are a top 25 team.
I am not afraid of success but I just am a realist about our team and where we are. We have yet to be a top 25 caliber team so far. We are getting better and perhaps next year could be there. If we go 3-0 next year I'll say we definitely should be ranked.
Nobody in CUSA, Sun Belt, or MAC deserves to be ranked unless they sweep their league. We can't keep losing 1-2 SBC games a year if we expect to ever sustain or merit a national ranking until the SBC starts beating AAC, ACC, and SEC teams regularly, not just once a year or every 3 years.
We are a good team for sure and perhaps by the end we could be playing like a team who was 20-25 range but we aren't now. The good news is we have room to improve and we have a great shot to impress people next week.
Is it intended to be a pure ranking attempting to determine the best teams on a neutral field? Or is it intended to capture what a team has accomplished throughout the year as a resume and overall body of work?
If it's the former, then I would say absolutely App should not be ranked and I would have said that before the Georgia Southern game. Based on that way, I think App at its best has certainly played among the top half of FBS and at times the top third. But, I don't think I could honestly argue that if college football went to a round robin format where every team had to play each other, that App would end up with one of the 25 best records.
If it's the latter, then I would say absolutely App should have been ranked. I think you could have argued that App's 7-0 record and resume was Top 15 worthy. Now that they're 7-1, I'd certainly penalize them as a home loss to a two touchdown underdog has to be added to the overall body of work. But they should still be among the teams receiving votes and if they can turn it around and beat South Carolina on the road, that might be a top 25 caliber resume again.
I don't think there's a right or wrong way to do it. Again it's just your preference. I personally prefer the latter. The former is fine for determining the stronger team in an upcoming matchup, but there will often be seasons where using this method would have to rank .500 or even losing teams from major conferences. As an example, Mississippi State went 8-5 last year and were in the Top 10 of some computer ratings because of their tough schedule, blowout wins, and close losses. But they received less votes in the final AP poll than App.