TOP 40 FCS FOOTBALL TEAMS PER STEELE

[GoApps70]

Not a very attractive picture for us in this article that came out today:

http://www.philsteele.com/FCSINFO/2012FCSTop40.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Black Saturday]

The man of Steele seems to be hung up on percentage of returning lettermen in each synopsis. The Committee did us no favors with the collection of talent we had, and proved for three years they did not know how to utilize what they had on the roster. I still have reason to believe that APPs talent will still be closer to the top of the FCS by seasons end than Philbert predicts, especially with our new coaches and the playoffs, even though we could have a rocky start.

[Yosef84]

Wow 16th? That hurts! His analysis seems to be based on last year + returning starters + returning lettermen. It's a little disappointing and I certainly hope it's not accurate. I believe we'll be much more a factor than that even if we aren't a NC contender. We'll have a much better idea in three weeks.

GO APPS!

[WVAPPeer]

"The Committee"

Huh???

[Saint3333]

I think that is a very ranking preseason.

I believe we'll be a top 10 team bt Novemer but will not be surprised if we have three loses by then. Ton of potential with this squad, but expect mistakes with inexperience.

We'll be a team others would rather avoid come December and especially next year.


Meant to say fair ranking, can't edit correctly from iPad.

[WataugaMan]

I too believe we will be a top 10 team by November, however, I do not see 3 defeats. With "the committee" gone, the yearly "game we should have won but lost" will not happen. Once again, come November I see a possibility of 2 defeats, but not 3. Go Apps!!!!

[GlassOnion]

My two biggest worries are Chattanooga and Georgia Southern.

I dont know if ECU is going to have the horses on offense to put up alot of points. They were abysmal running the ball last year, and have had a fair number of losses on offense. Their best weapon was their passing game, and they lost their QB and leading WR. I think they even lost their RB. Its going to take some time to put things back together imo.

Montana is having big issues with the run game. Theyve got some mammoths on the OL this year, almost all lasts years backups, and theyre having some problems moving. Not to mention they lost all but 3 on the defensive side of the ball, and head coach, and QB.

If our guys play with some heart and determination, and just will themselves through these first 2 games, this seasons vision may look alot different from the other side of those first two games.

[hapapp]

I think that is a very ranking preseason.

I believe we'll be a top 10 team bt Novemer but will not be surprised if we have three loses by then. Ton of potential with this squad, but expect mistakes with inexperience.

We'll be a team others would rather avoid come December and especially next year.


Meant to say fair ranking, can't edit correctly from iPad.

My sentiments exactly. I think we have a ton of potential and will be an outstanding team at some point. But there is a lot of youth on this squad and we are counting on a lot of players who have yet to play in a game. I don't believe our new coaches are miracle workers. I think we will see a lot of improvement in the areas of concern from the last season or two. However, I think we do this team a disservice if we expect they will be world beaters from the get go. We have a tough early season schedule. I think we could be 1-3 after the first four weeks. That's not my prediction, but the teams we play at the beginning of the season are more than capable of beating us.

For me, until that first game or so, there are a lot of questions that need answering. Not all of them have been answered by hiring some good new coaches.

[AtlAppMan]

Personally I do not have a high level of confidence in Steele's ratings over the years. By his own admission, Sam Houston St was rated #22 last year in his preseason rankings. This has been his MO many times. I am sorry but if your predictions are of any quality you don't miss by that much.

As far as our position, I am not really commenting. I do believe that for the last couple years we have been benefiting from our past reputation. I do not believe our 8-4 record last year accurately represented our strength vs top 20 FCS competition. However, I do have much better expectations for this year due to our new coaching staff. Obviously I want us to come out of the gate fast but whether that happens or not, I do think we will see significant progress from game 1 to game 11.

[Saint3333]

Hap I agree with your 1-3 comment. The probability of going 1-3 is likely equal to that of us starting 3-1.

[WVAPPeer]

" But there is a lot of youth on this squad and we are counting on a lot of players who have yet to play in a game."

Hapapp - no question we are young however there are many who started and played a lot last season - I believe we have 2 new guys on defense and I think 3 on offense -

Personally I expect us to be at least 3-1 starting off and I feel good about the chances of being 4-0 - now, no question we should be much better in November than September but I truly believe we are going to be top 10 and higher all season ---

[hapapp]

" But there is a lot of youth on this squad and we are counting on a lot of players who have yet to play in a game."

Hapapp - no question we are young however there are many who started and played a lot last season - I believe we have 2 new guys on defense and I think 3 on offense -

Personally I expect us to be at least 3-1 starting off and I feel good about the chances of being 4-0 - now, no question we should be much better in November than September but I truly believe we are going to be top 10 and higher all season ---

I'm not discounting a good start to the season. However, that O-line is very young and inexperienced, and one can't predict how they will perform in a game setting. There are only a combined 17 starts among the two-deep on the line (credit to ASUMike for that stat).

[WVAPPeer]

" But there is a lot of youth on this squad and we are counting on a lot of players who have yet to play in a game."

Hapapp - no question we are young however there are many who started and played a lot last season - I believe we have 2 new guys on defense and I think 3 on offense -

Personally I expect us to be at least 3-1 starting off and I feel good about the chances of being 4-0 - now, no question we should be much better in November than September but I truly believe we are going to be top 10 and higher all season ---

I'm not discounting a good start to the season. However, that O-line is very young and inexperienced, and one can't predict how they will perform in a game setting. There are only a combined 17 starts among the two-deep on the line (credit to ASUMike for that stat).

No question 0n the OL - you are right on the money there - I just truly believe if we are having troubles he will devise sets and plays to lessen the pressure on the OL ---

[GoApps70]

I was as shocked to see Woffy at #5 as anything.

Happened to watch the end of the Elon game today, going through to make room for new recordings.
I am really up on the team until I start watching them from last year. That was the game that we were
down 21-0 to start the game, and had to come back to beat ?Elon. Only saw the last four minutes but we were not exactly a polished team. Had @ 43 yards rushing with 4 minutes left. Course that may partially have been due to being so far behind.