The Bobcat Nation

Preseason Any Given Saturday Poll 5/23/2005

(First place votes in parenthesis)
1. James Madison (45)
2. Furman (12)
3. Eastern Washington (10)
4. Montana (2)
5. Georgia Southern (2)
6. Western Kentucky (1)
7. Delaware
8. Northwestern State (1)
9. New Hampshire (1)
10. Northern Iowa
11. Southern Illinois (1)
12. William & Mary
13. Lehigh
14. Sam Houston State
15. Harvard (1)
16. Massachusetts
17. Cal Poly
18. North Dakota State
19. Jacksonville State
20. Lafayette
21. Montana State
22. Hampton
23. Appalachian State
24. Maine
25. Hofstra

Others receiving votes (minimum of 5 votes): Villanova (35), South Carolina State (33), Wofford (31), Portland State (30), Alabama State (16), Eastern Kentucky (16), McNeese State (15), Coastal Carolina (14), Pennsylvania (14), Southern University (11), Grambling (10), Colgate (9), Northern Arizona (9), Texas State, UC Davis (7), South Dakota State (6), Western Carolina (6), Brown (5), Stephen F. Austin (5).

cats play 18, 17 & 14. Either they move up real quick or move out real quick. I wonder if the top 25 curse is still in effect?

Edit: do you play Sam or SFA?

Stephen F Austin

jagur1 wrote:cats play 18, 17 & 14. Either they move up real quick or move out real quick. I wonder if the top 25 curse is still in effect?

Edit: do you play Sam or SFA?

Stephen F.

I cant believe the Griz got that much respect for a team who lost their top 2 recievers and special team players as well as be playing a QB who has never seen the college field before.

Honestly, I'd have both the Cats and Griz hovering right around #10-12 spots.

Cat Pride: does it suprise you?

Cat Pride wrote: I cant believe the Griz got that much respect for a team who lost their top 2 receivers and special team players as well as be playing a QB who has never seen the college field before.

Honestly, I'd have both the Cats and Griz hovering right around #10-12 spots.

Just to clarify a point Cat Pride Washington does have 2 years of college football experience, and Bergquist is a redshift Freshman who ran the scout team last year, so these guys have seen the college field before. Still I agree that QB is a big question mark and the ranking is probably more about reputation than research. The good thing is the polls don't change who wins or loses.

Preseason polls are just that, speculation. Usually they are based on the performance of a team from the season before. Last year, how many pollsters had AUburn in their top 25, let alone the top 3. Yet, when the dust settled on the season, you could make a strong case for Auburn being the best team in the country.
That being said, the Griz may be too high, but we will have to wait and find out. MSU may be too low (your games should be exciting to watch this year). If EWU, UM and MSU all meet or exceed expectations this year, it could be a great year for the Big Sky Conference.

Cat Pride wrote:

jagur1 wrote:cats play 18, 17 & 14. Either they move up real quick or move out real quick. I wonder if the top 25 curse is still in effect?

Edit: do you play Sam or SFA?

Stephen F.

I cant believe the Griz got that much respect for a team who lost their top 2 recievers and special team players as well as be playing a QB who has never seen the college field before.

Honestly, I'd have both the Cats and Griz hovering right around #10-12 spots.

yes but the griz got a D1A drop down WR and they also have lex...i bet he has a 2000 yard season this year and as a result, carries the team not to mention makes whoever is running the O's job a lot easier aka ryan johnson when Luley was a true freshmen. From what I have read about him online i bet Washington will surprise a few people this year...not like he is farhad azimi

grizband wrote:Preseason polls are just that, speculation. Usually they are based on the performance of a team from the season before. Last year, how many pollsters had AUburn in their top 25, let alone the top 3. Yet, when the dust settled on the season, you could make a strong case for Auburn being the best team in the country.
That being said, the Griz may be too high, but we will have to wait and find out. MSU may be too low (your games should be exciting to watch this year). If EWU, UM and MSU all meet or exceed expectations this year, it could be a great year for the Big Sky Conference.

Well put grizband. Simple fact is the Griz have shown for the last 10-15 years to be a team capable of performing to a level of top 10 in I-AA every year. That gains you respect in a preseason poll where all you really have to go off of is last season and potential. While the Griz may have some questions, they were #2 in the nation last year and have shown to be a safe preseason bet for a top-10 spot, which means #4 isn't out of line at all.

Personally, I put them at #10 just because of a few question marks, but I couldn't in good conscience put them any lower than that in a preseason poll. Now what happens when the games get going is another story, but the good news is it will get decided on the field and not in a poll.

One thing that is consistent year in and year out is that there are always at least 2 BSC schools listed in the top 25 (more often there are 3 schools) and at least one more that received some votes. I think that it is common knowledge in the 1-AA football world that we have some very good teams every year. I think this is going to be a very exciting year for BSC football! I think we really have a good chance of sending 3 teams to the playoffs this year.

As much as most of you (myself included) like to think that the Griz will be awful this year, I just don't see it happening. The Griz have great tradition and fan support, and they always seem to find someone who can get the job done. While I personally feel this will be the weakest Griz offense in years, the weakest Griz offense is usually top 20.

No, I don't see the Griz having a bad season. But I do see the possibility of them losing the BSC title. Just a possibility, EWU, MSU and even PSU are going to be pretty tough this year.

That being said, I do feel the Griz were ranked a little high considering the players they lost, but I agree with Kmax, I couldn't have put them below 10. I'da probably put them around 7-8.

As for the Cats, I feel we should be a top 15 mention, but I can certainly see why we are not. Most of the voters on the AGS poll are east-coasters, and the simple fact is they don't know a ton about our teams as we don't know a ton about theres.

I keep saying the Cats aren't getting enough respect this year, and I finally feel this is the year we shake the top 25 curse, because frankly, I think being 21st still places us in the underdog category, because I think everyone who knows a lot about MSU football knows we should be better than that.

A poster said this on the AGS board, found it interesting. He is a W&M fan.

Pretty solid poll, IMO. Tough challenge to balance historical performance with realistic expectations for the upcoming season. Couple of thoughts:

1. Delaware and Montana should each be a few spots lower as both teams have some early-season questions to answer.
2. NW St. in the top 10 seems a little agressive. Would like to see them beat some quality teams early to deserve a spot there.
3. Thought the A-10 should only have 5 to start the season.
4. Don't think SHSU should be ranked. Lost a tremendous amount of firepower and they face two I-A foes early on. Most likely won't win a DI game until the end of September.
5. Just feels like it's going to be a big year for the Big Sky.

All in all, fun to be a part of it.

I don't think you can blame east coast bias for the Cats being at #21. For full disclosure I actually voted for them at that position myself. If you look at alot of the posters on AGS that are discussing their votes, many of the eastern voters actually had the Cats higher than that.

I too think it is going to be a big year for the Sky, however MSU doesn't yet "deserve" the respect to get a higher ranking despite the questions that are still there. Being a Cat fan who has followed them through the spring I am confident their play this fall will show they should be much higher, but for a preseason poll I think they are right where they deserve to be.

FWIW I actually voted the Griz 8th and the Bobcats 19th. I think that if Griz struggle in their two D2 games I will drop the, while if the Cats get off to a strong start w/their very tough OOC schedule I can see myself vaulting them into my top 10. The poll is just for fun since it has absolutely no bearing on the games being played & i would be more than happy if we finish up at #8 and get a home playoff game.

Please keep in mind that in 1984 the Cats were picked dead last in the Big Sky.

Pre-season polls are worth the paper they're written on... (In this case, it's not even decent arse-wipe as it's an E-poll; although I suppose you could print it and...)

Personally, I'd rather have a team that's under-respected (MSU) heading into the season than one that's over-respected (dUMb).

Will the Griz be good this season? Of course; considering in their (& their opponents) heads they essentially begin every regular season game up 14 at home and 10 on the road, it's hard to lose more than 2 or 3 games per year. BUT I do believe the Griz could finish as low as 3rd this season; far too many unknowns on offense & a defense that I believe is NOT going to be anywhere near as good as the griz faithful do (dead last versus the pass last season, remember?). Was their spring performance a great defense or a pathetic offense? I'd say somewhere in between but even THAT is a big step down from typical Griz pre-season talk.

I really don't see them winning another BSC title because my early pick says BOTH MSU & EWU beat them in 2005. They'll still get another bid to the playoffs, however, and because of home field, they'll notch at least another win there. Nothing would please me more, however, than to beat them in Bozeman TWICE in one season! Could there be ANY SWEETER way to shut up griz fans than that?

El_Gato wrote:...my early pick says BOTH MSU & EWU beat them in 2005. They'll still get another bid to the playoffs, however, and because of home field, they'll notch at least another win there....

As much as I wish, I don't see the Griz beating Oregon and I doubt you do as well. If your prediction comes true with the Cats and Eagles beating the Griz, that would put them at 8-3 with one OOC game against a D-II team. If that record were to happen, no way the Griz get a home playoff game.

Nothing would please me more, however, than to beat them in Bozeman TWICE in one season! Could there be ANY SWEETER way to shut up griz fans than that?

You couldn't be more right!!!

El Gato-

It would be SWEET, but unlike others I doubt if 3 would go to the playoffs from the BSC, which puts the Griz out. In my mind just as SWEET!!

GOKATS wrote:El Gato-

It would be SWEET, but unlike others I doubt if 3 would go to the playoffs from the BSC, which puts the Griz out. In my mind just as SWEET!!

Beating the Griz 2x's would be great, but UM not making the playoffs would be equally as great! Either way we get to shut them up!

mquast53000 wrote:Beating the Griz 2x's would be great, but UM not making the playoffs would be equally as great! Either way we get to shut them up!

Ahh, I wouldn't count on shutting us up regardless. He!!, the Cats didn't make the playoffs for 17 years in a row, and the Cat fans I knew never did shut up; why should Griz fans be any different?

--GL

P.S. That aside -- the Griz won't miss the playoffs next year. I don't know if we'll win the BSC, but we will be in the hunt, just like we always have been for the past 15 years. Don't worry about us; we're fine.