1. James Madison Dukes (104) 5-1 2,793
2. Appalachian State Mountaineers (4) 3-2 2,558
3. McNeese State Cowboys (1) 3-1 2,461
4. New Hampshire Wildcats (2) 4-0 2,218
5. Richmond Spiders 4-2 2,160
6. Elon Phoenix 5-1 1,971
7. Cal Poly Mustangs 3-1 1,943
8. Wofford Terriers 3-1 1,785
9. Villanova Wildcats 4-1 1,752
10. Northern Iowa Panthers 3-2 1,671
11. North Dakota State Bison 3-2 1,599
12. Montana Grizzlies 4-1 1,553
13. Massachusetts Minutemen 3-2 1,405
14. Central Arkansas Bears 4-1 1,038
15. Liberty Flames 5-0 975
16. Southern Illinois Salukis 2-2 881
17. Western Illinois Leathernecks 3-2 751
18. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 4-1 688
19. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 4-1 668
20. Furman Paladins 4-2 615
21. The Citadel Bulldogs 3-2 531
22. Weber State Wildcats 4-2 501
23. Eastern Washington Eagles 2-3 458
24. Delaware Blue Hens 2-3 406
25. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 3-3 286



Others receiving votes: Tennessee State 164, Hampton 147, Sam Houston State 126, Montana State 85, Eastern Illinois 57, South Carolina State 55, Harvard 51, Georgia Southern 50, San Diego 34, Cornell 28, Bethune-Cookman 26, Youngstown State 17, Yale 10, Lafayette 9, North Dakota 8, Northeastern 8, Prairie View 8, Sacred Heart 6, Southern 5, Florida A&M 5, Central Connecticut State 4, Eastern Kentucky 4, Grambling 4, Princeton 4, Colgate 4, William & Mary 3, Brown 2, Delaware State 1, Illinois State 1, Northwestern State 1, Portland State 1, Texas State 1.


10/7/08


1. James Madison Dukes (87) 4-1 2,684
2. Appalachian State Mountaineers 2-2 2,528
3. Montana Grizzlies (16) 4-0 2,455
4. McNeese State Cowboys (1) 2-1 2,360
5. New Hampshire Wildcats (3) 4-0 1,976
6. Richmond Spiders 3-2 1,733
7. Elon Phoenix 4-1 1,653
8. Cal Poly Mustangs 2-1 1,337
9. Wofford Terriers 3-1 1,242
10. Northern Iowa Panthers 2-2 1,228
11. Eastern Washington Eagles 2-2 1,206
12. The Citadel Bulldogs 3-1 1,193
13. Southern Illinois Salukis 2-1 1,155
14. Villanova Wildcats 3-1 1,117
15. Furman Paladins (1) 4-1 1,043
16. Delaware Blue Hens 2-2 935
17. North Dakota State Bison 2-2 855
18. Massachusetts Minutemen 2-2 784
19. Central Arkansas Bears 4-1 703
20. Liberty Flames 4-0 687
21. Western Illinois Leathernecks 2-2 681
22. Jacksonville State Gamecocks 3-1 650
23. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 3-2 559
24. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 3-1 548
25. Brown Bears 2-0 481


Others receiving votes: Eastern Illinois 382, Lafayette 368, Tennessee State 267, Harvard 260, Holy Cross 251, Youngstown State 148, William & Mary 145, Hampton 143, Sam Houston State 130, Georgia Southern 66, Prairie View 56, San Diego 50, Weber State 42, Florida A&M 36, Cornell 24, Tennessee-Martin 21, North Dakota 10, Sacred Heart 7, Delaware State 6, Southeastern Louisiana 6, Montana State 4, Colgate 2, South Carolina State 2, Southern 2, Central Connecticut State 1, Coastal Carolina 1, Grambling 1.


9/28/08

From Stu Mandel’s latest mailbag…

We discussed this ad nauseam during last year’s rash of upsets, but simply put, the number of BCS-caliber athletes coming out of high school has never been greater, and there’s only so many scholarships those schools can offer. While that doesn’t stop a USC or Florida from hording five-star recruits, as you go further down the line, there’s not that big a disparity between the type pf players Oregon and Boise State are recruiting. And as we know well by now, talent alone does not win football games.

Sound familiar?

The point, as I’ve been saying, is simple. The increase in participation has moved us to a point where the supply of I-A caliber talent outweighs the demand for it at the I-A level for it. Obviously when something like this happens you end up seeing very capable players take the next best option- aka playing I-AA football. So while we’ve built these classifications of I-A and I-AA (as well as BCS conference and non-BCS conference) as meaning something in terms of talent differentiation, the reality of the situation is that the increased supply of capable football players has dramatically shrunk the supposed “talent gap” between divisions. Obviously this change began before the 2007 season, but as so often is the case, our perception of such a change remained nonexistent until 2007, when it finally took several groundbreaking upsets to alert the majority of us to it. Yet what of these “excess” Division I-A prospects that inevitably get funneled through the ranks of Division I-AA because of the laws of supply and demand? Are they in fact underrated, or are they undervalued?

You decide…


1. Richmond Spiders (49) 3-1 2,389
2. James Madison Dukes (37) 3-1 2,387
3. Appalachian State Mountaineers 1-2 2,122
4. Montana Grizzlies (12) 3-0 2,095
5. Northern Iowa Panthers (2) 2-1 1,979
6. McNeese State Cowboys 1-1 1,760
7. New Hampshire Wildcats (1) 3-0 1,528
8. Elon Phoenix 3-1 1,306
9. Cal Poly Mustangs 2-1 1,272
10. North Dakota State Bison 2-2 1,257
11. Eastern Washington Eagles 1-2 1,197
12. Central Arkansas Bears 4-0 1,184
13. The Citadel Bulldogs 2-1 1,155
14. Wofford Terriers 2-1 1,137
15. Southern Illinois Salukis 1-1 1,115
16. Furman Paladins 3-1 970
17. Delaware Blue Hens 1-2 880
18. Massachusetts Minutemen 2-2 870
19. Villanova Wildcats 2-1 863
20. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 2-2 773
21. Eastern Illinois Panthers 2-2 754
22. Western Illinois Leathernecks 2-2 743
23. Tennessee State Tigers (1) 4-0 576
24. Georgia Southern Eagles 2-2 544
25. Liberty Flames 3-0 431


Others receiving votes: Harvard 331, Youngstown State 276, Northern Arizona 273, Yale 251, Jacksonville State 224, Hampton 106, San Diego 71, Prairie View 59, William & Mary 50, Brown 44, Florida A&M 43, Holy Cross 38, Penn 30, Weber State 28, Sam Houston State 22, Eastern Kentucky 14, Southeastern Louisiana 13, Lafayette 10, Sacred Heart 9, Delaware State 8, South Carolina State 8, Norfolk State 5, Princeton 4, Tennessee-Martin 4, Montana State 1, North Dakota 1,.


9/22/08


1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (96) 1-1 2,668
2. Richmond Spiders (1) 2-1 2,452
3. North Dakota State Bison (5) 2-1 2,417
4. Montana Grizzlies (7) 2-0 2,355
5. James Madison Dukes (2) 2-1 2,294
6. Delaware Blue Hens (1) 1-1 2,027
7. McNeese State Cowboys 1-1 1,920
8. Northern Iowa Panthers 1-1 1,905
9. Massachusetts Minutemen 2-1 1,677
10. New Hampshire Wildcats (1) 2-0 1,535
11. Wofford Terriers 2-0 1,458
12. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 2-1 1,448
13. Cal Poly Mustangs 1-1 1,337
14. Eastern Washington Eagles 0-2 1,271
15. Southern Illinois Salukis 1-1 1,201
16. Georgia Southern Eagles 2-1 1,030
17. Elon Phoenix 2-1 962
18. Central Arkansas Bears 3-0 945
19. Villanova Wildcats 1-1 740
20. Western Illinois Leathernecks 1-2 618
21. The Citadel Bulldogs 1-1 445
22. Eastern Illinois Panthers 1-2 415
23. Liberty Flames 3-0 248
24. Furman Paladins 2-1 244
25. Tennessee State Tigers 3-0 194



Others receiving votes: Harvard 185, Youngstown State 170, Northern Arizona 146, Delaware State 96, Yale 87, Holy Cross 86, South Carolina State 56, Jacksonville State 49, Sam Houston State 44, Prairie View 29, Norfolk State 27, Northwestern State 26, UC Davis 23, Sacramento State 22, Hampton 21, Weber State 20, Eastern Kentucky 18, San Diego 16, Dayton 15, Albany 12, Lafayette 11, Brown 10, Montana State 9, North Dakota 5, Sacred Heart 4, Florida A&M 3, Southeastern Louisiana 2, Maine 1, Nicholls State 1, William & Mary 1.


9/15/08


1. Appalachian State (85) 1-1 2,976
2. North Dakota State (22) 2-0 2,775
3. Massachusetts (1) 2-0 2,647
4. Richmond 1-1 2,606
5. Montana (1) 1-0 2,572
6. Delaware Blue (1) 0-1 2,561
7. James Madison 1-1 2,470
8. McNeese State 1-1 2,218
9. Northern Iowa 1-1 1,504
10. New Hampshire 1-0 1,400
11. Southern Illinois 1-0 1,343
12. Wofford 2-0 1,293
13. South Dakota State 1-1 994
14. Cal Poly 1-1 962
15. Western Illinois 1-1 918
16. Eastern Washington 0-2 866
17. Georgia Southern 1-1 833
18. Elon 1-1 820
19. Central Arkansas 2-0 597
20. Eastern Illinois 0-2 517
21. Villanova 0-1 470
22. The Citadel 1-1 411
23. Youngstown State 0-2 228
24. Harvard 0-0 191
25. Liberty 2-0 147


Others receiving votes: Northern Arizona 125, Furman 113, Delaware State 95, Sam Houston State 89, Fordham 65, Eastern Kentucky 54, Jacksonville State 51, Hampton 46, Tennessee State 43, Yale 42, Holy Cross 41, South Carolina State 21, San Diego 18, Norfolk State 17, UC Davis 16, Montana State 15, Sacramento State 15, Grambling 13, North Dakota 12, South Dakota 12, Prairie View 10, Dayton 8, Coastal Carolina 8, Albany 7, Colgate 5, Hofstra 5, Stony Brook 5, Nicholls State 3, Northwestern State 2, Lafayette 1, Texas State 1.



1. Appalachian State Mountaineers (62) 0-1 2,625
2. North Dakota State Bison (42) 1-0 2,555
3. Richmond Spiders (4) 1-0 2,406
4. Massachusetts Minutemen 1-0 2,226
5. Montana Grizzlies (1) 0-0 1,919
6. Delaware Blue Hens 0-1 1,870
7. Eastern Washington Eagles 0-1 1,856
8. James Madison Dukes 0-1 1,821
9. Northern Iowa Panthers 0-1 1,781
10. McNeese State Cowboys 0-1 1,761
11. Cal Poly Mustangs 1-0 1,664
12. Southern Illinois Salukis 0-0 1,451
13. Wofford Terriers 1-0 1,407
14. Youngstown State Penguins 0-1 1,148
15. New Hampshire Wildcats 0-0 918
16. Georgia Southern Eagles 0-1 868
17. Elon Phoenix 0-1 747
18. Western Illinois Leathernecks 0-1 659
19. Eastern Illinois Panthers 0-1 600
20. The Citadel Bulldogs 1-0 521
21. South Dakota State Jackrabbits 0-1 515
22. Central Arkansas Bears 1-0 507
23. Villanova Wildcats 0-1 491
24. Eastern Kentucky Colonels 0-1 378
25. Harvard Crimson 0-0 259



Others receiving votes: Furman 149, Sam Houston State 128, UC Davis 125, Montana State 113, Liberty 103, Northern Arizona 91, Delaware State 87, Fordham 76, Hampton 66, Yale 57, Norfolk State 48, Jacksonville State 47, Holy Cross 40, Weber State 38, Northwestern State 32, South Carolina State 30, Southern 28, Tennessee State 24, Colgate 20, North Dakota 19, Brown 15, Grambling 14, Lafayette 14, Florida A&M 13, San Diego 10, Coastal Carolina 7, Prairie View 7, Stony Brook 4, Tennessee-Martin 3, Tennessee Tech 3, Dayton 3, Albany 2, Morehead State 2, Alabama State 1, Hofstra 1, Jackson State 1.



1. Appalachian State (97)
2. North Dakota State (1)
3. Northern Iowa
4. Richmond
5. Massachusetts
6. James Madison (3)
7. Eastern Washington
8. Montana
9. Delaware
10. McNeese State
11. Southern Illinois
12. Youngstown State
13. Wofford
14. Cal Poly
15. Elon
16. New Hampshire
17. Georgia Southern
18. Eastern Illinois
19. South Dakota State
20. Eastern Kentucky
21. Villanova
22. Central Arkansas
23. The Citadel
24. Harvard
25. Western Illinois



Others receiving votes: Northern Arizona 249, Fordham 212, Delaware State 198, Jacksonville State 195, Yale 170, Sam Houston State 166, Montana State 146, Furman 120, Liberty 115, Jackson State 79, South Carolina State 76, Holy Cross 74, Hofstra 61, Colgate 56, Grambling 55, Norfolk State 48, Coastal Carolina 44, Hampton 41, Southern 32, Northwestern State 30, Tennessee-Martin 30, UC Davis 22, Weber State 17, Lafayette 16, Alabama A&M 10, Texas Southern 9, Brown 9, Nicholls State 9, Dayton 6, Tennessee State 5, San Diego 4, Albany 4, Maine 1, Prairie View 1.


Erin Andrews is excited for the season to start

By today most if not all of the college football fall preseason camps will be open and in business. Since rules do not allow full pads until after the first 3 practices, we most likely won’t hear the the cracking of the pads in the distance for a few more days. But never the less, we are one more day closer to the start of the 2008 college football season.

If you haven’t already, head on over to College Football News and check out what they have going on there. One of ITB’s very own, Adam Nettina, has been blogging over there about Navy. Adam was lucky enough to attended Navy’s media day last Thursday and got to sit down with their new coach Ken Niumatalolo and talk about the upcoming season.

Another ITB writer, Eric, has been working hard over at Saturday Sound Offs doing his two-a-days for every team in the FBS and FCS, well maybe not ever FCS team, but all the important ones. His latest two are Rutgers and Delaware, head on over and see what he predicts for those two teams.

All systems are go for TCU, SMU, and North Texas to begin practice. College Football Top 10 has all the information you need for those teams and more. He has more information about Texas football on his blog than most people I know.

When our friend Big Head isn’t fawning over Missouri Tigers on myspace, he’s at Tigers’ practice trying to Chase around the cheerleaders. Practice for the Tigers opens at 7:30 AM CST, and Big Head is up early like a kid at Christmas time!

Kate is flashing her bling

Another great part about preseason practice is how there is so much optimism for every team in the country. All of the teams start out undefeated, and they all have dreams of BCS titles dancing in their heads. Out in Lincoln, the big boss man Tom Osborne is no different. Over at Corn Nation, they found a quote from Osborne where he says they will be better. Does better mean not giving up 70 points in a game, or does it mean making a bowl game? Head over to Corn Nation and vote!

If you thought your team made it through last season without getting made fun of by John Radcliff’s College Football Songbook, check out the one he has this year. John is a good friend, good song writer, and burns one heck of a coach. I’m not sure we’ll be friends too much longer if he keeps ripping on the Big Ten though. Check out his lastest College Football Songbook over at the AOL Fanhouse.

In case you weren’t aware, the LSU Tigers will be host to the Appalachian State Mountaineers, the first game of the season. It would be pretty surprising if the Tigers don’t take this game seriously because of what ASU did to Michigan in the Big House last year. However, I do like the fact that this game will have the BCS Champion playing against the FCS Champion from last year. That should sell some tee-shirts. To read more about Appalachian State, head over to AppFan.

The Georgia Bulldogs were recently ranked #1 by the USA Today Coaches poll. They have no time to rest with the schedule they have out in front of them. To get a full rundown on the Bulldogs this year, head over to the Georgia Sports Blog.

The conclusion to our countdown doesn’t feature a stunner like Georgia Southern over Georgia or Northern Iowa over BYU, but you can take my word that when Cal Poly travels to San Diego State in week one the Mustangs will be in perfect position to upset the Aztecs. Check the links below to recap the last three parts of our countdown.

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

#1: Cal Poly at San Diego State (August 28^th)

Chuck Long has had a tough time getting San Diego State going in his two years here and despite having a fairly veteran offense in 2007 the Aztecs still stumbled their way to a 4-8 record. The Aztecs finished 115^th out of 119 FBS teams in total defense last season, allowing a staggering 498 yards per contest, including a “just shoot us now” 241 yards per game on the ground. Offensively San Diego State has quite a bit of retooling to do as they lose eight players off of last year’s offense including NFL bound quarterback Kevin O’Connell and wide receivers Brett Swain and Chaz Schilens. Even more pressing however may be the questions at offensive line, as the Aztecs return zero experience at the tackle position and only two starters on the offensive line. This is not a good storyboard for a team which averaged “only” 25 points per game on offense last year while benefiting from a +6 turnover margin. I use the word “only” because San Diego State will need to score points in order to even be competitive in the MWC. Considering how many teams need 2-3 games to establish an identity on offense it certainly seems more than conceivable that San Diego State would come sluggish in their opener with Cal Poly.

Cal Poly on the other hand is coming off of a successful 7-4 campaign which saw the Mustangs finish 24^th in the final Sports Network FCS media poll. Coach Rich Ellerson’s bunch led the nation in total offense during the regular season last year, falling just short of the 500 yard per game mark. They posted impressive wins over UC Davis (63-28), Idaho State (48-28) and Weber State (47-19) in 2007, while losing close matchups to WAC member Idaho (20-13) and North Dakota State (31-28.) The Mustangs return ten starters from their record setting offense in 2008, with the lone graduation loss being offensive lineman Daniel Bradley. Defensively they return seven starters, and while they weren’t lights out last year Cal Poly did have a dominating defense in 2006.

I like Cal Poly in this matchup for a number of reasons, not the least of which is their recent success against FBS programs as well as their established offensive dominance. Cal Poly actually beat San Diego State 16-14 in 2006 and would have beaten Idaho last year had it not been for seven fumbles which gave the Vandals a decided edge in the turnover department. While San Diego State does bring back eight starters on the defensive side of the ball I really question whether or not they’ll be improved enough in the first week of 2008 to stop Jonathan Dally and the Mustang offense. Keep in mind Cal Poly runs a triple option offense not totally dissimilar to what Air Force runs, and that the Falcons totaled more than 650 offensive yards (!!!) against San Diego State last season. Even with a comparatively average defense by FCS standards Cal Poly remains much more experienced than San Diego State’s offense, which will likely struggle controlling the ball as they break in a new quarterback, two new starting receivers, and an overhauled offensive line. It’s a good thing they don’t put lines out on inter-subdivision games because if they did I’d put money down on Cal Poly, which is exactly why this is my most likely FCS over FBS upset in 2008.