Goff Rankings
Well there's not a lot to say here. We had just a few Round 1 playoff games, and most went according to expectations.
The one game in which the lower-ranked team was victorious was #21 Lehigh over #18 North Carolina 18-15. Lehigh moves up.
With only a few games this week we'd be forgiven for not moving anyone, but of course the few results we did get prompt moves anyway.
We picked all six winners last week, albeit not by the margins that actually occurred, but overall we had it pegged, including predicting that Tennessee would beat Kennesaw State even though KSU was the higher-ranked team.
We have to find a new #1 as the team that has been camped out at the top of the rankings, Wisconsin-Whitewater, lost.
Yes, sure, the Warhawks lost by a mere five points, but it is very, very tight at the top in these rankings. With #2 Furman being idle, and Norwich playing #6 UMass-Lowell and winning in impressive fashion, it's the Cadets who get the #1 ranking.
As usual we have some big movement with conference playoffs, and we have to say we're not surprised that happened happened.
Some decisions have to be made this week as we vote in the DIA rankings.
Such a great time of year for ranking DII colleges, as everyone is active and playing meaningful games.
This past weekend was very educational for us in many ways, and almost every team moved up or down.
Some quick housekeeping items: Iowa Central and Sam Houston State are in DIAA now so they are taken out of this ranking.
Some key changes in who is in what division influence our rankings.
The Lonestar Conference is DIAA now, so their two best teams do move into the Top 40. That decision is bolstered by some independent observations that tell us these teams are solid, and would give some teams outside of the conference a bit of a run.
Here's how we're voting this week in the official D1A rankings.
Not a lot of changes, although Lindenwood of course moves ahead of Navy.
Lindenwood Wins Defensive Battle With Navy
We have some serious changes in the lower half of the Top 40.
We drop four teams out and it's not done lightly. RPI won a playoff game, but drops out because the win was very close with a team that hasn't done a lot, so while RPI could ump back up with a solid showing this coming weekend, they drop out now. Why?
The big question this week is what to do about the teams in the Chesapeake.
Maryland's defeat of Mount St. Mary's isn't that much of a surprise, but with Maryland having beaten MSM but lost to NCSU, but NSCU having lost to MSM, and with Salisbury having tied Maryland and lost to NC State, but having beaten Virginia Tech, it's a case of shuffling all of these teams and wondering.
Well, it happened, and it happened in a big way. Idle as they are, the top four teams in our rankings are vulnerable to being pushed down by teams that play in the fall.
But the teams in the fall can't just do it on one or two victories; they have to build up a portfolio of results against strong opposition.
On last weekend's results we were 14-3 in our picks, but two of the three we were wrong on have rankings ramifications.