YSU Penguin Athletics > YSU Penguin Athletics

YSU/MVFC Preseason Rankings

(1/9) > >>

pioneer9:
This board has to liven up a bit here...

What's everyone's thoughts on some of the predictions for the season. I just made my annual trip to Barnes and Nobles to nab the season preview magazines and here's what they're saying...

-Sporting News; YSU 6th in the MVFC, unranked nationally. Derek Rivers listed as the Top NFL Prospect in the League. (Rest of MVFC - #1 NDSU, #4 UNI, #10 Illinois State, #12 SDSU, #16 W. Illinois)

-Lindy's Sports; YSU 6th in the MVFC, ranked #24 nationally. Sites YSU as possibly being able to slink from the middle of the pack to the upper tier of the league. (Rest of MVFC - #1 NDSU, #4 UNI, #6 SDSU, #17 W. Illinois, #20 Illinois State)

-Compughterrankings.com; YSU ranked #22 nationally. (Rest of MVFC - #1 NDSU, #3 UNI, #5 SDSU, #6 Illinois St, #14 W. Illinois)

I also saw a couple individual posters (that were not YSU faithful haha) at various sites that had YSU as a Top 10 contender! The funny thing is based on 1 or 2 big games we honestly could go anywhere from Top 5 to completely unranked... I guess its like that when 5 or 6 of our conference teams are in the Top 25.

I know Game 1 is a month and a half away but Duquesne is ranked #22 in Lindy's Sports Preseason Rankings and seems to be a continually improving program (coming off close playoff loss to William & Mary after making the FCS postseason for the first time in program history). Was listed as a Top OOC matchup on another site (I cant remember which). Also, they gave us a game a couple years ago (34-23). I think it may be a little overhyped if you actually know about the disparity between the MVFC and any mid-major FCS conference but its an intriguing matchup nonetheless. And the biggest thing is that it should give us at least some indication of how the season will go.

On a side note, Illinois State and North Dakota State were listed as the #3 and #5 FCS recruiting classes respectively... the rich keep on getting richer I guess.

Any thoughts?

Wick250:
Good.  Finally something meaningful to discuss. 

First, the gap between the MVFC and the rest of FCS has never been larger.  That was graphically proven last year when NDSU dismantled a supposedly powerful Jacksonville State team in the finals.  At least five of the top ten teams in the nation reside in the MVFC.  Whether we are one of the five, time will tell.

Rating FCS recruiting classes is rather silly.  Everybody knows the top high school talent that gets distributed among the FBS powers.  At the G5 or FCS level, players that are overlooked by the big boys might evolve into a Derek Rivers, or they might be multi-star high school recruits that can not even play at our level.  Anyone who guarantees that an incoming freshman in FCS will be a dominant player is being foolish or dishonest.

Why the preseason love for Western Illinois?  Did they not nearly embarrass our league by struggling against non-scholarship Dayton in the playoffs?  As for Illinois State, let us see how they perform without their stud quarterback and running back, both FBS transfers, that are now gone.

Duquesne is to be commended for building a competitive team with scholarship limitations.  Their quarterback is good, and they will toss it at least fifty times against us.  Against a Wolford defense, that would be a problem.  Against a Pelini defense, not so much.  And Duquesne cannot play defense at MVFC standards.

The YO Show:
I think the preseason love for western is due to such a high percentage of returning starters. Their team was very young last year. Whether or not that will translate to success is yet to be seen, but they may turn out to have a pretty good season this year.

The YO Show:
Hopefully, a statement is made in the Duquesne game. If the offense shows lots of promise, and the defense is playing to the level I am expecting, this will be a pretty good year. Regarding rankings, it doesn't really matter yet. I would put YSU in the top 25 near the end for now, and give it a wait and see type attitude. But I do think at worst they finish 4-6th MVFC placement with the chance for greatness. Giving it a hopeful wait and see  8) fb

ytownchief22:
Derek Rivers gets drafted. That's my prediction for the year ;)

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page