USA TODAY rankings and discussion 10-29

 
No change this week... but how about three Ohio teams in the top 10!!!??? Way to go... Hopefully two of them will be in the top 5 by the end of the year hanging onto state title's... :)
 
A good week to be an Ohio or Texas fan, for sure! Still kind of puzzled how X dropped to 5.... but I guess that's why I'm not a highly paid football expert! :laugh:
 
A good week to be an Ohio or Texas fan, for sure! Still kind of puzzled how X dropped to 5.... but I guess that's why I'm not a highly paid football expert! :laugh:

that is PRECISELY why I show individual polls with COMMENTS

last week's comment was that St X struggled to barely win in 3 overtimes against an unranked team and therefore 3 teams who are playing better leapfrogged them

same thing happened to a team from florida this week
 
that is PRECISELY why I show individual polls with COMMENTS

last week's comment was that St X struggled to barely win in 3 overtimes against an unranked team and therefore 3 teams who are playing better leapfrogged them

same thing happened to a team from florida this week

Granted, but how many "Top 25" teams played a "ranked" opponent that week? X played St. Ignatius, a 7-1 top 10 Ohio team with 9 state titles and at least 2 national titles. It ain't like they were playing St. Mungos or anything like that!
 
Granted, but how many "Top 25" teams played a "ranked" opponent that week? X played St. Ignatius, a 7-1 top 10 Ohio team with 9 state titles and at least 2 national titles. It ain't like they were playing St. Mungos or anything like that!

but they struggled to win against a team that previously lost to another team 38-17

9 state titles but none recently and certainly not projected this year
 
but they struggled to win against a team that previously lost to another team 38-17

9 state titles but none recently and certainly not projected this year

No argument there. (Although I think Iggy will surprise some folks in the playoffs) I just think it's curious that X drops after a close game with a pretty good opponent, while others who had close games against far lesser opponents held their rankings.
 
No argument there. (Although I think Iggy will surprise some folks in the playoffs) I just think it's curious that X drops after a close game with a pretty good opponent, while others who had close games against far lesser opponents held their rankings.

one poll dropped warner robbins ga a lot of places because their star running back is now out for the season

again, that is PRECISELY the reason to include the individual polls WITH COMMENTS instead of just a matirx of polls chart as others have criticized
 
one poll dropped warner robbins ga a lot of places because their star running back is now out for the season

again, that is PRECISELY the reason to include the individual polls WITH COMMENTS instead of just a matirx of polls chart as others have criticized

Could have had a similar impact on St X, because of the loss of their starting QB. I believe consumerman may have a pretty good point here. How much do the loss of key players impact voters.
 
Could have had a similar impact on St X, because of the loss of their starting QB. I believe consumerman may have a pretty good point here. How much do the loss of key players impact voters.

I guess it may depend on how long the players are out and if they are expected back before the season ends.

For example, SLC has lost 8 starters due to injury. Most are expected back during the playoffs at some point.
 
I guess it may depend on how long the players are out and if they are expected back before the season ends.

For example, SLC has lost 8 starters due to injury. Most are expected back during the playoffs at some point.

I believe Hurley (St. X QB) is out for the season, if I'm not mistaken.
 
Hurley is out for the season, yes.

I honestly believe X should get a Mulligan for the Iggy game. They travelled upstate 200 miles to face a perennial Ohio power sporting a 7-1 record. They had just lost their starting, and very effective, senior QB the previous week. The new QB is just a sophomore and was getting his first start versus a very good opponent, on the road and under adverse weather conditions (high winds).

Also, Ignatius is apparently stronger defensively against the run than the pass. In their loss to Mentor, they were torched for 323 yards through the air and 3 TDs.

It was a bit of a perfect storm for X. Brand new QB in his first varsity start, far from home, versus 7-1 Iggy, poor weather for passing to begin with, and having to play to Iggy's defensive strength.
 
Hurley is out for the season, yes.

I honestly believe X should get a Mulligan for the Iggy game. They travelled upstate 200 miles to face a perennial Ohio power sporting a 7-1 record. They had just lost their starting, and very effective, senior QB the previous week. The new QB is just a sophomore and was getting his first start versus a very good opponent, on the road and under adverse weather conditions (high winds).

Also, Ignatius is apparently stronger defensively against the run than the pass. In their loss to Mentor, they were torched for 323 yards through the air and 3 TDs.

It was a bit of a perfect storm for X. Brand new QB in his first varsity start, far from home, versus 7-1 Iggy, poor weather for passing to begin with, and having to play to Iggy's defensive strength.

You seem to have covered all of the possible excuses well except you forgot to say something about refs.
 
You seem to have covered all of the possible excuses well except you forgot to say something about refs.

I believe the word is "reasons".

Playing a young and inexperienced quarterback is a "reason" why a team's passing game might suffer.

When there are high winds, most coaches would view it as a "reason" to keep the ball on the ground more.

Combining the two above points and facing an opponent with a strong run defense is a "reason" why offensive output might be down.


I hope this hasn't been too difficult for you to understand.
 
I believe the word is "reasons".

Playing a young and inexperienced quarterback is a "reason" why a team's passing game might suffer.

When there are high winds, most coaches would view it as a "reason" to keep the ball on the ground more.

Combining the two above points and facing an opponent with a strong run defense is a "reason" why offensive output might be down.


I hope this hasn't been too difficult for you to understand.

You also forgot to mention that Iggy had the exact same excuses(reasons) that X did except for the travel.
 
I don't quite understand how x can make a drop when at the beginning of the season their caption said something like if x goes undefeated they could make a serious argument about being national champions. well, they're undefeated and i can guarantee that St. Ignatius would smack the ---- out of any team that any of the other top 25 teams played the week x dropped.
 
I don't quite understand how x can make a drop when at the beginning of the season their caption said something like if x goes undefeated they could make a serious argument about being national champions. well, they're undefeated and i can guarantee that St. Ignatius would smack the ---- out of any team that any of the other top 25 teams played the week x dropped.

could they SMACK Mentor?
 
I believe the word is "reasons".
Amen to that... and Mentor game wass already addressed. Oh perhaps X had an off night... If this close game weren't so uncharacteristic of X perhaps there wouldn't be speculation about why the game was so close but since this game is an anomoly it would make sense to try to pinpoint what light have been the reasons behind the close game...

and we now know that another team X beat has taken down Ignatius so... should we now take the Glenville game into account? Teams matchup differently against every team they play, it seems that St. Ignatius had our number and on that night that enabled them to keep it reallly close.
 
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