2021 Sagarin Says

[THEsocalledfan]

It is interesting the separation NDSU and SDSU have on the field right now, and ndsu is still improving. I know FCS is dying, but this is an entertaining year.

[MankatoBison]

It is interesting the separation NDSU and SDSU have on the field right now, and ndsu is still improving. I know FCS is dying, but this is an entertaining year.

All of this is true. Definitely one of the more entertaining FCS years in terms of parity. If SDSU runs the table until we play in November- I may be skipping deer hunting this year to see that game lol

[THEsocalledfan]

New top 25 per Sagarin.....EWU is cracking through to being a top team and I agree with that. I am dreaming of another matchup in Fargo as it would be fascinating to watch.

50 South Dakota State AA = 73.98 5 1 53.21( 151) 0 0 | 0 0 | 74.27 49 | 73.01 55 | 75.04 49 MISSOURI VALLEY
58 North Dakota State AA = 72.81 6 0 49.33( 171) 0 0 | 0 0 | 71.94 65 | 72.50 59 | 75.05 48 MISSOURI VALLEY
89 Eastern Washington AA = 66.05 7 0 49.42( 170) 0 0 | 0 0 | 65.18 94 | 65.12 91 | 69.83 68 BIG SKY
92 James Madison AA = 65.41 5 1 47.26( 179) 0 0 | 0 0 | 65.25 93 | 64.91 93 | 66.32 86 COLONIAL
95 Southern Illinois AA = 65.22 6 1 53.43( 149) 0 0 | 0 0 | 64.21 99 | 64.71 95 | 68.25 77 MISSOURI VALLEY
101 Sam Houston State AA = 63.66 5 0 45.68( 193) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.25 105 | 64.05 99 | 65.46 90 AQ7
102 Northern Iowa AA = 63.65 3 3 60.34( 119) 0 1 | 0 1 | 66.22 90 | 61.75 109 | 61.85 108 MISSOURI VALLEY
104 Montana State AA = 62.68 6 1 41.36( 221) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.19 106 | 61.83 107 | 65.23 91 BIG SKY
105 Montana AA = 62.45 4 2 50.05( 169) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.83 104 | 61.94 106 | 62.16 105 BIG SKY
106 South Dakota AA = 62.27 5 2 52.76( 152) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.12 107 | 60.32 111 | 66.73 82 MISSOURI VALLEY
113 Missouri State AA = 60.39 4 2 55.23( 142) 0 0 | 0 1 | 60.85 112 | 59.14 118 | 61.65 110 MISSOURI VALLEY
119 Harvard AA = 58.85 5 0 36.35( 240) 0 0 | 0 0 | 57.61 123 | 58.05 123 | 63.02 102 IVY LEAGUE
120 Villanova AA = 58.35 5 1 44.62( 205) 0 1 | 0 1 | 57.37 126 | 57.81 125 | 61.24 112 COLONIAL
122 Kennesaw State AA = 58.14 5 1 46.83( 182) 0 0 | 0 0 | 56.73 129 | 57.96 124 | 61.20 113 BIG SOUTH
123 North Dakota AA = 58.08 2 4 60.45( 118) 0 0 | 0 0 | 59.91 118 | 56.82 129 | 56.26 135 MISSOURI VALLEY
124 Dartmouth AA = 57.94 5 0 39.83( 233) 0 0 | 0 0 | 55.60 132 | 58.75 121 | 60.92 116 IVY LEAGUE
126 SE Louisiana AA = 57.71 5 1 44.20( 207) 0 0 | 0 0 | 57.05 128 | 57.02 128 | 60.24 119 SOUTHLAND
128 Princeton AA = 57.70 5 0 35.26( 245) 0 0 | 0 0 | 55.55 133 | 59.18 117 | 58.65 124 IVY LEAGUE
130 Incarnate Word AA = 57.13 5 1 45.93( 192) 0 0 | 0 0 | 56.40 130 | 55.82 132 | 61.24 111 SOUTHLAND
132 Weber State AA = 56.72 2 4 55.06( 144) 0 0 | 0 1 | 59.27 120 | 54.86 139 | 54.56 138 BIG SKY
133 UC Davis AA = 56.55 6 1 43.55( 211) 0 0 | 0 0 | 57.10 127 | 55.73 134 | 56.57 131 BIG SKY
134 Sacramento State AA = 55.60 4 2 52.26( 154) 0 0 | 0 0 | 53.83 140 | 55.53 136 | 59.18 122 BIG SKY
138 East Tennessee State AA = 54.79 6 1 44.89( 201) 0 0 | 0 0 | 53.11 143 | 54.90 138 | 57.77 127 SOUTHERN
141 Youngstown State AA = 53.80 2 3 60.33( 121) 0 0 | 0 1 | 53.25 142 | 53.20 142 | 55.79 137 MISSOURI VALLEY
144 Chattanooga AA = 53.26 3 3 47.29( 178) 0 0 | 0 1 | 54.71 136 | 51.26 149 | 53.82 139 SOUTHERN

And if anyone tries to say the Valley is not the top league, please slap them for me.

[SDbison]

8 of the top 25 teams are MVFC teams. lol Sam Houston is 6th ranked FCS team by Sagarin, but top ranked in STATS poll since they keep beating bad teams.

[THEsocalledfan]

8 of the top 25 teams are MVFC teams. lol Sam Houston is 6th ranked FCS team by Sagarin, but top ranked in STATS poll since they keep beating bad teams.

Rarely would I defend Sam, and this is 100% their own doing, but the shit teams they are playing are probably artificially hurting them. While I find Sagarin to be more accurate that polls on who is actually good, I do think Sam if a legit top team as long as Schmidt plays. I'd put them at #3 right now if I could manipulate Sagarin. Note, their one close game Schmidt did not play.

[NDSU92]

Rarely would I defend Sam, and this is 100% their own doing, but the shit teams they are playing are probably artificially hurting them. While I find Sagarin to be more accurate that polls on who is actually good, I do think Sam if a legit top team as long as Schmidt plays. I'd put them at #3 right now if I could manipulate Sagarin. Note, their one close game Schmidt did not play.

They've struggled with some bad teams though. Close game against SFA did not help them. The best part of Sagarin is that the eyeball bias isn't really there. If anything, the lower-scoring, defensive teams would have a bias against them due to the margin of victory being smaller. Hypothetical example: SHSU wins 70-56, SDSU wins 20-7 against the same team... Sagarin sees EWU +14 and SDSU +13. Could easily argue that SDSU won by more, tripled them up.

That's at least my understanding

[THEsocalledfan]

They've struggled with some bad teams though. Close game against SFA did not help them. The best part of Sagarin is that the eyeball bias isn't really there. If anything, the lower-scoring, defensive teams would have a bias against them due to the margin of victory being smaller. Hypothetical example: SHSU wins 70-56, SDSU wins 20-7 against the same team... Sagarin sees EWU +14 and SDSU +13. Could easily argue that SDSU won by more, tripled them up.

That's at least my understanding

SFA Schmidt did not play.......and as you stated, that hurt them. Further, as Herder points out over and over, that entire team is back......there is no reason to believe they are not that good when they took out JMU, SDSU, and NDSU. This is not the Sam of 5 years ago. All comes down to Schmidt staying healthy; he gets hurt, and they will implode. Now can they play with this NDSU team? That is another question since the defense is clearly improved.

[NDSU92]

SFA Schmidt did not play.......and as you stated, that hurt them. Further, as Herder points out over and over, that entire team is back......there is no reason to believe they are not that good when they took out JMU, SDSU, and NDSU. This is not the Sam of 5 years ago. All comes down to Schmidt staying healthy; he gets hurt, and they will implode. Now can they play with this NDSU team? That is another question since the defense is clearly improved.

They gave up 35 to central arkansas? They were goofing around w/ N Arizona well into the 3rd quarter before a pick 6 in the redzone produced a 14 point swing. They were excellent this spring, but that was last season and it wasn't even really a season. I probably have 12 years of "Eat 'em up kats" no defense bias clouding my judgement, but still.

The teams they've played so far are ATROCIOUS

[Mr Pep Band]

New top 25 per Sagarin.....EWU is cracking through to being a top team and I agree with that. I am dreaming of another matchup in Fargo as it would be fascinating to watch.

50 South Dakota State AA = 73.98 5 1 53.21( 151) 0 0 | 0 0 | 74.27 49 | 73.01 55 | 75.04 49 MISSOURI VALLEY
58 North Dakota State AA = 72.81 6 0 49.33( 171) 0 0 | 0 0 | 71.94 65 | 72.50 59 | 75.05 48 MISSOURI VALLEY
89 Eastern Washington AA = 66.05 7 0 49.42( 170) 0 0 | 0 0 | 65.18 94 | 65.12 91 | 69.83 68 BIG SKY
92 James Madison AA = 65.41 5 1 47.26( 179) 0 0 | 0 0 | 65.25 93 | 64.91 93 | 66.32 86 COLONIAL
95 Southern Illinois AA = 65.22 6 1 53.43( 149) 0 0 | 0 0 | 64.21 99 | 64.71 95 | 68.25 77 MISSOURI VALLEY
101 Sam Houston State AA = 63.66 5 0 45.68( 193) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.25 105 | 64.05 99 | 65.46 90 AQ7
102 Northern Iowa AA = 63.65 3 3 60.34( 119) 0 1 | 0 1 | 66.22 90 | 61.75 109 | 61.85 108 MISSOURI VALLEY
104 Montana State AA = 62.68 6 1 41.36( 221) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.19 106 | 61.83 107 | 65.23 91 BIG SKY
105 Montana AA = 62.45 4 2 50.05( 169) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.83 104 | 61.94 106 | 62.16 105 BIG SKY
106 South Dakota AA = 62.27 5 2 52.76( 152) 0 0 | 0 0 | 62.12 107 | 60.32 111 | 66.73 82 MISSOURI VALLEY
113 Missouri State AA = 60.39 4 2 55.23( 142) 0 0 | 0 1 | 60.85 112 | 59.14 118 | 61.65 110 MISSOURI VALLEY
119 Harvard AA = 58.85 5 0 36.35( 240) 0 0 | 0 0 | 57.61 123 | 58.05 123 | 63.02 102 IVY LEAGUE
120 Villanova AA = 58.35 5 1 44.62( 205) 0 1 | 0 1 | 57.37 126 | 57.81 125 | 61.24 112 COLONIAL
122 Kennesaw State AA = 58.14 5 1 46.83( 182) 0 0 | 0 0 | 56.73 129 | 57.96 124 | 61.20 113 BIG SOUTH
123 North Dakota AA = 58.08 2 4 60.45( 118) 0 0 | 0 0 | 59.91 118 | 56.82 129 | 56.26 135 MISSOURI VALLEY
124 Dartmouth AA = 57.94 5 0 39.83( 233) 0 0 | 0 0 | 55.60 132 | 58.75 121 | 60.92 116 IVY LEAGUE
126 SE Louisiana AA = 57.71 5 1 44.20( 207) 0 0 | 0 0 | 57.05 128 | 57.02 128 | 60.24 119 SOUTHLAND
128 Princeton AA = 57.70 5 0 35.26( 245) 0 0 | 0 0 | 55.55 133 | 59.18 117 | 58.65 124 IVY LEAGUE
130 Incarnate Word AA = 57.13 5 1 45.93( 192) 0 0 | 0 0 | 56.40 130 | 55.82 132 | 61.24 111 SOUTHLAND
132 Weber State AA = 56.72 2 4 55.06( 144) 0 0 | 0 1 | 59.27 120 | 54.86 139 | 54.56 138 BIG SKY
133 UC Davis AA = 56.55 6 1 43.55( 211) 0 0 | 0 0 | 57.10 127 | 55.73 134 | 56.57 131 BIG SKY
134 Sacramento State AA = 55.60 4 2 52.26( 154) 0 0 | 0 0 | 53.83 140 | 55.53 136 | 59.18 122 BIG SKY
138 East Tennessee State AA = 54.79 6 1 44.89( 201) 0 0 | 0 0 | 53.11 143 | 54.90 138 | 57.77 127 SOUTHERN
141 Youngstown State AA = 53.80 2 3 60.33( 121) 0 0 | 0 1 | 53.25 142 | 53.20 142 | 55.79 137 MISSOURI VALLEY
144 Chattanooga AA = 53.26 3 3 47.29( 178) 0 0 | 0 1 | 54.71 136 | 51.26 149 | 53.82 139 SOUTHERN

And if anyone tries to say the Valley is not the top league, please slap them for me.

The flippin IVY LEAGUE has more schools in the top 25 than the CAA!!!

[bisonaudit]

FYI: No in-season top 10 from the selection committee this year. Probably not a good thing. I feel like it worked better when they had a chance to fuck it up at least once and get some feedback before they locked in their mistakes.