Sports Illustrated preview

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 10:50 am

70 BOWLING GREEN (23) 11-3 17
Senior WR Cole Magner (99 catches, 1,138 yards), junior TB P.J. Pope (1,005 yards) pick up slack for departed QB Josh Harris

70????

Do these people even watch college football? Ranking us 70th is ridiculous. Here are where some other MAC teams are ranked: Toledo -25!

, Marshall - 42, Northern Ill - 72, Miami - 74. To rank BG, NIU and Miami in the 70's but yet have UT at 25? I am speechless.

the writers at SI must have been drunk when they did the rankings.

ironmikecw · Post by **ironmikecw** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 10:58 am

It amazes me that the MAC nver gets any respect.in the national publications and ut/ marshall are always overated. These writers need to pull their head out of whatever orifice they obviously have them stuck in and do some actual research.... Nuff said!!!!!!

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 11:59 am

ACtually, Marshall is probably about right for the fourth best team in the MAC they will be this year.

FalconKing · Post by **FalconKing** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:04 pm

It is the same every year....we have to prove ourselves and the conference has to prove itself as well every year that we are for real...and you can bet on it happened again next year even if we have a knock out season because the Thundering Turds are leaving for C-DOA and they are the only team that manages to get respect year in and out.

Toledo at 25 is an absolute joke.

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 12:54 pm

I know I'll get flamed for this, but what the heck, isn't that what board are for?

I think we're ranked too low, but, well ...

I think Toledo may be overrated, but whether we like it or not, they've had 10 consecutive winning seasons and the best MAC record over the century's first four seasons. If BG were returning players with similar numbers and had that kind of recent track record, we'd be upset if we weren't in the top 15. I think the Rockets deserve a chance to prove if they belong in the top 25. It's good for the MAC. And, honestly, I hope they remain in the top 25 until the final game. A victory over (another) ranked opponent will only help the Falcons.
8)

I'm a little surprised that Miami is rated so low. They really brought back a ton of great players from a team that deserved to be in the top 10 last year. Marshall, well, I think they've got a good team; combined with the afterglow of Pennington, Moss & Leftwich, they're going to get a lot of love from the media for some time.

The fact that Rutgers is ranked ahead of BG, Northern and Miami is a shocker.

Anyway, I guess I'm saying that we may be ranked lower than we deserve, but we haven't exactly established a great program ... yet. We had a great season on the heels of some good seasons. But we'll need to establish a great program before we can lose a player of J5's stature and still get respect in preseason polls.

And if you're not happy with being #70, imagine how you'll feel if we don't hang tough against Oklahoma.

To be clear: I think BG is better than #70; SI ranks 117 teams and 70 puts us in the lower 50%, which is unthinkable for a BG fan. But with context and perspective, it's not exactly a surprise.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 1:45 pm

1987, given that the ESPN poll came out and we were rated like 39 or something, it is disappointing to see such a large, national publication rank us so much below that. I agree that UT has gained some respect and may, that is a big may, deserve to be in the top 25. But I am confounded that they are willing to rank one MAC team that high, but would put BG, NIU, and Miami wayyyyyyyyy down the list. If UT is 50 or something, then I just chalk it up to the MAC not getting any respect. But all three of us in the seventies?

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 2:11 pm

Warthog wrote:1987, given that the ESPN poll came out and we were rated like 39 or something, it is disappointing to see such a large, national publication rank us so much below that. I agree that UT has gained some respect and may, that is a big may, deserve to be in the top 25. But I am confounded that they are willing to rank one MAC team that high, but would put BG, NIU, and Miami wayyyyyyyyy down the list. If UT is 50 or something, then I just chalk it up to the MAC not getting any respect. But all three of us in the seventies?

The point is that to much of the country we were a one player team. Until we prove that we can continue that success without J5, they won't be buying into us having a "program". I'm not YET convinced that we have a "program". Oh, I'm positive we've built a sturdy foundation, until I see it actually take place on the field I'm not convinced. Until we start winning with teams that are completely turned over I'm not going to be convinced that we weren't just the product of a couple good recruiting years.

That is the nature of the beast.

As for us being ranked 39 or whatever in the poll, that is most likely because some voters are willing to give us votes based on how we finished last season. Remember that in order to get a point in that poll somebody must believe you're in the top 25 of the country. Can any of us honestly say, before we play a game, that they believe we're among the 25 best teams in the country? I cannot.

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:02 pm

hammb wrote:Remember that in order to get a point in that poll somebody must believe you're in the top 25 of the country. Can any of us honestly say, before we play a game, that they believe we're among the 25 best teams in the country? I cannot.

Good point hammb. I hadn't tought about it that way. I would agree that we need to prove something one the field before earning another top 25 ranking, I still don't think we should be # 70 either!

transfer2BGSU · Post by **transfer2BGSU** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:15 pm

Rankings right now don't mean a single thing. There's only one poll that matters and it comes out after the new year.

THAT'S THE ONE I WANT TO BE RANKED IN!

Schadenfreude · Post by **Schadenfreude** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:24 pm

hammb wrote:Can any of us honestly say, before we play a game, that they believe we're among the 25 best teams in the country? I cannot.

I can.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 3:47 pm

Warthog wrote: I still don't think we should be # 70 either!

Agreed. 70 is WAY too low for a team that was as good as last year's and only lost a couple of key players. Personally I'd rank us somewhere in the 30's, I think. I would have UT in the same range, because I think their defense will be awful; offense only goes so far.

I firmly believe that Miami & BG are the best 2 TEAMS in the MAC. How well they recover after the losses of their best players will determine how good they actually are.

bgmike29 · Post by **bgmike29** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 4:44 pm

I have to disagree with SI on this one. Their rankings of BG and the other MAC schools are a little crazy. I would personally rank BG between 35-40.

Falcon30 · Post by **Falcon30** » Wed Aug 11, 2004 6:17 pm

Schadenfreude wrote:
hammb wrote:Can any of us honestly say, before we play a game, that they believe we're among the 25 best teams in the country? I cannot.
I can.

If we were in the big ____ conference, we would be ranked. Let's say we had the exact same number of starters returning, but we were in the Big Ten. Forget about how good of a program we are, it doesn't matter. If we were, say, Indiana, and we had three years of success like ours, we would be ranked.

I am sure someone could look up northwestern's ranking pre-season 1996....

Our ranking shows a lack of thought by most poll voters. They don't think to vote for Bowling Green. I really think some people didn't dismiss us, they just forgot us. Miami has more of a beef.

This whole one-man team thing is hilarious...

Bring on Oklahoma, I can't wait.