sagarin ratings

[setshot]

Even with Savannah State's hugh loss to OSU, Sagarin ranks them ahead of Valpo. At #246,ole VU is again DEAD LAST. Will we remain there for the rest of the season? Hope not,but that may well be.

[milanmiracle]

It will really come down to winning conference games. Beating YSU and Duequense isn't realistic so getting a couple conference wins will help bring VU out of the cellar.

[crusadermoe]

Based on our improved result vs St. Joseph, I would guess we can win 2-3 conference games.    The southern group apart from jacksonville seems to be best shot.

Unfortunately, the schedule is front-loaded with the toughest games and that can take a toll on morale especially in a program that is beaten down.   That's the other big reason to juice the early schedule with D-3 teams instead of poisoning it with Youngstown St. and S. Dakota St. type programs.   Also the medical bills.

[vu72]

Based on our improved result vs St. Joseph, I would guess we can win 2-3 conference games.    The southern group apart from jacksonville seems to be best shot.

Unfortunately, the schedule is front-loaded with the toughest games and that can take a toll on morale especially in a program that is beaten down.   That's the other big reason to juice the early schedule with D-3 teams instead of poisoning it with Youngstown St. and S. Dakota St. type programs.   Also the medical bills.

I have no inside information on this but I think there is more to the playing YSU beyond the kids wanting to play up. Money is the big issue and it's more than just to buy uniforms.  Coach Carlson said way back that if we were going to be play D1 then we needed to treat the program like it. Back then, I'm pretty sure the players had to buy their own shoes, as an example.  Now they don't.  These are things players want to know and the more things we can provide to enhance the D1 experience the better and probably will attract better players as well.  Not sure how much we will get for the YSU game but it is probably more than the gate receipts, less costs, for all of our home games.

[milanmiracle]

Based on our improved result vs St. Joseph, I would guess we can win 2-3 conference games.    The southern group apart from jacksonville seems to be best shot.

Unfortunately, the schedule is front-loaded with the toughest games and that can take a toll on morale especially in a program that is beaten down.   That's the other big reason to juice the early schedule with D-3 teams instead of poisoning it with Youngstown St. and S. Dakota St. type programs.   Also the medical bills.

My issue isn't scheduling up and getting a payday, it's Youngstown State specifically or any of the handful of teams that are trying to win the national title. Valpo will never be anywhere close to that level, and asking those kids to go out there and take a beating just isn't good for them or the program. A program like YSU should never be on the schedule, at least not as long as Valpo is non scholarship. That can't possibly be good for morale when the only goal is to not to set records for margin of victory.

[vusupporter]

Based on our improved result vs St. Joseph, I would guess we can win 2-3 conference games.    The southern group apart from jacksonville seems to be best shot.

Unfortunately, the schedule is front-loaded with the toughest games and that can take a toll on morale especially in a program that is beaten down.   That's the other big reason to juice the early schedule with D-3 teams instead of poisoning it with Youngstown St. and S. Dakota St. type programs.   Also the medical bills.

My issue isn't scheduling up and getting a payday, it's Youngstown State specifically or any of the handful of teams that are trying to win the national title. Valpo will never be anywhere close to that level, and asking those kids to go out there and take a beating just isn't good for them or the program. A program like YSU should never be on the schedule, at least not as long as Valpo is non scholarship. That can't possibly be good for morale when the only goal is to not to set records for margin of victory.

I believe this deal was agreed to 3-4 years ago.  YSU was 4-8 in 2008, 6-5 in 2009, 3-8 in 2010.  Not exactly among the contenders for the national title...it just so happened that their meteoric rise back to the top pack of contenders coincides with the second time we have to play them.

[milanmiracle]

Based on our improved result vs St. Joseph, I would guess we can win 2-3 conference games.    The southern group apart from jacksonville seems to be best shot.

Unfortunately, the schedule is front-loaded with the toughest games and that can take a toll on morale especially in a program that is beaten down.   That's the other big reason to juice the early schedule with D-3 teams instead of poisoning it with Youngstown St. and S. Dakota St. type programs.   Also the medical bills.

My issue isn't scheduling up and getting a payday, it's Youngstown State specifically or any of the handful of teams that are trying to win the national title. Valpo will never be anywhere close to that level, and asking those kids to go out there and take a beating just isn't good for them or the program. A program like YSU should never be on the schedule, at least not as long as Valpo is non scholarship. That can't possibly be good for morale when the only goal is to not to set records for margin of victory.

I believe this deal was agreed to 3-4 years ago.  YSU was 4-8 in 2008, 6-5 in 2009, 3-8 in 2010.  Not exactly among the contenders for the national title...it just so happened that their meteoric rise back to the top pack of contenders coincides with the second time we have to play them.

Yes, they had a few down seasons, but the 1-AA leader in wins against 1-A competition certianly wasn't going to stay down for long. IU had some bad years after the Kelvin Sanctions incident, but now they're back to being iU. The same applies to Youngstown State. Thinking they'd stay down for long was not a good judgement call.

[covufan]

Yes, Sagarin still has us as 246, and probably will until we win a few games.  Our best chances are Butler, Marist and Davidson at home, and Campbell on the road.  There are many FCS (I-AA) rating systems out there, and the comparison can be found at Massey Ratings:

http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare1aa.htm

Yes, we are still 122nd of 122 FCS (Div 1-AA) teams, but Real Time RPI has us at 104, which is probably due to our having played YSU:

http://realtimerpi.com/football/ncaaf_2093_Men.html?Valparaiso

Real Time RPI actually has us beating Butler 27-24, but no other wins after that.