Griz are among the 25 best in all the land

[bandl]

AP Top 25
No. School Record Points Prev
1 Alabama (58) 13-0 1498 2
2 Texas (2) 13-0 1425 3
3 TCU 12-0 1376 4
4 Cincinnati 12-0 1302 5
5 Florida 12-1 1253 1
6 Boise State 13-0 1237 6
7 Oregon 10-2 1128 7
8 Ohio State 10-2 1080 8
9 Georgia Tech 11-2 952 12
10 Iowa 10-2 925 9
11 Penn State 10-2 883 10
12 Virginia Tech 9-3 866 11
13 LSU 9-3 686 15
14 Miami (Fla.) 9-3 660 17
15 Brigham Young 10-2 658 16
16 Oregon State 8-4 524 13
17 Pittsburgh 9-3 514 14
18 West Virginia 9-3 447 24
19 Stanford 8-4 390 23
20 Nebraska 9-4 371 21
21 Oklahoma State 9-3 349 22
22 Arizona 8-4 323 29
23 Utah 9-3 151 26
24 Wisconsin 9-3 133 27
25 Central Michigan 11-2 64 32
Others Receiving Votes: East Carolina(9-4) 53; Houston(10-3) 50; Texas Tech(8-4) 44; Southern California(8-4) 38; Northwestern(8-4) 35; Clemson(8-5) 31; California(8-4) 14; Mississippi(8-4) 14; North Carolina(8-4) 7; Oklahoma(7-5) 7; Tennessee(7-5) 6; Missouri(8-4) 4; Georgia(7-5) 1; Mont(13-0) 1
Updated: (12/09/2009) at 01:44 EST

[andy7171]

thanks bandle!

[AppStateAlumQC]

Your welcome.

[andy7171]

If I had a vote in the AP poll I'd vote for a CAA team, Hofstra prolly

[bandl]

If I had a vote in the AP poll I'd vote for a CAA team, Hofstra prolly

Or Duke.

[andy7171]

Actually if you add the votes up, they are being ranked #39. All these threads are not factual at all!

[SouthDakotaGrizzly]

Technically, that would make them among the best 39 in all the land since there are 13 other teams receiving votes outside the top 25. Regardless, I seem to remember Richmond receiving a vote earlier this year. Look where that got em. Maybe someone should start a thread about how receiving a top 25 vote got in Richmond's head and caused them to lose to App. St. . But that won't happen to Montana.....right??

And I would split my vote between Northeastern and Hofstra, out of respect for our departed brethren .

[andy7171]

Technically, that would make them among the best 39 in all the land since there are 13 other teams receiving votes outside the top 25.

Yeah what he said.

[SouthDakotaGrizzly]

Technically, that would make them among the best 39 in all the land since there are 13 other teams receiving votes outside the top 25.

Yeah what he said.

Maybe someone should start a top 39 thread instead .

[JMU DJ]

NO.... FRIGGIN.... WAY! I thought I'd read about this before, but actually seeing the poll for the first time, Wow! Congrats to the Griz. Does this signify their impending move to the FBS? With their attendance, records and consistent performance it's about time right? What happens to the rest of the big sky afterward? CAA West? Or would that bring down the GPI of the CAA to much? Would the CAA west give us two auto bids along with an extra 4 or 5 teams in the playoffs every year? Will CatMom be able to formulate answers to all of these questions without referencing the SLC and calling Andy, Bandle or I chauvinistic dickwads?

[AZGrizFan]

NO.... FRIGGIN.... WAY! I thought I'd read about this before, but actually seeing the poll for the first time, Wow! Congrats to the Griz. Does this signify their impending move to the FBS? With their attendance, records and consistent performance it's about time right? What happens to the rest of the big sky afterward? CAA West? Or would that bring down the GPI of the CAA to much? Would the CAA west give us two auto bids along with an extra 4 or 5 teams in the playoffs every year? Will CatMom be able to formulate answers to all of these questions without referencing the SLC and calling Andy, Bandle or I chauvinistic dickwads?

.....find out on the next issue of "Soap".

[SuperHornet]

You guys can't count. Extending the ratings out, the Griz are actually TIED for 38th.

LOL.

[hank scorpio]

Here is the reasoning behind the vote:

If it is posted on one of the 115 other "Griz in the top 25" threads, you can kiss my cold hairy ass.

Unbeaten Montana received a vote in this week's Associated Press Top 25, and Ray Ratto is comfortable putting the Griz in with the big boys of the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Not that he did it because of Montana's 40-0 surge to beat South Dakota State on Nov. 28 or Chase Reynolds' 21 touchdowns or Marc Mariani's sublime pass routes.

"What's Montana done to not be considered?" asked Ratto, a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle who has one of 65 votes in the AP poll. "The answer is nothing.

"I kind of have a soft spot for really good FCS teams, when I can't make up my mind between which four-loss (FBS) team is better than this other four-loss team."

Filling out a top 25 ballot can be daunting late in the season, as programs start to rack up the losses. The Pac-10, for example, is notably tough on itself: Oregon State, Stanford and Arizona all have four losses; two more four-loss teams, USC and California, fell out of the rankings this week.

"At some point, your head starts to bleed," said Ratto. "And you say, (Montana) is an unbeaten team, why not?"

So Ratto broke the tie with the 13-0 Griz, who take on 11-2 Appalachian State in the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals, Saturday at 2 p.m. MST inside Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

OK, it wasn't that easy. Ratto had a notion to vote for Villanova instead, though he also "sat there and mentally fought between Montana and Arizona for the 24th spot."

There is, of course, ample reason not to vote for the Griz. Idaho State lost to Oklahoma 64-0 in September and in November gave UM a run, before losing 12-10 on a last-second field goal. Oklahoma is unranked.

Cal beat Eastern Washington 59-7 this season, and Eastern ended up in the FCS playoffs, losing in the first round. The Bears are also unranked.

Then again, Montana beat Portland State a lot worse (49-17) than No. 16 Oregon State did (34-7).

And Ratto is a booster for teams like No. 25 Central Michigan, No. 23 Utah and No. 6 Boise State, who are generally on the outside of the Bowl Championship Series, looking in.

"We've gone way past the ‘enough's enough' stage," said Ratto. "I know the trend is to start lopping off the mid-majors and turn it into a six-conference free-for-all.

"Until they do that and the AP tells me I have to stop, everybody is in play."

That includes the Griz, who have more wins this century (118) than any Division I team. Not that Ratto is well-versed on that; he just knows there is a dearth of elite teams. It seems he knew that before Armanti Edwards and App State went to Michigan in 2007 and beat the Wolverines 34-32.

"That opened a lot of eyes," he said. "And everybody said, ‘Wow, that's great. Now we'll close our eyes again.' "

Ratto's eyes are still wide open, even if he occasionally goes outside the FBS for a candidate.

"The only abuse I ever get is from people who don't know you can vote for FCS teams," he said. "Then I tell them you actually can and they're like, ‘Oh. OK.' "

http://missoulian.com/sports/college/mo ... 03286.html

[BlackFalkin]

Armanti Edwards and App State went to Michigan in 2007 and beat the Wolverines 34-32. "That opened a lot of eyes," he said. "And everybody said, ‘Wow, that's great. Now we'll close our eyes again.' "

So true.

[bandl]

WHA?!?!?!?!?!!?!?