Tag: polls

No game, no change for Irish in newest Amway Coaches Poll

This week had no game on the schedule for the Irish, as they watched other teams around them fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Auburn got dominated by Georgia, who this week actually looked like a top 4 team. Alabama was Alabama, once again …

This week had no game on the schedule for the Irish, as they watched other teams around them fall from the ranks of the unbeaten. Auburn got dominated by Georgia, who this week actually looked like a top 4 team. Alabama was Alabama, once again handling another SEC ranked opponent in Texas A&M, while Texas, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh and Memphis were all upset.

The biggest loser this week was Texas, who continues to underperform while getting the benefit of the doubt by the polls. Last week they had a miraculous 4th quarter comeback, and this week living on the edge gave them their first loss to TCU. The Longhorns dropped to No. 22 after coming into the week ninth.

None of this really matter to Notre Dame, the teams what are ahead of them all won, although they didn’t all necessarily look great doing it. The Irish finally get back on the field next weekend to face Florida State, who’s sluggish start had them on upset watch for most of the 1st half. They would later pull away, winning their first game of the year.

Around the ACC, Clemson held steady atop the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, Miami, FL moved up one spot, North Carolina up two, Virginia Tech up five while Pittsburgh dropped out entirely.

Here is the week 5 edition of the Coach Poll, with the ACC teams in bold and last weeks rankings in parentheses.

1 Clemson (1)

2 Alabama (2)

3 Georgia (4)

3 Florida (3)

5 Notre Dame (5)

6 Ohio State (6)

7 Miami (8)

8 Penn State (10)

9 North Carolina (10)

10 Oklahoma State (19)

11 Cincinnati (15)

12 Tennessee (20)

13 Auburn (7)

14 Wisconsin (18)

15 BYU (22)

16 LSU (17)

17 Oregon (NR)

18 Virginia Tech (23)

19 Michigan (21)

20 Texas A&M (13)

21 SMU (NR)

22 Texas (9)

23 ULL (NR)

24 Iowa State (NR)

25 Central Florida (12)

Michigan moves up in latest Amway Coaches Poll

Michigan football moved up, despite still remaining idle.

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In the latest Amway Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, despite still remaining idle, Michigan football made a small uptick forward on Sunday in the eyes of the coaches.

It had less to do with the Wolverines, however, and more to do with the fact that multiple teams lost on Saturday. Oklahoma, Mississippi State, Memphis and Pitt all lost on Saturday and thus dropped out. Texas lost as well, as did Texas A&M, yet both remain ranked.

As far as Michigan, it rises up two spots to No. 19. It still has multiple future opponents ranked, as well. Ohio State is No. 6, Penn State is No. 8 and Wisconsin is No. 14. Minnesota is the first team that didn’t make the cut at a theoretical No. 26.

Full rankings:

Rank Team Record Points First Previous Chg Hi/lo
1 Clemson 3-0 1533 46 1 — 1/1
2 Alabama 2-0 1496 14 2 — 2/3
3 Georgia 2-0 1372 0 4 1 3/4
3 Florida 2-0 1372 0 3 — 3/8
5 Notre Dame 2-0 1256 0 5 — 5/10
6 Ohio State 0-0 1192 2 6 — 2/10
7 Miami 3-0 1149 0 8 1 7/NR
8 Penn State 0-0 983 0 10 2 7/13
9 North Carolina 2-0 982 0 11 2 9/19
10 Oklahoma State 3-0 818 0 19 9 10/19
11 Cincinnati 3-0 807 0 15 4 11/22
12 Tennessee 2-0 744 0 20 8 12/NR
13 Auburn 1-1 701 0 7 -6 7/13
14 Wisconsin 0-0 668 0 18 4 12/18
15 Brigham Young 3-0 646 0 22 7 15/23
16 Louisiana State 1-1 616 0 17 1 5/17
17 Oregon 0-0 494 0 NR — 9/NR
18 Virginia Tech 2-0 423 0 23 5 18/24
19 Michigan 0-0 409 0 21 2 15/21
20 Texas A&M 1-1 339 0 13 -7 10/20
21 Southern Methodist 4-0 304 0 NR 7 21/NR
22 Texas 2-1 295 0 9 -13 8/22
23 UL Lafayette 3-0 207 0 NR 3 21/NR
24 Iowa State 2-1 137 0 NR — 24/NR
25 Central Florida 2-1 127 0 12 -13 12/25

Notre Dame eighth in USA TODAY 1-126 rankings

Paul Myerberg has his latest 1-126 rankings out for FBS football and Notre Dame shows up three spots lower there than they do on the USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Paul Myerberg ranks every FBS team in college football on a weekly basis during the season and puts them all out there, 1-126.

In recent weeks he’s had to expand his rankings as every conference has decided to ultimately return to action this year and all but four independent programs have decided to play football for at least some amount of games.

With that, Myerberg ranked 1-126 this week and Notre Dame finds itself three spots lower in his poll than they did in this week’s Amway Coaches Poll Powered by USA TODAY.

Myerberg’s top ten:

Clemson, Ohio State, Alabama, Florida and Georgia come in 1-5.  Then it’s Penn State, Oregon, Notre Dame, Central Florida and Miami 6-10.

In that group, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon are yet to play any games as they check in before Notre Dame shows up.

Besides Clemson at the top spot, North Carolina checks in as Notre Dame’s highest ranked opponent at 18 while Pitt comes in next at 27.

Michigan football back in AP Top 25

Where Michigan football ranks in the latest AP Top 25, now that the Big Ten is back in the polls.

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The Big Ten has been excluded from recent iterations of the AP Top 25, so now with the conference being eligible once again, where would Michigan football place in the latest poll?

In the newest Amway Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, the Wolverines fell two spots, despite being idle and two top ten teams losing on Saturday. Perhaps the voters in the Associated Press would be more kind to the maize and blue?

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Michigan was ranked No. 16 in the preseason polls, but now with some football underway and the SEC starting play this past weekend, the Wolverines came in ranked No. 23.

As far as future opponents are concerned, Ohio State is ranked No. 6, Penn State is No. 10, Wisconsin is No. 19, and Minnesota is unranked.

Full rankings:

RANK TEAM PV RANK CONFERENCE POINTS
1
Clemson (2-0) 1 ACC 1,542 (55)
2
Alabama (1-0) 2 SEC 1,473 (3)
3
Florida (1-0) 5 SEC 1,324
4
Georgia (1-0) 4 SEC 1,310
5
Notre Dame (2-0) 7 IA Independents 1,231
6
* Ohio State (0-0) Big Ten 1,169 (4)
7
Auburn (1-0) 8 SEC 1,133
8
Miami (FL) (3-0) 12 ACC 1,045
9
Texas (2-0) 8 Big 12 862
10
* Penn State (0-0) Big Ten 840
11
UCF (2-0) 13 American Athletic 743
12
North Carolina (1-0) 11 ACC 734
13
Texas A&M (1-0) 10 SEC 705
14
* Oregon (0-0) Pac-12 651
15
Cincinnati (2-0) 14 American Athletic 646
16
Mississippi State (1-0) SEC 590
17
Oklahoma State (2-0) 15 Big 12 555
18
Oklahoma (1-1) 3 Big 12 535
19
* Wisconsin (0-0) Big Ten 510
20
LSU (0-1) 6 SEC 401
21
Tennessee (1-0) 16 SEC 377
22
Brigham Young (2-0) 18 IA Independents 295
23
* Michigan (0-0) Big Ten 277
24
Pittsburgh (3-0) 21 ACC 248
25
Memphis (1-0) 17 American Athletic 196

Others receiving votes:

Virginia Tech 195, Louisiana-Lafayette 126, * Minnesota 110, * USC 104, Kansas State 60, SMU 37, Marshall 31, Baylor 22, * Iowa 16, * Utah 14, Virginia 12, Arkansas State 11, UAB 5, Washington 4, Kentucky 4, Louisville 4, Army 3

Michigan football moves down in latest Amway Coaches Poll

In the latest Amway Coaches Poll, despite remaining idle and top teams losing, Michigan football moved down.

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In the latest Amway Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, Michigan football moved down in the eyes of the coaches across college football, despite not having played a game and others losing.

Last week, the maize and blue re-entered the poll at No. 19 overall, with Ohio State coming in at No. 10, Penn State at No. 13, Wisconsin No. 17 and Minnesota No. 22. But a funny thing happened on Saturday: a handful of top teams lost while others struggled.

Oklahoma entered the weekend ranked No. 3 — tied with Georgia — but was upset by Kansas State. Reigning national champion LSU came in ranked No. 5, but lost in stunning fashion to a Mike Leach-led Mississippi State. Georgia survived an early scare, while games went a bit later for Texas and Texas A&M.

In the latest poll, Michigan football moved down two spots to No. 21.

Full rankings:

1 Clemson 2-0 1194 42 1 — 1/1
2 Alabama 1-0 1144 4 2 — 2/3
3 Florida 1-0 1038 0 6 3 3/8
4 Georgia 1-0 1006 0 3 -1 3/4
5 Notre Dame 2-0 971 0 7 2 5/10
6 Ohio State 0-0 890 2 10 4 2/10
7 Auburn 1-0 889 0 8 1 7/11
8 Miami 3-0 795 0 14 6 8/NR
9 Texas 2-0 745 0 9 — 8/14
10 Penn State 0-0 589 0 13 3 7/13
11 North Carolina 1-0 578 0 12 1 11/19
12 Central Florida 2-0 577 0 15 3 12/21
13 Texas A&M 1-0 561 0 11 -2 10/13
14 Mississippi State 1-0 492 0 NR 27 14/NR
15 Cincinnati 2-0 480 0 16 1 14/22
16 Oklahoma 1-1 473 0 3 -13 3/16
17 Louisiana State 0-1 445 0 5 -12 5/17
18 Wisconsin 0-0 438 0 17 -1 12/18
19 Oklahoma State 2-0 374 0 18 -1 12/19
20 Tennessee 1-0 321 0 21 1 17/NR
21 Michigan 0-0 271 0 19 -2 15/21
22 Brigham Young 2-0 260 0 23 1 22/23
23 Virginia Tech 1-0 215 0 24 1 19/24
24 Memphis 1-0 210 0 20 -4 15/NR
25 Pittsburgh 3-0 179 0 NR 2 25/NR

Dropped out:

No. 22 Minnesota; No. 25 UL Lafayette.

Others receiving votes:

UL Lafayette 108; Minnesota 106; Southern Methodist 46; Kansas State 33; Iowa 32; Virginia 29; Baylor 25; Marshall 22; Kentucky 17; Arkansas St. 16; Boston College 9; South Carolina 6; Nebraska 4; UAB 3; Coastal Carolina 3; Army 3; Louisiana Tech 2; Mississippi 1.

Michigan back in Amway Coaches Poll

Despite the season being a month away, Michigan football is back in the Amway Coaches Poll.

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Michigan football is still more than a month away from its Oct. 24 season opener at Minnesota, but would the Wolverines find themselves back in the Amway Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, on Sunday?

The Big Ten announced on Wednesday that it would, indeed, be returning to the gridiron this fall, but it remained to be seen if the conference would he included once again in the Amway Coaches Poll. The AP Top 25 already announced that the league is not yet eligible to be included in the Week Three poll as it currently stands.

Turns out, yes, the coaches felt fit to include the Big Ten, once again. Michigan comes in at No. 19.

Full poll here.

On the schedule, Michigan opens with No. 22 Minnesota, faces No. 17 Wisconsin and No. 13 Penn State and finishes against No. 10 Ohio State.

Latest Amway Coaches Poll ditches Big Ten, despite potential return

Despite the likely return of the Big Ten, all the conference’s teams were dropped from the latest Amway Coaches Poll.

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They’re not in it right now, but with reports that the Big Ten is set to resume its fall schedule on Oct. 17, they’ll be back in it soon.

The Amway Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, released its second edition of 2020 on Sunday afternoon, and while the entirety of the Big Ten and Pac-12 dropped out, we at least get an early look at the current college football landscape as it currently stands.

The ACC and Big 12 both opened up their seasons on Saturday, but it’ll still be another two weeks before the SEC starts up. If plans hold, the Big Ten will start three weeks later — five weeks after the ACC and Big 12 started.

Here’s a look at the current Amway Coaches Poll.

Full Rankings:

1 Clemson 1-0 1020 37 1 — 1/1
2 Alabama 0-0 973 1 3 1 2/3
3 Oklahoma 1-0 907 0 6 3 3/6
4 Georgia 0-0 904 0 4 — 4/4
5 Louisiana State 0-0 852 3 5 — 5/5
6 Florida 0-0 837 0 8 2 6/8
7 Notre Dame 1-0 760 0 10 3 7/10
8 Texas 1-0 697 0 14 6 8/14
9 Auburn 0-0 694 0 11 2 9/11
10 Texas A&M 0-0 639 0 13 3 10/13
11 North Carolina 1-0 575 0 19 8 11/19
12 Oklahoma State 0-0 547 0 16 4 12/16
13 Central Florida 0-0 414 0 21 8 13/21
14 Cincinnati 0-0 403 0 22 8 14/22
15 Memphis 1-0 314 0 NR 15 15/NR
16 Louisville 1-0 313 0 NR 17 16/NR
17 Tennessee 0-0 309 0 NR 9 17/NR
18 Miami 1-0 267 0 NR 16 18/NR
19 Virginia Tech 0-0 265 0 24 5 19/24
20 Kentucky 0-0 232 0 NR 9 20/NR
21 UL Lafayette 1-0 219 0 NR 23 21/NR
22 Brigham Young 1-0 201 0 NR — 22/NR
23 Appalachian State 1-0 177 0 NR 12 23/NR
24 Baylor 0-0 161 0 NR 7 24/NR
25 Army 2-0 127 0 NR — 25/NR

Dropped out

No. 2 Ohio State; No. 7 Penn State; No. 9 Oregon; No. 12 Wisconsin; No. 15 Michigan; No. 17 Southern California; No. 18 Minnesota; No. 20 Utah; No. 23 Iowa; No. 25 Iowa State.

Others receiving votes

Georgia Tech 96; Pittsburgh 81; West Virginia 59; Virginia 56; Texas Christian 56; Southern Methodist 25; Tulane 20; South Carolina 18; Boise State 15; Marshall 14; Arkansas St. 13; Mississippi State 12; Duke 12; Texas Tech 11; Mississippi 8; Coastal Carolina 8; Iowa State 6; North Texas 5; South Florida 3.

Notre Dame Football: Irish high in SI’s ‘Still Standing 16’

Sports Illustrated has adjusted their preseason rankings to a ‘Still Standing 16’, Just how high did Notre Dame end up? Find out here…

As the college football world adjusts to almost half the teams in FBS not playing this fall, we continue to adjust rankings nation-wide.

Earlier this week the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY announced that they were changing the way they went about business, making only coaches of teams playing this fall eligible to vote.

Earlier today we discussed a USA TODAY writer who went and ranked all 76 FBS teams that are playing football this fall, and how he had Notre Dame fifth.

Now Sports Illustrated has changed things up, going away from the traditional ranking of 25 teams and instead coming up with their own “Still Standing 16“.

In those rankings Notre Dame checked in at number six, as Pat Forde said the following about the 2020 Fighting Irish:

The Fighting Irish won at least 10 games for the third straight season in 2019, for only the second time in school history. While that’s partly an accounting trick (they played fewer games during the olden days), it’s also a testament to what coach Brian Kelly has constructed in his decade at South Bend. Notre Dame might not be winning national titles, but the program is consistently relevant. 

Continuing the current run could hinge on a new crop of skill-position talent. Among the returnees no running back had 50 carries last season, and no receiver caught a dozen passes. The Irish have intriguing freshman options (TE Michael Mayer, WR Jordan Johnson, RB Chris Tyree), but those players are coming in behind schedule. At least senior QB Ian Book will be operating behind a very good, very experienced line.

Third-year coordinator Clark Lea is a coaching star in the making, having produced the school’s two best scoring defenses since 2012. He’s retooling a bit, but senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (80 tackles, 5 1/2 sacks, four passes broken up) is a high-impact centerpiece. —P.F

In their rankings, Sports Illustrated included three Notre Dame opponents in their 16 with Clemson first, North Carolina 14th and Florida State 15th, the highest we’ve seen the Seminoles.

For the entire rankings and quick write-ups on all 16 teams, you can check out the Sports Illustrated link here.

Where Michigan ranks in 2020 preseason Amway Coaches poll

The first 2020 preseason poll has been revealed.

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It’s bound to be an interesting year, should college football happen in 2020.

Though it seems that the sport will at least start, as some teams have seasons that begin this month — Michigan is set to open against Purdue 30 days from this writing — there’s naturally a lot of consternation that a season either won’t finish, or it won’t happen at all.

Regardless, that hasn’t stopped the wheels from turning, and one of the great traditions annually is the release of the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports, revealing what college football coaches think about the landscape before them.

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Now, it seems that most conferences — though not all — have moved to a 10-game conference-only schedule, complicating things a bit. But still, the Wolverines came in ranked No. 15 in the first look into the 2020 college football season.

Among the teams Michigan will face, Ohio State checks in at No. 2, Penn State at No. 7  and Wisconsin at No. 12.

1 CLEM 0-0 1589 38 NR — 1/1
2 OSU 0-0 1555 17 NR — 2/2
3 ALA 0-0 1495 4 NR — 3/3
4 UGA 0-0 1345 0 NR — 4/4
5 LSU 0-0 1330 6 NR — 5/5
6 OKLA 0-0 1315 0 NR — 6/6
7 PSU 0-0 1199 0 NR — 7/7
8 FLA 0-0 1176 0 NR — 8/8
9 ORE 0-0 1164 0 NR — 9/9
10 ND 0-0 1012 0 NR — 10/10
11 AUB 0-0 898 0 NR — 11/11
12 WIS 0-0 887 0 NR — 12/12
13 TAM 0-0 807 0 NR — 13/13
14 TEX 0-0 703 0 NR — 14/14
15 MICH 0-0 687 0 NR — 15/15
16 OKST 0-0 524 0 NR — 16/16
17 USC 0-0 521 0 NR — 17/17
18 MINN 0-0 494 0 NR — 18/18
19 UNC 0-0 415 0 NR — 19/19
20 UTAH 0-0 241 0 NR — 20/20
21 UCF 0-0 232 0 NR — 21/21
22 CIN 0-0 229 0 NR — 22/22
23 IOWA 0-0 204 0 NR — 23/23
24 VT 0-0 143 0 NR — 24/24
25 ISU 0-0 135 0 NR — 25/25

The 2020 season is currently slated to begin Sept. 5 with the Wolverines hosting Purdue at Michigan Stadium.

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#OnePride Q/A: Fan reactions to the Lions’ 2020 draft class

We asked #OnePride nation how they felt of the Detroit Lions’ 2020 draft class ranging from favorite player to biggest reach

With the 2020 draft in the books, we are inching closer to the training camps and getting to see the drafted players in action.

Many analysts and fans gave the Detroit Lions glowing reviews on their draft haul, as they addressed many of their most significant weaknesses, but to get an even deep look at fan’s perspectives, we at Lions Wire gauged the #OnePride fanbase’s thoughts on the Lions’ draft class via Twitter polls.

Favorite pick?

Zack’s take: I omitted Jeff Okudah because I wanted to get thoughts outside of the first round.

This was tight back-and-forth between D’Andre Swift and Julian Okwara, but eventually Swift ran away with it. This result really shouldn’t be overly surprising as many fans were begging for a running back early and even general manager Bob Quinn was excited Swift was still on the board in the second round.

Swift will look to be a compliment with Kerryon Johnson in the backfield and give Matthew Stafford a new dynamic weapon. I was surprised the Lions took a running back this early, but after seeing what they did later in the draft, the more this pick made sense.

Least favorite pick?

Zack’s take: After the Lions drafted Jonah Jackson and Logan Stenberg at guard along with Swift earlier, the Lions focus on improving the running game was evident. Most thought they were finished, but Quinn doubled down on running back in the fifth round by selecting Jason Huntley.

Adding Huntley did feel like a luxury pick but Quinn is always looking for competition amongst the roster and Huntley will likely compete with Ty Johnson at running back and possibly Jamal Agnew on returns.

Best value?

Zack’s take: After rarely addressing the pass rush in previous drafts, Quinn tagged EDGE Julian Okwara in the third round. If it wasn’t for Okwara breaking his leg last season, expectations were he would have gone significantly sooner. Luckily for the Lions, he dropped, making Quinn a happy man.

Okwara was PFF’s No. 28 overall player, and the Lions were able to land him with the 67th overall pick, nabbing one of the better value picks in the draft.

Fun fact: Using PFF’s big board, the best value pick for the Lions wasn’t Okwara, it was John Penisini, who was their 104th overall player, and the Lions selected him at pick 197.

Biggest reach?

Zack’s take: It was challenging to nitpick the Lions draft class. Up and down, the Lions seemed to nail value with position needs with their selections. Some would’ve preferred to wait on running back, but as the draft progressed, running backs quickly became a hot commodity on Day 2. Doubling up on guard was a head-scratcher at first, but with a focus on the running game, the Lions needed maulers. As I mentioned before, as the draft progressed, it was clear Quinn had a plan in mind and executed it almost flawlessly.

The player that got a few mentions as a possible reach was Huntley for the same reasons that were mentioned above. Beyond that, the majority agreed the Lions got players who fit perfectly into the plan both Quinn and coach Matt Patricia were looking to execute.

Keep your eyes open for future questions. We would love to hear your thoughts. If you have any questions, you’d like to see answered, send a message, or leave a comment with your question. Thank you to all Lions fans and the #OnePride nation.