2012 Early Poll

[Darell1976]

NDSU, SHSU, and Georgia Southern, UNI, Montana State...1-5....UND #20.

[clenz]

UNI will not be preseason to 5.

Top 15 yes, top 5 no.

Given the fact the voters will look at the fact UNI lost 3 senior "starters" at skill positions (2 WR and QB) they will knock UNI pretty good....even though the to 3 WR on the team by the end of the season were a JR and 2 FR....

UNI returns the entire OL, plus the deepest backfield in the conference (yeah I said it....I'll argue that point with anyone) the offense should be fine. A more traditional QB will put our OC in more of a comfort zone for play calling (circa the Eric Sanders era). Rennie was a tremendous talent that our OC showed he didn't know how to use properly.


The defense *should* be a concern for non-UNI fans. They'll look at the loss of 3 LB's and Ben Boothby and go "Noway they can be good again"....yet the defense does nothing but reload and be at or near the top of the conference ever year.


I'd bet UNI ends up around 11-15 pre season.

[Darell1976]

UNI will not be preseason to 5.

Top 15 yes, top 5 no.

Given the fact the voters will look at the fact UNI lost 3 senior "starters" at skill positions (2 WR and QB) they will knock UNI pretty good....even though the to 3 WR on the team by the end of the season were a JR and 2 FR....

UNI returns the entire OL, plus the deepest backfield in the conference (yeah I said it....I'll argue that point with anyone) the offense should be fine. A more traditional QB will put our OC in more of a comfort zone for play calling (circa the Eric Sanders era). Rennie was a tremendous talent that our OC showed he didn't know how to use properly.


The defense *should* be a concern for non-UNI fans. They'll look at the loss of 3 LB's and Ben Boothby and go "Noway they can be good again"....yet the defense does nothing but reload and be at or near the top of the conference ever year.


I'd bet UNI ends up around 11-15 pre season.

Your schedule is brutal....I hope you get a lot of upsets!!

[clenz]

Depending on how they fill the buy out from Savanah State UNI could be looking square at a 2-2/1-3/0-4 start.....First half of the schedule is brutal.

[Brock Landers]

It'll be interesting to see where we fall... pollsters will probably have us all over the place

I should think Towson and ODU will both be in the top ten

[SuperHornet]

UNI will not be preseason to 5.

Top 15 yes, top 5 no.

Given the fact the voters will look at the fact UNI lost 3 senior "starters" at skill positions (2 WR and QB) they will knock UNI pretty good....even though the to 3 WR on the team by the end of the season were a JR and 2 FR....

UNI returns the entire OL, plus the deepest backfield in the conference (yeah I said it....I'll argue that point with anyone) the offense should be fine. A more traditional QB will put our OC in more of a comfort zone for play calling (circa the Eric Sanders era). Rennie was a tremendous talent that our OC showed he didn't know how to use properly.


The defense *should* be a concern for non-UNI fans. They'll look at the loss of 3 LB's and Ben Boothby and go "Noway they can be good again"....yet the defense does nothing but reload and be at or near the top of the conference ever year.


I'd bet UNI ends up around 11-15 pre season.

Does the schedule have any play in determining the preseason poll? I guess what I'm trying to say is that recovering from a big preseason hiccup such as you're forecasting would be easier starting from a Top 5 preseason ranking as opposed to starting unranked, right? Such a drop would take one from say 5 to about 20-23, and then the recovery would start from there as the wins pile up later on. Starting the wins from an unranked oh-fer or two-fer would make gaining the playoffs pretty difficult, wouldn't it?

[guinzone]

Entering October, I don't think UNI will be in the top 30. Brutal schedule to start.

[clenz]

UNI will not be preseason to 5.

Top 15 yes, top 5 no.

Given the fact the voters will look at the fact UNI lost 3 senior "starters" at skill positions (2 WR and QB) they will knock UNI pretty good....even though the to 3 WR on the team by the end of the season were a JR and 2 FR....

UNI returns the entire OL, plus the deepest backfield in the conference (yeah I said it....I'll argue that point with anyone) the offense should be fine. A more traditional QB will put our OC in more of a comfort zone for play calling (circa the Eric Sanders era). Rennie was a tremendous talent that our OC showed he didn't know how to use properly.


The defense *should* be a concern for non-UNI fans. They'll look at the loss of 3 LB's and Ben Boothby and go "Noway they can be good again"....yet the defense does nothing but reload and be at or near the top of the conference ever year.


I'd bet UNI ends up around 11-15 pre season.

Does the schedule have any play in determining the preseason poll? I guess what I'm trying to say is that recovering from a big preseason hiccup such as you're forecasting would be easier starting from a Top 5 preseason ranking as opposed to starting unranked, right? Such a drop would take one from say 5 to about 20-23, and then the recovery would start from there as the wins pile up later on. Starting the wins from an unranked oh-fer or two-fer would make gaining the playoffs pretty difficult, wouldn't it?

Always easier to recover from starting high than starting low....




As for not being in the top 30 come October...


I'm not worried where we are Oct 1st...but at the end of the season.

[DJH]

Entering October, I don't think UNI will be in the top 30. Brutal schedule to start.

Really, Top 30?

Losing to Wisconsin and Iowa is not going to sink UNI all the way out of the polls.

[bison07]

NDSU
SHSU
GSU
Montana
It's a toss up outside of those 4. NDSU will be there by default but I think GSU will be the team to beat next year

[lakesbison]

NDSU
SHSU
GSU
MONTANA ST
YOUNGSTOWN
JMU

[grizzaholic]

NDSU
SHSU
GSU
MONTANA ST
YOUNGSTOWN
JMU

I will bet that 2 of those will be in the top 3 at the end of the season next year.

[Cujo]

1. NDSU
2. SHSU
3. GSU
4. MSU
5. UM

[Vidav]

1. NDSU
2. SHSU
3. GSU
4. MSU
5. UM

MSU is not going to be better than UM.

[SuperHornet]

1. UM
2. Sac
3. App
4. JMU
5. Liberty

Please before you bash me, tell me what's wrong with 3 and 4? Remember that SHSU has a barnstorming schedule this year that will be VERY tough.

THEN bash me.

[DJH]

1. NDSU
2. SHSU
3. GSU
4. MSU
5. UM

MSU is not going to be better than UM.

How do you know how good Montana is going to be? They don't even have a head coach.

[AZGrizFan]

MSU is not going to be better than UM.

How do you know how good Montana is going to be? They don't even have a head coach.

Tell Mick Delaney that.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

How do you know how good Montana is going to be? They don't even have a head coach.

Tell Mick Delaney that.

Interim.

[bluehenbillk]

I think the top 4 will be:

NDSU
SHSU
GSU
Montana St

Top CAA teams in pre-season poll will be JMU & ODU.

[bison07]

1. UM
2. Sac
3. App
4. JMU
5. Liberty

Please before you bash me, tell me what's wrong with 3 and 4? Remember that SHSU has a barnstorming schedule this year that will be VERY tough.

THEN bash me.

[Vidav]

Tell Mick Delaney that.

Interim.

He will be coaching the full season. Grizzlies will be fine.

[canyoncat]

As long as Delaney lets his assistant coaches coach, the griz will be fine. All he needs to do is be a figure head and let his coordinators do the work. If he steps in, you will be in trouble. I watched him coach at UM Western and he was BAD!!! And that was NAIA ball. He was lucky to get to .500 and that was only because he was working with what Dennehy brought into the program. Good position coach, not a good head coach.

MSU may struggle really bad as well if we don't get our O-Line fixed. I think we are down to only 5 OL players now.

[ASUG8]

ASU is a real wildcard this year. Losing Quick will sting, but sounds like spring practices have been going well. Most of the coaching staff is new, and our young defense that held GSU down offensively last year will only be better this season. No bye week in the schedule, and they start off with ECU away before hosting UM in KBS. The SoCon gauntlet will be tougher this season also.

[CatBlitz22]

1. NDSU
2. SHSU
3. GSU
4. MSU
5. UM

MSU is not going to be better than UM.

[Vidav]

MSU is not going to be better than UM.