(Photo from the MSU Reporter. MSU DB Nathan Hancock)

Here are the inaugural Northern Sun Power Rankings. These rankings are essentially a measure of how good a team has looked after a month of games. It's not strictly looking at records, but instead taking into consideration game-by-game performance and competition level as well.

Tier 1 - Teams that have moved themselves ahead of the middle of the pack.
Tier 2 - Teams that are in the middle of the pack. These teams have played well enough to win games but their performance has been inconsistent enough to be fairly unpredictable week-to-week.
Tier 3 - Teams who are currently struggling to win a football game.

Tier 1
1. Minnesota State-Mankato (4-0) - Outside of having a bad half of football yesterday against BSU, the Mavericks have completely suffocated their opponents from the opening bell of each contest. 29 points allowed through 4 games, easily the best in the conference. Schedule strength hasn't been strong at this point, but Mankato has more than taken care of business with all of their opponents.

2. Minnesota-Duluth (4-0) - Very tough schedule so far and they've found a way to end up 4-0. Very good defense. Doesn't look quite as high powered offensively as teams from the glory years. Only 1 win by over a touchdown, but this is a very gutty Bulldog team who should now win-out the regular season with the North division not having a strong #2 team to challenge them. Two wins over Tier 1 squads have the Bulldogs firmly planted in the #2 spot in the rankings.

3. USF (4-0) - The Coo has played the same schedule as MSU-Mankato thus far this season, with very similar 1-sided results. The USF defense has given up a few more big plays than the Mavericks, which is why I have them slotted down a few spots from the top. Overall the USF defense is 3rd in the conference and have produced 4 scores on their side of the ball. With a healthy Luke Papilion completing 64% of his passes so far this year, along with Nephi Garcia running the football very well, the Cougars area leading the conference in points and yards. However, like the Mavs, USF haven't played a tough schedule yet. The month of October will be very telling for the Coo.

4. Augustana (3-1) - The 2nd best defense in the conference and looking like they might be getting better as they go. Coach OJ has quickly gone from the guy who led the Vikings to a 4-7 season in 2013, to a very popular leader that has the Augie football program moving in the right direction. The biggest difference with the Vikings this year is QB Trey Heid's new found ability to hit targets over the top of the defense. Heid struggled last year with his passing, but this season he's now tops in passing efficiency in the conference and has thrown 12 touchdowns with 0 interceptions. Couple this with a very good Newell & Ham backfield and the Vikings are looking like a handful for anyone in the South. If Augie doesn't have the UMD blemish on their record, this teams trajectory might really be upward.

5. Winona State (3-1) - Dynamic offensive football team who can strike from anywhere with a slightly better than average defensive squad. I feel the top 4 teams I have listed here are clearly better defensive units while all being good offensively as well. Jack Nelson might be the best pocket passer in the league and his wideouts are a handful, but UMD (and Mankato last year) might have provided the blue-print on how to attack the WSU passing game..with pressure. Winona completed only 9 passes against Duluth, this has to be a bit troubling. They led most of the game, but UMD felt like the better team in reviewing all facets. The WSU kicking game might also be a pain-point for the Warriors as well. This Winona team has a huge upside but needs to cut down on the small mistakes that led to them losing their game with UMD last night.

6. Upper Iowa (4-0) - The Peacocks are off to a fantastic start. The UIU offense is dynamic with both the run and the pass. Chris Smith is looking like a strong contender for Offensive POY in the conference and QB Cole Jaeschke is taking care of the ball better this year than last, while still having a great year. Problem is..the Peacocks defense has put them in a position to potentially lose 3 of the 4 games they've played. If UIU had played a tough schedule then the 3 close games wouldn't be much of a story, but the Peacocks have played the same schedule that USF and Mankato have played so far and have struggled to stay unbeaten. 4-0 is a fantastic start, but if the Peacocks had played a little bit tougher schedule I'm not sure we aren't looking at them as a good Tier 2 squad. Next week they host Augie, very telling game for both squads.


Tier 2
7. Mary (2-2) - Pretty solid first 3 games, then lose to Augie 52-0. I thought they would drop the game at Augie, but I thought they would compete. The Mary defense looked fairly solid after the first few weeks, but now I'm not entirely sure what to make of them. The Maruaders will need to get more production out of the QB position and need to find a way to get the ball into their playmakers (great wideouts) on offense. I think Mary is a better team than the Augie game would suggest and it's my thought that yesterdays game just snowballed on them.

8. St. Cloud (1-3) - Clearly the surprise team in the league, in a bad way. Most thought the Huskies would take a step back from their great 2013 season due to the graduation of elite NSIC QB Philip Klaphake. Instead they've fallen into a hole and will need to find more of a passing game to get out. For what it's worth, their losses are to Mankato-USF-UIU, all unbeaten. They competed in the UIU game, but the performance in the Mankato and USF games are what SCSU fans find more troubling. That said, I'd still take the Huskies to beat any of the bottom 8 teams that currently fall below them.

9. MSU-Moorhead (1-3) - Have played the same schedule that SCSU has and have scored more points but given up the most points so far in the NSIC. The Dragons have played very stiff competition so far and probably should've beaten UIU in Fayette, but once again their defense couldn't keep things in-check. It's my opinion that Moorhead has shown to be a dangerous team for any team not currently ranked in the top few.

10. Concordia-St. Paul (1-3) - The Golden Bears could be 4-0 if they could win their close games. Instead they are 1-3. CSP plays solid defense but doesn't seem to have the firepower of the spread attacks of many of the other Tier 2 squads. Concordia could be a good as 7th on this list or as low as 13th, but honestly from week to week any of these teams in Tier 2 could say the same thing. If CSP was in the North I think they'd probably finish near .500 or better. In the South, wins during the last 7 weeks might be hard to come by.

11. Northern State (2-2) - Yes, I have them below CSP even thought they beat them. These rankings aren't about 1 game. Northern has 2 wins (both on the road no less) but I don't think they've looked like the better team than their opponent for a lot of those 4 games. To their credit, they've found a way to be 2-2 after 1 month of the season. The Wolves are the single hardest team for me to predict their performance week-to-week. They've gotten thumped hard by the better teams in the conference, but have found a way to win against both Tier 2 teams. Every week that NSU plays a Tier 2 team it will feel like a coin flip pick to get the winner right.

12. SMSU (1-3) - While I thought they'd take a step back from their Bowl campaign of 2013, I didn't think they would be losing to a Tier 2 squad like NSU in Marshall. The offense hasn't quite gotten their run/pass mix like they wanted so far this season and Tyler Tonderum's numbers have fallen drastically as a result. With a new offensive line the Mustangs should be getting better as the year continues, but the SMSU defense continues to be a real problem.

13. Wayne State (2-2) - I could have WSC a bit low, but I don't think so. Their 2 wins are over teams who haven't won a game yet. With Minot State pulling to within 3 points of Wayne State with 3 minutes left in their game, it would concern me a bit if I'm a Wildcats fan.


Tier 3
14. Bemidji State (0-4) - Easily the best of the Tier 3 teams, not that you want to hang your hat on that. BSU has competed in the pretty much all of their games and have played a tough schedule. Problem for the Beavers is that they are getting thumped in the 4th quarter of games, when it matters most. BSU has been in all of their games, but have been dominated 69-9 in the 4th quarter of games so far in 2014.

15. Minot State (0-4) - Not gonna lie, I had Minot as dead-last a week ago but after the way Zac Cunha came off the bench and threw for 240 yards to nearly upset Wayne State, I've moved them up a notch.

16. Crookston (0-4) - Sophomore QB Ben Bucholz has shown potential for the the Golden Eagles, but since they haven't competed late into any game so far I gotta have them in the bottom spot in the countdown.


....feel free to offer your thoughts below or list your own. Thanks.