Pre-Pre-Season poll

[Fightingscot82]

Lackawanna has entered the chat.

Good point. I haven't paid much attention to them so far.

[EastStroud13]

Well, they have their ambitions up there. We'll see where they are in 3-4 years. And anyway those games don't count in the standings this year.

They have a loooooot of work to do. Every single fall sport has been bad, I'm not sure they have a win vs. a PSAC opponent in anything.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think it's always interesting to go back after the first month and see how your predictions held up.

My re-rank as of Sept. 28:


1. Slippery Rock (1-0, 4-0) - Style points may not count on the field, but they sure count when it comes to stooges ranking teams on message boards. Rock has two quality wins. The West isn't over just yet. IUP isn't going to go down easy. But, it surely appears SRU is the front-runner as of today.

2. IUP (1-0, 4-0) - It's been an at times frantic path to 4-0. That said, IUP went 3-0 on the road to start the season and hasn't been anywhere near full strength yet. Help is on the way. They are going to look much different with the addition of 6-7 of the walking wounded returning.

3. Cal (0-1, 2-2) - Sure, Clarion has a better record. However, the Vulcans have played a dramatically tougher schedule. Despite two losses, the Vulcans aren't quite dead just yet. I fully expect them to win their next three games in advance of IUP's visit. We've seen several slow starts in the Mon Valley over the years and then they catch fire down the stretch.

4. Clarion (1-0, 3-1) - The Golden Eagles have won the three games they should have. They got thumped at Kutztown (as most do). Tough road trip this weekend.

5. Lock Haven (1-0, 2-2) - Gigantic opportunity this Saturday - at home - against Clarion. The Bald Eagles have to get this one.

6. Edinboro (0-1, 2-2) - Scots have cooled off after a nice start ... and have yet to play the Big 3.

7. Gannon (0-1, 0-4) - The Knights may be 0-4 but they've been a competitive bunch -- against a pretty tough schedule. Gannon hung in there on the road at both Davenport and Shepherd. They lost to Bloomsburg in OT and lost to Lock Haven by 10 points. Losses are losses but they've been a tough out.

8. Seton Hill (0-1, 1-3) - The Griffins have a win, but it was by 10 points against Lackawanna. Seton Hill's defense will keep them in some games but they desperately need to get some offense going.

I guess this has now evolved into more of a Power Rankings post. Interesting season thus far in the West.


1. Slippery Rock (2-0, 5-0) - The Rock won a tough opener, and has blown out every opponent since.

2. IUP (2-0, 5-0) - It hasn't been pretty, but the Hawks keep winning. Tort has pulled this off with some guys wearing name tags. IF he can ever get his actual full team on the field, they could be a scary bunch.

3. Lock Haven (2-0, 3-2) - The Bald Eagles have won two straight. A big stage - and a much larger test - awaits.

4. Clarion (1-1, 3-2) - The Golden Eagles score a lot of points. The Golden Eagles also give up a lot of points.

5. Edinboro (0-2, 2-3) - The Scots are a couple plays away from 4-1 rather than 2-3. Not an easy out.

6. Seton Hill (1-1, 2-3) - The Griffins played IUP tough for 3 quarters and just put an epic beating (for the ages) on California. Earlier this season, Seton Hill played East Stroudsburg close (27-20 loss) and lost at West Liberty by just 4 points. The odd thing is at times they've looked horrible (especially offensively) but at other times have looked pretty good. If anything, they are a dangerous bunch. It likely won't matter, but they should take some swagger with them to SRU this weekend.

7. California (0-2, 2-3) - As the great Buffalo Springfield said ... "there's something happening here ... what it is ain't exactly clear." The Vulcans have dropped 3 straight. The first two came against strong teams. What we just saw in Greensburg, however, was alarming. Gary Dunn is a good coach. I fully suspect we see a much different Vulcans team this weekend.

8. Gannon (0-2, 0-5) - Prior to getting clocked at SRU, the Knights were at least in their previous 4 losses. They are better than the typical winless team.

[Tdobson]

I guess this has now evolved into more of a Power Rankings post. Interesting season thus far in the West.


1. Slippery Rock (2-0, 5-0) - The Rock won a tough opener, and has blown out every opponent since.

2. IUP (2-0, 5-0) - It hasn't been pretty, but the Hawks keep winning. Tort has pulled this off with some guys wearing name tags. IF he can ever get his actual full team on the field, they could be a scary bunch.

3. Lock Haven (2-0, 3-2) - The Bald Eagles have won two straight. A big stage - and a much larger test - awaits.

4. Clarion (1-1, 3-2) - The Golden Eagles score a lot of points. The Golden Eagles also give up a lot of points.

5. Edinboro (0-2, 2-3) - The Scots are a couple plays away from 4-1 rather than 2-3. Not an easy out.

6. Seton Hill (1-1, 2-3) - The Griffins played IUP tough for 3 quarters and just put an epic beating (for the ages) on California. Earlier this season, Seton Hill played East Stroudsburg close (27-20 loss) and lost at West Liberty by just 4 points. The odd thing is at times they've looked horrible (especially offensively) but at other times have looked pretty good. If anything, they are a dangerous bunch. It likely won't matter, but they should take some swagger with them to SRU this weekend.

7. California (0-2, 2-3) - As the great Buffalo Springfield said ... "there's something happening here ... what it is ain't exactly clear." The Vulcans have dropped 3 straight. The first two came against strong teams. What we just saw in Greensburg, however, was alarming. Gary Dunn is a good coach. I fully suspect we see a much different Vulcans team this weekend.

8. Gannon (0-2, 0-5) - Prior to getting clocked at SRU, the Knights were at least in their previous 4 losses. They are better than the typical winless team.

My big question for this week is: will IUP be ready? We know Lock Haven will be fired up, and we will have to respond.

If we win this week, it sets up the big showdown next week with slimey pebble.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

My big question for this week is: will IUP be ready? We know Lock Haven will be fired up, and we will have to respond.

If we win this week, it sets up the big showdown next week with slimey pebble.

Winning is winning, but this method of winning doesn't last forever.

IUP needs to get teams down and keep teams down. The last minute theatrics have been entertaining. But, you know what happens when you play with fire. Eventually it ends bad.

The massive amount of penalties are just killing IUP. If they can just cut those by even 30 percent it would it would make a tremendous difference.

That OT drama in Edinboro never should have happened. It did, and they won. But ... let's avoid the chaos of OT.

I'd also like to see the star WRs first touch not be in OT2.

Don't get me wrong ... I'm thrilled they are 5-0. I'm just not real warm and fuzzy about the full body of work. I get it's a work in progress. But, things are about to get real.

Lock Haven and SRU aren't going to care who is playing and who isn't. This starts a rough stretch. It's go time.