Very early power rankings before RMAC play

[mountaineermagic]

The non-conference slate for the RMAC was rough, especially vs the Lone Star Conference(1-5 record). This will be an interesting opening weekend to see where schools are at.

1. Mines- Hardest opening schedule in the non- conference but both games came down to the wire. Should be able to score early and often in Alamosa.
2. Mesa- A lot of D1 transfers, a hometown coach and Karst Hunter make the Mavericks dangerous to the top tier of the conference.
3. Pueblo- winning in LSC territory shows CSUP is capable of hanging in with the top third of the RMAC. Revenge is at stake when WCU visits the Thunderbowl.
4. Black Hills- Missed watching them vs William Jewell but 2-0 is 2-0. Defense looked good at Dickinson State week 1.
5. Western- Injuries, two games in Texas and playing on a converted soccer field eventually... have excitement a little down around town. Curious to see how they rebound in Pueblo where they haven't won since 1981.
6. South Dakota Mines- Passing game looked impressive in slight upset in week 1 to Missouri S&T. Big test at Mesa this weekend. Could be hot with it being a day game.
7. Highlands- Looked like the Cowboys were undecided on a QB in week 1 vs Eastern New Mexico. Should have a better idea after Fort Lewis visits LV.
8. Adams- Surprised that WTAMU only beat them by 15 in Alamosa. They may be improving and surprise a school, probably not this weekend though.
9. Chadron- Haven't gotten a chance to watch the Eagles but they could be closer to 5-7 territory after hanging in with Utah Tech(Dixie) in the first half and playing Angelo State, who looks like a top 2 LSC team again. Good matchup against BHSU under the lights in Chadron to open up conference play.
10. Fort Lewis- Huge rebuilding effort in store. It'd be interesting to see the Musket Game stay close in Durango but that may be a stretch next week.

[ccmoney8]

The non-conference slate for the RMAC was rough, especially vs the Lone Star Conference(1-5 record). This will be an interesting opening weekend to see where schools are at.

1. Mines- Hardest opening schedule in the non- conference but both games came down to the wire. Should be able to score early and often in Alamosa.
2. Mesa- A lot of D1 transfers, a hometown coach and Karst Hunter make the Mavericks dangerous to the top tier of the conference.
3. Pueblo- winning in LSC territory shows CSUP is capable of hanging in with the top third of the RMAC. Revenge is at stake when WCU visits the Thunderbowl.
4. Black Hills- Missed watching them vs William Jewell but 2-0 is 2-0. Defense looked good at Dickinson State week 1.
5. Western- Injuries, two games in Texas and playing on a converted soccer field eventually... have excitement a little down around town. Curious to see how they rebound in Pueblo where they haven't won since 1981.
6. South Dakota Mines- Passing game looked impressive in slight upset in week 1 to Missouri S&T. Big test at Mesa this weekend. Could be hot with it being a day game.
7. Highlands- Looked like the Cowboys were undecided on a QB in week 1 vs Eastern New Mexico. Should have a better idea after Fort Lewis visits LV.
8. Adams- Surprised that WTAMU only beat them by 15 in Alamosa. They may be improving and surprise a school, probably not this weekend though.
9. Chadron- Haven't gotten a chance to watch the Eagles but they could be closer to 5-7 territory after hanging in with Utah Tech(Dixie) in the first half and playing Angelo State, who looks like a top 2 LSC team again. Good matchup against BHSU under the lights in Chadron to open up conference play.
10. Fort Lewis- Huge rebuilding effort in store. It'd be interesting to see the Musket Game stay close in Durango but that may be a stretch next week.

Here's where I am. A lot of mediocrity to parse through here:

1 Mines: 0-2, with first year coach, but still has "it" ... might run the table from here ... don't see anyone else even close
2 Pueblo: distant second, but great win at Midwestern ... long-term, I'm still bearish
3 Black Hills: only 2-0 team in the RMAC, so they have to be considered
4 SD Mines: Solid week 1 win and Truman not a bad loss ... S&T beat a D1 in week 2
5 Mesa: haven't seen enough to put them in top tier ... still, first year head coach got a quality road win
6 Western: was never sure how they'd sustain last year's success without home fans, and then they go to Texas ... tempted to drop even lower
7 Chadron: Haven't seen them take the field against a comparable opponent ... this week we'll know more
8 Adams: All I know is they did better than Western against a common opponent ... not scoring like they have in the past, though
9 Highlands: Eastern NM is a bad loss ... definitely down from last year
10 Fort Lewis: "LOL," said the scorpion. "LMAO."

[d2 football fan]

Here's where I am. A lot of mediocrity to parse through here:

Every year after we finish the OOC portion of the schedule... EVERY STINKING YEAR. The "best" team went 0-2.

But looking to big picture...

Mines "should" win the conference and go the the PO's. Who else has a realistic chance. I would entertain conversations about Mesa and CSUP. That's it. And I'm far from certain about those two currently.

But the bottom of the conference... It's real crowded down there. I mean, I told you after week 1 when FLC didn't play anyone and would still lose. They are simply bad. Adams, slightly less bad. NMHU, usually more talented, but undisciplined, and results are bad. BHSU is bad, prove me wrong. CSC, pulling moral victories out like Rocky. WCO, there's always last year.

The only teams potentially moving the needle in the right direction are CSUP and SDSM (Mesa and CSM were already positive imo).

It sure would be nice to have more teams (programs / administrations) pushing for an elevated level of performance (coaching / staffs / recruiting / scholarships / facilities). But the truth is, there are only a couple. They continue to be the programs rising to the top of the standings. The others continue to sink and not move from the bottom. I'm glad kids get a chance to play and to get their schooling at least partially paid for. But, as a fan, parsing through the mediocrity, it's annoying.


Mines
Mesa
Pueblo
SDSM
Western
BHSU
Chadron
NMHU
Adams
FLC

[BHer]

Don't sleep on BHSU in the future being one of those teams that starts rising. I'm not saying it's this year. But they have money backing them that they didn't years ago. Great town, location facilities and campus are nice. What they don't have is a lot of success since moving to RMAC. That may change as they have the ability to go get players now they couldn't before.

[MinnequaFats]

Don't sleep on BHSU in the future being one of those teams that starts rising. I'm not saying it's this year. But they have money backing them that they didn't years ago. Great town, location facilities and campus are nice. What they don't have is a lot of success since moving to RMAC. That may change as they have the ability to go get players now they couldn't before.

I do love Spearfish. I've been to all the RMAC towns, and that is my favorite road trip. Related. If anyone here has pull with the RMAC schedule makers and can fix it so CSU-P is always in South Dakota on Halloween weekend so I can go to Deadweird every year I would be grateful.

[yote_7]

Grand Valley is number 1 as we have already won the RMAC :)

[Turbonium]

Grand Valley is number 1 as we have already won the RMAC :)

Yet you disappear come playoff time. Weird.

[Packfootball]

Grand Valley is number 1 as we have already won the RMAC :)

WAIT! Angelo State claims they own the RMAC championship. Now Grand Valley is claiming the same.

[ccmoney8]

Here's where I am. A lot of mediocrity to parse through here:

1 Mines: 0-2, with first year coach, but still has "it" ... might run the table from here ... don't see anyone else even close
2 Pueblo: distant second, but great win at Midwestern ... long-term, I'm still bearish
3 Black Hills: only 2-0 team in the RMAC, so they have to be considered
4 SD Mines: Solid week 1 win and Truman not a bad loss ... S&T beat a D1 in week 2
5 Mesa: haven't seen enough to put them in top tier ... still, first year head coach got a quality road win
6 Western: was never sure how they'd sustain last year's success without home fans, and then they go to Texas ... tempted to drop even lower
7 Chadron: Haven't seen them take the field against a comparable opponent ... this week we'll know more
8 Adams: All I know is they did better than Western against a common opponent ... not scoring like they have in the past, though
9 Highlands: Eastern NM is a bad loss ... definitely down from last year
10 Fort Lewis: "LOL," said the scorpion. "LMAO."

Adjusted after week 3:
1 Mines: Again, with a bullet
2 SD Mines: All three games, even the loss, have shown me more than the rest
3 Pueblo: Still bearish, but not ready to drop them below Black Hills
4 Black Hills: They aren't really moving down, so much as SD Mines moving up faster
5 Western: Still think they finish 6-5 or so, but a win on the road is what it is
6 Mesa: Man, what a tough loss at home
7 Highlands: I know, it's only FLC, but 1-0 nonetheless
8 Chadron: We now know more. Still saying a change in QB could work wonders (see Chadron State thread)
9 Adams: "LOL," said the scorpion. "LMAO."
10 vacant

[mountaineermagic]

Huge victory for Western in a stadium they had never won in and city since 1981. If they're able to run the ball like they did on Saturday they should be in about every remaining game. Likely the RMAC will only get 1 playoff team in so the margin for error is slim. Glad both Mines visit Gunnison.

[d2 football fan]

Adjusted after week 3:
1 Mines: Again, with a bullet
2 SD Mines: All three games, even the loss, have shown me more than the rest
3 Pueblo: Still bearish, but not ready to drop them below Black Hills
4 Black Hills: They aren't really moving down, so much as SD Mines moving up faster
5 Western: Still think they finish 6-5 or so, but a win on the road is what it is
6 Mesa: Man, what a tough loss at home
7 Highlands: I know, it's only FLC, but 1-0 nonetheless
8 Chadron: We now know more. Still saying a change in QB could work wonders (see Chadron State thread)
9 Adams: "LOL," said the scorpion. "LMAO."
10 vacant

I can get on board with this. I might quibble about some middle teams, but at this point it's not worth the ink.

[Turbonium]

Huge victory for Western in a stadium they had never won in and city since 1981. If they're able to run the ball like they did on Saturday they should be in about every remaining game. Likely the RMAC will only get 1 playoff team in so the margin for error is slim. Glad both Mines visit Gunnison.

Would've been pretty hard to win there from 1984-2007.

[mountaineermagic]

Would've been pretty hard to win there from 1984-2007.

Yep. Still cool though to break the streak. Good for the program and players.

[Turbonium]

Yep. Still cool though to break the streak. Good for the program and players.

For sure, not trying to take away anything from the Western program or players, just a weird timeline to reference.

[HardRockin'Nerd]

Huge victory for Western in a stadium they had never won in and city since 1981. If they're able to run the ball like they did on Saturday they should be in about every remaining game. Likely the RMAC will only get 1 playoff team in so the margin for error is slim. Glad both Mines visit Gunnison.

So glad that I only had to play there once. Really happy to hear that y'all are finally upgrading the Bowl to make it good enough to match the view. The turf and locker rooms are the most needed. I'm sure teams will not miss the lone porta potty on the ridge overlooking the practice fields for halftime haha. Once this is done, that's gotta mean that Ft. Lewis is now dead last for stadiums in the RMAC