Adding to what CA Forever had to say about the Big Sky autobid, it is generally accepted that a team must have at least 7 wins to be considered for an at large bid to the FCS playoffs. Of course, the quality of those wins will be a big factor to the selection committee. Since the Big Sky is considered one of the top conferences in the FCS it is conceivable that we could get 3 or 4 teams into the playoffs.

If we win out I think we would could be seeded as high #3 or #4. If that were to happen we would likely get a first round bye and host a second round game which would be AWESOME!

Brave new world...!

I wonder if Hawk will pump up the sound volume in Aggie Stadium and have the offense practicing going on a silent count?

Poly completed a few nice passes against us but continued to run the ball up the middle even when they were getting completely stopped most of the time...really mind-boggling. I did hear Walsh say that when you average nearly 5 yards per carry, it's hard to abandon that strategy. The problem is that with the kind of inflexible mindset that the Poly offense has, once you they get behind by a couple of scores or more, they're going to be hard pressed to be able to get back in the game by grinding it out on the ground. Simply too one-dimensional...

I felt like the Poly announcers were extremely frustrated with the offensive decisions that Poly was making and were doing everything in their power not to scream at the top of their lungs about it and end up getting fired... :yikes:

The sluggish (and boring) play calling by Poly didn't help the Mustangs but I felt like our defensive line dominated the Poly O line after the first quarter and that was a big factor in the Aggie win.

I think your son's observation is probably accurate at this point in the season. The toughest FCS opponent the Ags have faced is ISU and we were a chip shot FG away from losing to them. We'll find out just where we really stand when we travel to Montana and to EWU. Our biggest tests are yet to come.

Excellent analysis of all the Big West teams!

I believe we have the talent to match up well with them but I think the Wa-Griz Stadium environment and the emotion that Montana will bring to the field will be a significant factor. They're essentially playing for their post-season lives and they will be sky high at the start of the game.

The Ags are 0-7 historically against the Griz also. I expect this will be a very tough game for the Aggies and it will tell us a lot about just how good we are.

Here is an ESPN page which makes it easy to look up stats, schedules and rosters of all the FCS teams in the country divided up by conference:

EDIT: It's not worth it since it is not up to date at all

http://www.espn.com/college-football/teams/_/group/81

The anygivensaturday poll began around 2005 and one of the members, professor chaos who is a NDSU fan, has compiled some interesting data about which FCS teams have been been ranked in the Top 25 the most since then along with some other data lists like the number of consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 25 etc.

The following list, which shows the FCS teams ranked the most weeks in the Top 25, was very interesting to me since it really illuminates which teams have been consistently the most competitive over the years since the poll began. It should be noted also that, although the members of the AGS forum certainly have their personal biases, the forum is made up of many FCS fans who have been following FCS football closely for long time and many of those who vote are very knowledgeable about FCS football.

One thing that pops out immediately to me is the demise of Cal Poly. I had forgotten just how significant a player in the FCS that Poly had been since they moved up from D2.



More interesting lists here: http://www.anygivensaturday.com/showthread.php?213469-AGS-Poll-Historical-Data

Nice post, Zander. Many of us who have been following the Aggies for a long time have seen us at the pinnacle and then watched the bottom fall out. I think many of us old timers have forgotten that for many of our younger fans, like you, this is the best you've had. I'm so happy this program is proud again. Take it in and enjoy the ride!

Massy Rankings with the mean, median and standard deviation:

The Massey Rankings average all the various polls and you can go to the website and link to any of the many polls:

https://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare1aa.htm

Awesome...isn't it!

I don't know about their graduation rates. Quite a few of the players they note in the article went on to play elsewhere. Several to FBS programs where a few have become starters.

Thanks...I need a proofreader! Corrected it.

Weather forecast for Missoula on Saturday: