Huskers NOT in SI Post Spring Power Rankings

[StPaulHusker]

Andy Staples does not have Nebraska in the Top 25 Post-Spring Power Rankings.

 

By Comparison, he has:

 

Ohio State at #4-We got killed

Georgia at #11-We stayed with them until 4Q

Michigan State at #14-we beat

Michigan at #16-We beat

UCLA at #21-6 point loss

Northwestern at #22-We beat

Vanderbilt at #23-Did not beat a ranked opponent or anyone with a record above .500 last year

Northern Illinois at #24-Seriously? I know they are a good team but we are not even above this team?

 

Any opinions?

 

Mod Edit - ALWAYS post a link to the article from which you're taking your information. knapplc

 

LINK

[Saunders]

Aww, andy is buying into the MSU hype again. He'll be wrong, just like last year.

[Chaddyboxer]

I just can't take Andy seriously....

Esp. with MSU at #14....that's craaaaaaaaaaaeee

[knapplc]

Andy has never been a believer in Nebraska, Bo Pelini and/or Taylor Martinez. He has good reason for that opinion.

 

While several of those teams don't appear to me to be better than Nebraska in general, we have HUGE question marks on defense, and an offense that relies on a QB who leads D1A in turnovers the last three years. We could be a force or we could crumble like a house of cards.

 

I don't blame him for excluding Nebraska one bit. Honest appraisers of this team cannot be offended by not being included in a preseason Top 25.

[Saunders]

Andy has never been a believer in Nebraska, Bo Pelini and/or Taylor Martinez. He has good reason for that opinion.

 

While several of those teams don't appear to me to be better than Nebraska in general, we have HUGE question marks on defense, and an offense that relies on a QB who leads D1A in turnovers the last three years. We could be a force or we could crumble like a house of cards.

 

I don't blame him for excluding Nebraska one bit. Honest appraisers of this team cannot be offended by not being included in a preseason Top 25.

We could apply that to the following teams:

 

#8 Louisville: Terrible conference, inflated record.

#9 Florida: Exact opposite of NU. Good defense, terrible offense.

#14 MSU: 7-6 last year, lost best offensive player (by a mile), don't have a QB.

#15 TCU: Struggled in 1st year of Big Boy football.

#16 Michigan: Lost best player. Unless they gel quickly, going to be a bit above average on both sides.

#18 Texas: What have they done since 2009?

#20 Baylor: Can score, can't stop anyone (Like NU)

#23 Vandy: lol

#24 NIU: lolol

#25 VT: eh?

[QMany]

Aww, andy is buying into the MSU hype again. He'll be wrong, just like last year.

Michigan State (7-6) (3-5 in conference)

Lost (three best players):

• Le'Veon Bell: 1793 yards and 12 TD. Backup RB had 108 yards ... and graduated. Third-string RB had 48 yards.
  
• Deon Sims
  
• William Gholston
  

Predicted to be #14? RIGHT.

[Thanks_Tom RR]

Andy has never been a believer in Nebraska, Bo Pelini and/or Taylor Martinez. He has good reason for that opinion.

 

While several of those teams don't appear to me to be better than Nebraska in general, we have HUGE question marks on defense, and an offense that relies on a QB who leads D1A in turnovers the last three years. We could be a force or we could crumble like a house of cards.

 

I don't blame him for excluding Nebraska one bit. Honest appraisers of this team cannot be offended by not being included in a preseason Top 25.

These are the same critiques going into last season (though the defense was not a question mark, we knew they would under perform), still NU went 10-4 (7-1, Big Ten regular season) and were the Legends Division champs.

[Landlord]

While several of those teams don't appear to me to be better than Nebraska in general, we have HUGE question marks on defense, and an offense that relies on a QB who leads D1A in turnovers the last three years.

 

I thought the stat was fumbles. I would bet money that Taylor has not led Division 1-A in turnovers the last three years.

[knapplc]

While several of those teams don't appear to me to be better than Nebraska in general, we have HUGE question marks on defense, and an offense that relies on a QB who leads D1A in turnovers the last three years.

 

I thought the stat was fumbles. I would bet money that Taylor has not led Division 1-A in turnovers the last three years.

Whatever. I can change it if you like.

[HuskerNationNick]

Whats my opinion? MSU at #14 should explain everything.

[Huskerzoo]

Teams I might regret not including*: Arizona, Arizona State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Oregon State

 

 

[knapplc]

Here's Andy's first post-2012 attempt at a Top 25, from his article "'Bama, Texas A&M top Way-Too-Early 2013 Top 25."

 

1 Alabama Crimson Tide

2 Texas A&M Aggies

3 Stanford Cardinal

4 Oregon Ducks

5 Ohio State Buckeyes

6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

7 Louisville Cardinals

8 South Carolina Gamecocks

9 Florida Gators

10 Clemson Tigers

11 Georgia Bulldogs

12 Michigan Wolverines

13 Oklahoma Sooners

14 LSU Tigers

15 TCU Horned Frogs

16 Florida State Seminoles

17 Texas Longhorns

18 Boise State Broncos

19 Kansas State Wildcats

20 Baylor Bears

21 Northwestern Wildcats

22 Nebraska Cornhuskers

23 Vanderbilt Commodores

24 UCLA Bruins

25 Northern Illinois Huskies

 

 

And here's his most recent Top 25

 

1 Alabama Crimson Tide

2 Texas A&M Aggies

3 Stanford Cardinal

4 Ohio State Buckeyes

5 Notre Dame Fighting Irish

6 Oregon Ducks

7 South Carolina Gamecocks

8 Louisville Cardinals

9 Florida Gators

10 Clemson Tigers

11 Georgia Bulldogs

12 Florida State Seminoles

13 LSU Tigers

14 Michigan State Spartans

15 TCU Horned Frogs

16 Michigan Wolverines

17 Oklahoma Sooners

18 Texas Longhorns

19 Boise State Broncos

20 Baylor Bears

21 UCLA Bruins

22 Northwestern Wildcats

23 Vanderbilt Commodores

24 Northern Illinois Huskies

25 Virginia Tech Hokies

 

 

And for those of you for whom it's easier to see side-by-side:

 

Way Too Early Top 25 - Post-Spring Practice Top 25

 

1 Alabama Crimson Tide - Alabama Crimson Tide

2 Texas A&M Aggies - Texas A&M Aggies

3 Stanford Cardinal - Stanford Cardinal

4 Oregon Ducks - Ohio State Buckeyes

5 Ohio State Buckeyes - Notre Dame Fighting Irish

6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish - Oregon Ducks

7 Louisville Cardinals - South Carolina Gamecocks

8 South Carolina Gamecocks - Louisville Cardinals

9 Florida Gators - Florida Gators

10 Clemson Tigers - Clemson Tigers

11 Georgia Bulldogs - Georgia Bulldogs

12 Michigan Wolverines - Florida State Seminoles

13 Oklahoma Sooners - LSU Tigers

14 LSU Tigers - Michigan State Spartans

15 TCU Horned Frogs - TCU Horned Frogs

16 Florida State Seminoles - Michigan Wolverines

17 Texas Longhorns - Oklahoma Sooners

18 Boise State Broncos - Texas Longhorns

19 Kansas State Wildcats - Boise State Broncos

20 Baylor Bears - Baylor Bears

21 Northwestern Wildcats - UCLA Bruins

22 Nebraska Cornhuskers - Northwestern Wildcats

23 Vanderbilt Commodores - Vanderbilt Commodores

24 UCLA Bruins - Northern Illinois Huskies

25 Northern Illinois Huskies - Virginia Tech Hokies

 

Teams in bold above are the ones who dropped out (K-Sucks and Nebraska) and the teams who moved in (Sparty and the Hokies).

 

I suppose I can see dropping a team out of your Top 25 from #19, but I'd like a reason why. And why was Sparty not worthy of being ranked after last bowl season, yet they jumped all the way up to #14 after Spring practice? What magical goings-on did I miss from East Lansing? VA Tech joining the rankings isn't surprising. Going from not ranked to #25 is hardly anything to get excited for.

[Saunders]

You'd think the guy was a MSU grad. Of course, all the SI folks were all over Sparty, including the podcast duo of Stew Mandel and Malorie Rubin.

[Count 'Bility]

Nebraska not rated? No big deal. We need to earn it. But Michigan St at 14? Hell, Nebraska might as well be #1 then. That's how much credibility this poll has.

[It'sNotAFakeID]

Just a way of killing time until we can get real rankings.

 

Until Michigan State can get anything which resembles an offense, they won't be ranked that high. Sparty endured the problems '09 and '10 Nebraska endured: stellar defense, no sign of an offense. That being said, Michigan State could've had a much better record last year, much like Wisconsin.

 

And what is made of Ohio State, who faces the same defensive question marks which face Nebraska, a very much inexperienced front seven?

 

Texas A&M? We'll see just how good "Johnny Football" (copyright) is when he doesn't have the best offensive line the Aggies have seen in their entire history protecting him and when he isn't such a nobody like he was coming into last year. He faces pressure now, and I bet that gets to him.

 

Florida? The Gators couldn't score with anyone.

 

Louisville? It's easy to get up and play for one game (a la Boise State)