MSU football rolls in at #22 in ESPN preseason poll....TSUN AT #25.............

25. Ole Miss Rebels (11 points out of possible 125)

24. Michigan Wolverines (13 points)

23. Auburn Tigers (14 points)

22. Mississippi State Bulldogs (18 points)

21. Indiana Hoosiers (34 points)

One program that's widely-skewed according to preseason polls is Michigan, who wasn't ranked on three of the four chosen for this cumulative ranking. However, College Football News slotted the Wolverines inside its Top 15, giving Jim Harbaugh's team enough points to squeak into the Top 25 here. Michigan is confident quarterback play will improve this fall. ... Another is Mississippi State, who surprised all this month by coming in at No. 8 in ESPN's Football Power Index. We haven't seen the Bulldogs, who struggled last fall, ranked in any other preseason Top 25. There's no real explanation as to why Mississippi State is considered Top 10 by ESPN, but 247Sports analyst Brandon Marcello tried to explain the reasoning, here.

https://247sports.com/Article/Missis...hy--164437874/

Nice publicity. I don't see it though

to me this season rest squarely on the shoulders of the starting QB. If the air-raid is run properly it is a beast...and i believe in our defense . it will be fun to see what transpires.

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Originally Posted by 99jc

to me this season rest squarely on the shoulders of the starting QB. If the air-raid is run properly it is a beast...and i believe in our defense . it will be fun to see what transpires.

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exactly

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Originally Posted by 99jc

to me this season rest squarely on the shoulders of the starting QB. If the air-raid is run properly it is a beast...and i believe in our defense . it will be fun to see what transpires.

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I agree with this.

However, this is what having a well established, proven winning coach with a stellar reputation for building programs gets you in year two - benefit of the doubt. This ranking is as much or more about Leach than anything else. People expect his teams to win.

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Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

I agree with this.

However, this is what having a well established, proven winning coach with a stellar reputation for building programs gets you in year two - benefit of the doubt. This ranking is as much or more about Leach than anything else. People expect his teams to win.

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Does FPI account for coaching? I take this as more of espn standing by their formula

But but but the CL says otherwise

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Does FPI account for coaching? I take this as more of espn standing by their formula

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I think FPI does count coaching, but supposedly it's just coaching tenure. All I can think is that our SOS last year has broken the rankings. We do have a lot of returning starters, so it's logical it would show us improving, but I don't know how they get to top 8 unless playing an SEC only schedule has resulted in our offensive and defensive production for last year a lot higher than the W-L would indicate.

But .. But .. But ..The Clarion Ledger said the Bearshards were THE team in Mississippi! Can't be right!

NC State will be a good measuring stick.

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Does FPI account for coaching? I take this as more of espn standing by their formula

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It accounts for coaching tenure - which I assume factors in staff turnover under a standing HC as well. FPI is all about returning production though - and we bring back a ton.
You could be right saying that ESPN is looking out for the FPI. But my Leach take probably factored into that as well. "Our FPI formula has them returning a ton of production, and they have Leach and kept the staff intact. Leach teams make a year 2 jump. And they are in the SECW. Sounds like a formula for a Top 25 team to me"

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Originally Posted by Jack Lambert

NC State will be a good measuring stick.

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NC State and Memphis will determine our season. Wins those two and seven wins should be the floor.

You know this chaps the prick's asses, haha

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Originally Posted by CadaverDawg

You know this chaps the prick's asses, haha

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Ha! Yep! Laying a turd in the punch bowl at the frat party.

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Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

It accounts for coaching tenure - which I assume factors in staff turnover under a standing HC as well. FPI is all about returning production though - and we bring back a ton.
You could be right saying that ESPN is looking out for the FPI. But my Leach take probably factored into that as well. "Our FPI formula has them returning a ton of production, and they have Leach and kept the staff intact. Leach teams make a year 2 jump. And they are in the SECW. Sounds like a formula for a Top 25 team to me"

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Maybe FPI caused them to look at our team a little more closely rather than just at the helmet sticker.

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Originally Posted by Todd4State

Maybe FPI caused them to look at our team a little more closely rather than just at the helmet sticker.

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I don't think your statement is inconsistent with what I wrote. However, pre-FPI you are correct that we might have been missed because of the sticker on the helmet. 2014 is I think a classic example. We should have been a top 25 team going in, not to mention that we should have definitely been ranked prior to the LSU game. But, I also think that is where the Leach factor benefits us the most. He's a known quantity with a track record. If MSU was a Mike Leach coached team in 2014 we would have gotten deeper looks by the press and the rankings and probably started off the season as a Top 25 team - just like ESPN has us right now. The difference being that Dan Mullen hadn't proven much by 2014, and Mike Leach has a multi-school track record of success. The press and the rankings like known quantities in the pre-season, and they like to be able to talk about the guys they like to talk about. It's also why you have Ole Miss peeking in at #25 - that's not about Ole Miss and what they have coming back. That's Lane Kiffin and his rep as a coach. Again, known quantity with a track record that the press likes to talk about and hype.

Hopefully if works to our benefit this year, instead of creating something like our Bandwagon episode last year.

Question is will we run the football like we did in our last 2 games? We are going to see a 3 man front every week. That's simply the new trend in college football- not just against us.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Question is will we run the football like we did in our last 2 games? We are going to see a 3 man front every week. That's simply the new trend in college football- not just against us.

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are we going to keep those big ass splits?

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Question is will we run the football like we did in our last 2 games? We are going to see a 3 man front every week. That's simply the new trend in college football- not just against us.

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off topic question for you, when do high school coaches typically change jobs? Pretty soon after the season or usually in may-june. The reason I ask is because Corinth's head coach just quit 1 week into spring practice.

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Originally Posted by BrunswickDawg

I don't think your statement is inconsistent with what I wrote. However, pre-FPI you are correct that we might have been missed because of the sticker on the helmet. 2014 is I think a classic example. We should have been a top 25 team going in, not to mention that we should have definitely been ranked prior to the LSU game. But, I also think that is where the Leach factor benefits us the most. He's a known quantity with a track record. If MSU was a Mike Leach coached team in 2014 we would have gotten deeper looks by the press and the rankings and probably started off the season as a Top 25 team - just like ESPN has us right now. The difference being that Dan Mullen hadn't proven much by 2014, and Mike Leach has a multi-school track record of success. The press and the rankings like known quantities in the pre-season, and they like to be able to talk about the guys they like to talk about. It's also why you have Ole Miss peeking in at #25 - that's not about Ole Miss and what they have coming back. That's Lane Kiffin and his rep as a coach. Again, known quantity with a track record that the press likes to talk about and hype.

Hopefully if works to our benefit this year, instead of creating something like our Bandwagon episode last year.

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I agree. But I think Dan is sort of part of the reason for the ranking too in that we've been to 11 bowls in a row. After awhile that kind of thing gets noticed.