Saturday’s 48-28 victory at Idaho State wasn’t enough to sway the voters.
The Cal Poly football team was left out of both major Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 polls on Monday.
Cal Poly dropped out of The Sports Network media poll and FCS coaches poll with a loss at South Dakota State two weeks ago and was still stranded in the “others receiving votes” category again Monday. The Mustangs were 34th in the FCS and 28th in the TSN.
Prior to the South Dakota State loss, the Mustangs hadn’t been out of both polls since early in the 2004 season.
Here is The Sports Network poll and the FCS poll.
The poll position doesn't exactly help Cal Poly's playoff cause, although opinion polls are not supposed to be a factor in the committee's decision in picking eight at-large candidates. But to have a chance, Cal Poly has to be considered among the top 20 teams or so in the country.
The Gridiron Power Index, although it hasn't been updated as of this post and Cal Poly is still 31st, is usually a better indicator than opinion polls as far as playoff consideration is concerned. Another good power ranking system is Sagarin, which includes all Division I teams. Cal Poly is 34th in the Sagarin ratings.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Poly still on outside looking in
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Poly poll position likely to improve
The Cal Poly football team’s win over Idaho State on Saturday could land the Mustangs back in the top 25, which is key considering only 16 teams advance to the playoffs.
The Mustangs, out of the top 25 in both major polls last week for the first time since early 2004, likely have to win out to be considered for one of the eight at-large spots and have a big home game looming against No. 2 North Dakota State in two weeks.
There were very few upsets in the top half of The Sports Network’s top 25 on Saturday, although there were plenty of losses by lower-half teams, which should help Cal Poly. A look at the top 25 losses on Saturday:
- No. 6 James Madison (6-2) lost vs. Richmond, 16-17
- No. 15 Hofstra (6-2) lost at Villanova, 31-35
- No. 18 Nicholls State (5-3) lost at Central Arkansas, 42-49 (2OT)
- No. 19 Montana State (5-3) lost at Northern Colorado, 13-16
- No. 20 Youngstown State (5-4) lost at Northern Iowa, 13-14
- No. 23 Norfolk State (6-2) lost vs. Howard, 10-17
- No. 25 The Citadel (5-3) lost at Georgia Southern, 17-21
Bye-bye boo birds
Five weeks ago, Cal Poly football fans actually began to boo the Mustangs’ triple-option offense at Alex G. Spanos Stadium as it struggled for a half against Division II Western Oregon.
Fans were upset with the option run calls as Cal Poly struggled to get much going offensively with two of its top wingbacks dinged up.
Now that the Mustangs are healthy and rolling up yardage again, Cal Poly fans are buzzing not boo-hooing over the triple option.
Cal Poly put up 35-plus points for the fourth straight game Saturday as the Mustangs won at Idaho State 48-28.
- QB Jonathan Dally had five touchdown tosses (not to mention a quarterback rating of 294 and 572 yards of total offense) and matched a school record with his 23rd touchdown pass of the season. Dally finished 16 of 24 for 453 yards passing – the second greatest single-game total in Cal Poly history behind Seth Burford’s 566-yard performance versus Northern Iowa in 2000.
- WR Ramses Barden broke the school’s all-time touchdown reception record and had three touchdown grabs of 27, 85 and 79 yards – the first of which broke Kamil Loud’s program record of 26 career touchdowns from 1994-97. The 6-6 touchdown magnet finished with a career-high 10 catches for 268 yards.
- WR Tredale Tolver caught four balls for 154 yards, with touchdowns of 38 and 62 yards – the second of which came on a screen.
The most dominant program on campus
Can you say perennial power?
The Cal Poly men’s cross country team defines the term, winning the Big West Conference Championships for a record fifth consecutive time Saturday when the Mustangs swept the top five individual places and Phillip Reid took the individual title for the second straight year.
No other men’s cross country team in Big West history has won more than four consecutive titles. The only other team to win more than three straight titles was Long Beach State in the first four years of the league’s existence, meaning Cal Poly has put together one of the most dominant stretches the conference has seen in any sport.
The five straight titles is the most consecutive conference crowns by any current Cal Poly team, making Mark Conover’s squad the most dominant program on campus.
While some would hesitate to put a cross country team and dominance/dynasty in the same sentence, five straight conference tiles is certainly a monumental feat for a school that started the academic year with a total of 23 team conference titles since moving to Division I in 1994.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Previewing a big sports day for Poly
Saturday is a big day for Cal Poly athletics. Here’s a rundown of stories previewing today’s action, which includes the Big West Conference Cross Country Championships in SLO, key soccer matches and the football team’s game at
- Mustangs expect Idaho State to be rushing a lot
After giving up 259 yards rushing to
- Poly hopes to improve out-of-state success rate
While Cal Poly snapped a fourgame road losing streak Oct. 13 with its 63-28 win at UC Davis, the Mustangs are still looking for their first out-of-state victory ...
- Idaho State plays host to Cal Poly
The Idaho State Bengals host the Cal Poly Mustangs in thier final non-conference game of the season at 3:05 pm Saturday at the Holt Arena in
- ISU looks to keep pace with high-scoring Cal Poly
Before facing Portland State last week, Idaho State head coach John Zamberlin said the goal for the team is to get a winning ...
- Idaho State hosts Mustangs
Idaho
- Idaho State game again key for Poly
Cal
- College Cross Country: Cal Poly’s drive for five
Phillip Reid has been running with the Cal Poly men’s cross country team for five years now. An All-American as a redshirt junior last season ...
- UCR Runners Aim for Title
The Highlanders enter the Big West Championships at Cal Poly undefeated and have been training since the summer to not only capture the conference title ...
- Soccer: 49ers battling for the top spot
For the sake of argument, the BWC is a down to four-team race for the title among LBSU,
- Former Cal Poly pitcher forced to evacuate
Former Cal Poly pitcher Greg Bochy, son of San Francisco Giants manager Bruce, was house-sitting his parents' home in Poway on Monday when he was forced to evacuate ...
Greetings from Big Sky country
Welcome to Pocatello, Idaho, where’s it’s a cool 40 degrees as I attempt to write blog entry No. 101.
While it’s a little cold for us Californians, Pocatello – and the rest of Big Sky country for that matter – is beautiful this time of year. The leaves are turning. There’s snow atop the mountains. The late-afternoon sunsets are gorgeous (as you can see in my great camera phone shot of Holt Arena).
It’s really not that cold during the day, but I’m sure the Cal Poly football team is happy Saturday’s game is indoors at Idaho State’s good ol’ Holt Arena.
Holt Arena, for those who have never been here, is by far the oldest “dome” in Division I football.
The arena, originally called the Mini Dome, was built in the early 1970s entirely by voluntary student fees and was the first covered football stadium built on a college campus.
The idea of a covered venue, which would protect the Idaho State Bengals – and fair-weather sportswriters – from the elements over the latter half of the season, was dreamed up by former athletic director Milton “Dubby” Holt.
The only domed arena built before 12,000-seat Holt Arena was the Houston Astrodome. And like the Astrodome, the surface at Holt Arena is good old-fashioned Astroturf, which was reset in 1999 but still gets a thumbs down from most of the Mustangs.
I remember Cal Poly quarterback Chris Peterson said Astroturf was the “worst invention ever” when he played here a few years back. Peterson also had one of the nastiest rug burns I’ve ever seen on that day.
Welcome to Pocatello.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Is it hoops season yet?
A lot of Cal Poly fans are asking that question this week after the Mustangs football team dropped out of the national rankings for the first time since early in the 2004 season.
The good news is Cal Poly still has an outside shot at the postseason and is two wins away from ensuring its sixth winning season in seven years under head coach Rich Ellerson.
Other good news for Cal Poly folks, the men's soccer program has cracked the rankings for the first time since 1995, according to the school. You can read about the ups and downs of those two teams here.
But now that the fall sports are into the second half of their seasons, it probably isn't a bad time to start talking basketball.
After all, practices have started and the Mustangs open the season next month. Hungry for a Big West Conference preview already? Here's a brief team-by-team breakdown of the Big West at SI.com.