What is Pete's Power Poll?
-Pete's is the country's only poll that concentrates, almost exclusively, on the play-off conferences/teams of NCAA Division I-AA football. It's purpose is to determine the 16 teams that should be awarded a berth into the I-AA play-off. The poll is completely driven on performance, not the opinions of individuals; this makes the poll almost completely unbiased. Pete's means no disrespect to the Ivy, SWAC, or Mid-major programs ... we merely chose to rank those clubs that are eligible for, and historically have participated in the tournament. The SWAC and Ivy have chosen not to participate in the play-off, and even though they are eligible, there has never been a mid-major club selected for the play-off. It will take some time for the poll to develop throughout the season, as teams play more games. The #1 team in any given week is just that ... the #1 team at that point, given the games played so far. Clearly, the later we progress into the season, the less likely teams will move with any significance. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email Pete's.

Here is the Week-6 poll for 2006. This week, we have begun to see some real separation, as conference play has begun. For those of you that are new to the poll, here is a brief explanation:

• There are many factors that go into our polls. These factors are covered below the poll. It is important to note that this is technically not a poll, but a ranking. The initial poll is the only actual 'poll' (that is people rank the teams based on factors) ... Pete's Power Polls throughout the season are then ranked on various factors, eliminating the bias in most other polls. However, the first week's poll is based on only a single game, and in many cases teams have not even begun their season ... these teams are in yellow.
• Remember that the rules applied in the preseason poll are no longer in place ... it is strictly performance.
• Again in 2006, Pete's will track the Big South and Great West conferences ... as they both have teams that are post-season eligible. However, we will only be tracking one independent club ... Savannah St..
• Finally, remember that Pete's Power Poll will change drastically at the beginning of the season, much like the BCS in IA ball. It will change much less toward the end of the season. The difference is that Pete's wants everyone to see how all of the clubs progress throughout the entire season. We do not wait until mid-season to publish our first poll. In the beginning of the season, it is very common for clubs to move up or down in tremendous fashion. So don't lose faith; as it is more than possible for a club at the bottom to move up to the top. Obviously, the poll will become far more accurate as the season progresses, when teams have more games played ... especially once conference play begins.

Conference play is in full swing and some heavy movement took place this week. Teams like Northern Iowa and Montana show their worth to be more than once thought; while teams such as Bethune-Cookman and Eastern Kentucky show they are not worth quite as much as once thought. Teams in Yellow were idle this week.

• Furman
• Montana
• Jacksonville State
• N. Dakota State
• Coastal Carolina
• Northern Iowa
• Montana State
• Norfolk State

• Points for and against.
• Margin of victory: we do limit the margins so a team is not devastated or over-compensated for an exceptionally good, or poor performance.
• Strength of the opposition (where the opponent is ranked in the previous week's poll).
• Home vs. away vs. neutral.
• Conference vs. non-Conference.
• IA vs. I-AA vs. non-scholarship vs. sub-IAA: Teams in our poll are awarded more points for victories over IA opposition, less points for DII and mid-major games. Conversely, a loss to a IA clubs is not penalized as harshly as a team ranked in Pete's Poll ... and a loss to a mid-major or sub-IAA opponent is penalized more harshly. We do this in order to encourage teams to play other teams in their own division.