FCS Statistics
FCS History
FCS Play-Off System
FCS School Info
FCS Rivalry Games
FCS Schedules
FCS Stadium Info
FCS in the NFL Draft
FCS Free-Agents
FCS Records

 

2007 FCS Schedules
2007 FCS Rules
2007 Rules Guide
2008 Rules Changes
Situational Updates
NCAA Field Specifications
NCAA Football Signals
FCS Championship Guide
Division-I Records
How Many Championships Has Your School Won?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pete's Power Poll

2007 Final Rankings

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 final poll of the 2007 season. 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. However, the initial preseason ranking is the basis for the remainder of the season. The system is specifically designed so that even the team that begins in the last position can still finish the season at number-1.

  • Since this is the first few weeks, there were some very drastic changes. These will begin to decrease as we progress. During the first weeks, there are clubs that taking on opponents that are IA/FBS and sub-FCS/I-AA. Once these game pass, things will really tighten up.

  • Pete's follows only the play-off conferences and leagues that contain post-season eligible teams. We do not track mid-major conferences and their members. With 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 play-off.

  • This year's new teams are Stony Brook, Austin Peay, and Central Arkansas. To be fair, all three of these clubs will begin the season at the 41st position.

  • Pete's Power Poll will change drastically at the beginning of the season, much like the BCS in IA/FBS 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.
  • To remind everyone, Pete's does not take into account any play-off games in the final rankings. It is not fair to take performance into account when no more than 16-teams are playing. So the final Power Poll is through the end of the regular season.

 

Here is the final 2007 Pete's Power Poll:

Rank
Team
Conf
1
Northern Iowa # * GFC
2
Massachusetts #* Colonial
3
Southern Illinois GFC
4
McNeese State  #* SLC
5
North Dakota State GWFC
6
Appalachian State SoCon
7
Montana #* BSC
8
Delaware State  #* MEAC
9
Richmond Colonial
10
Eastern Kentucky  #*
OVC
11
Delaware Colonial
12
James Madison Colonial
13
Eastern Illinois OVC
14
Youngstown State GFC
15
New Hampshire Colonial
16
Wofford  #* SoCon
17
Western Illinois GFC
18
Eastern Washington BSC
19
Georgia Southern SoCon
20
South Dakota State GWFC
21
Villanova Colonial
23
Norfolk State MEAC
22
S. Carolina St. MEAC
24
Citadel SoCon
25
Hofstra Colonial
26
Furman SoCon
27
Holy Cross PL
28
Fordham  #* PL
29
Elon SoCon
30
Hampton MEAC
31
Liberty Bsouth
32
Cal-Poly GWFC
33
Northern Arizona BSC
34
Central Arkansas SLC
35
Illinois State GFC
36
Colgate PL
37
Lafayette PL
38
Nicholls State SLC
39
Jacksonville State OVC
40
Montana State BSC
41
Missouri State GFC
42
Morgan State MEAC
43
Tennessee-Martin OVC
44
Austin Peay OVC
45
Stony Brook Indy
46
Tennessee State OVC
47
Weber State BSC
48
Sam Houston State SLC
49
William & Mary Colonial
50
UC-Davis GWFC
53
Towson Colonial
57
Coastal Carolina Bsouth
51
Northeastern Colonial
49
Gardner-Webb Bsouth
58
Bethune-Cookman MEAC
54
Lehigh PL
56
Maine Colonial
61
Rhode Island Colonial
63
Portland State BSC
55
Charleston-Southern Bsouth
62
Texas State SLC
64
Tennessee Tech OVC
66
Northwestern State SLC
59
Idaho State BSC
60
Florida A&M MEAC
65
Howard MEAC
69
Sacramento State BSC
67
Samford OVC
73
Bucknell PL
68
Western Carolina SoCon
72
Southeastern Louisiana SLC
70
Chattanooga SoCon
71
Southern Utah GWFC
77
S.E. Missouri State OVC
76
Indiana State GFC
75
Murray State OVC
74
VMI Bsouth
79
North Carolina A&T MEAC
78
Stephen F. Austin SLC
80
Northern Colorado BSC
81
Georgetown PL
82
Savannah State Indy

# Clinched the Automatic berth to the play-off.
*$ Clinched at least a share of the conference title.


 

 

Big Movers:

Biggest Move Up:

The Following teams made the largest moves upward throughout the season. Eastern Washington and Fordham tied for the largest move, with jumps of almost 50 positions from the beginning to the end of the regular season. Norfolk State was not far behind, with perhaps their best season ever, and a jump of 42.

Preseason
Rank
Team
Final Rank
Season Movement
66
Eastern Washington
18
+48
76
Fordham
28
+48
65
Norfolk State
23
+42
57
Hofstra
25
+32
67
Nicholls State
38
+29
68
Missouri State
41
+27
44
Georgia Southern
19
+25
33
Richmond
9
+24
51
Elon
29
+22
29
Eastern Kentucky
10
+19
39
Villanova
21
+18
53
Colgate
36
+17
25
Delaware State
8
+17
40
Citadel
24
+16
56
Morgan State
42
+14
30
Wofford
16
+14
24
Delaware
11
+13
60
Weber State
47
+13
79
Samford
67
+12
32
South Dakota State
20
+12

 

 

 

Biggest Move Down:

The Following teams made the largest moves down throughout the season. Coastal Carolina and Portland State each move down 50 and 46 points respectively, concluding very disappointing 2007 campaigns.

Preseason Rank
Team
Final Rank
Season Movement
7
Coastal Carolina
57
-50
17
Portland State
63
-46
23
Maine
56
-33
20
Towson
53
-33
6
Lafayette
37
-31
47
Stephen F. Austin
78
-31
31
Florida A&M
60
-29
22
UC-Davis
50
-28
16
Tennessee-Martin
43
-27
8
Hampton
30
-22
21
Montana State
40
-19
36
Lehigh
54
-18
52
Sacramento State
69
-17
58
Bucknell
73
-15
37
Northeastern
51
-14
19
Cal-Poly
32
-13
15
Furman
26
-11
28
Jacksonville State
39
-11

 

 

 

Factors used in Pete's Power Poll:

There are several factors that are involved in our poll. In brief, they are:

  • 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/FBS vs. I-AA/FCS vs. non-scholarship vs. sub-FCS/I-AA: 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.

All games vs. non covered teams (that is they are not listed in Pete's Power Poll) are given a FLAT set of points. We realize that other conferences and divisions have rankings, but it is far too much work to poll every team in FBS/IA, FCS/I-AA, DII and sub-DII. We do rank IA and DII top-50 clubs with a higher value ... but it is still a flat value. In other words, if the factor for a IA club is 100 (on a scale of 1 to 100, 100 being the best) we may use a factor for a top-50 club of 125. However, all of the top-50 clubs are ranked at this same level ... whether they are #1, or #49. (We use the Congrove Computer Rankings to establish the factors for IA clubs).

 

 


 

 

 

© 2007 The Horizon Connection
Some Content provided by The NCAA

 

 1. Northern Iowa
 2. Massachusetts
 3. Southern Illinois
 4. McNeese St
 5. North Dakota St
 6. Appalachian St
 7. Montana
 8. Delaware St
 9. Richmond
 10. Eastern Kentucky
 11. Delaware
 12. James Madison
 13. Eastern Illinois
 14. Youngstown St
 15. New Hampshire
 16. Wofford
 17. Western Illinois
 18. Eastern Washington
 19. GA Southern
 20. South Dakota St

 Also Mentioned:
Villanova
Norfolk State
S. Carolina St.
Citadel
Hofstra

Click Here For Entire Poll

 

 1. Gateway<