Top 10 fail: My ballot

You can't act like the teams were formed yesterday. Picking the Top 10 based on two games' worth of info is daunting. Seriously, after deliberating between Montréal and Calgary for the No. 4 spot, helping elect a Prime Minister would be a snap. Go ahead, Michael Ignatieff, make my day.

This is the best way of explaining that performance is the first criteria, but it's only one element. Last season's performance is factored in, too.
  1. Laval Rouge et Or — Putting defending national champion whose defence hasn't given up a touchdown in its first 12 quarters is bound to angry up the blood. This week: vs. Montréal (Saturday at 1 p.m. on Radio-Canada).

  2. Western Mustangs — There are no nits to pick with these guys. Next week: At Windsor.

  3. Saskatchewan Huskies — They have shown some indomitable spirit pulling out two close games, although both were at home. This week: Bye.

  4. Montréal Carabins — Two thorough wins to start season, although a quarterback injury might hurt the U de M's chances of staying in this post beyond this week (at Laval). This week: At Laval.

  5. Calgary Dinos —It's a toss-up for the 5-6 slots, but Calgary beat SFU in the playoffs last season, case closed. This week: At Regina (Friday).

  6. Simon Fraser Clan — Let's see how they play east of the Rockies, which doesn't happen until Sept. 25. This week: vs. Alberta (Friday).

  7. Queen's Golden Gaels — Perhaps fortunate to have been the only OUA team which did not travel during that short week, but are now 19-6 in past 25 games. This week: At Ottawa.

  8. St. Francis Xavier X-Men — Our first newcomer. This week: At Mount Allison.

  9. Saint Mary's Huskies — The men's basketball coaches have a good guideline for their Top 10 poll: No team can move up or down more than three spots. Perhaps Saint Mary's was too high at No. 4, but they deserve a week or two to win back voters' trust. This week: At Acadia.

  10. Regina Rams — Either Ottawa or the Rams could be in this slot. Each has a loss to a top team and a lopsided win over an also-ran. Regina's loss was closer and it was in a road game, so there's your hair-split of the week.

    This week: vs. Calgary.
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10 comments:

  1. "Montréal Carabins — ... This week: At Windsor."

    They wish! :-)

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  2. Thanks John ... "fail," indeed!

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  3. Whoppee! 2 AUS teams!

    I agree, this is the toughest ballot I've had to prepare. Some teams did their very best to get kicked out of the top 10 and the rest didn't make much of a case for themselves, the exception being IMHO Regina.

    Here's my ballot, not that it's accounted in the official top 10. I'm not that important a person :

    Laval, self explanatory
    Western, too
    Simon Fraser, 2 decisive wins
    Calgary, could easily be 2-0
    Saskatchewan, are 2-0, even if it was not pretty
    Montreal, reluctantly... but specials are a 3rd of the game
    Ottawa, get points for staying in there with Western
    Queen's, 2-0, no matter how unconvincing
    Regina, Mullin says they're for real ;)
    Concordia

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  4. Rams are overrated in this poll . . . still have a long ways to go.

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  5. It looks a bit like us, but we didn't put any AUS team in our top 10...AUS teams are always overated... watch them when they'll collide against the LFUQ...

    ... and we brought the Double Gees in... they've earned it...

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  6. Wow, 4 teams out from Canwest in the top 10 while, "factoring last season's performance", their champs couldn't keep the game within 40 points at the half against Laval!!

    Still "factoring last season's performance", what is St. Mary's doing in the top 10 while, in addition to losing their first and only game of 2009 to St. FX, they have also lost their last two real constests (i.e. outside AUS) to Montreal and Western Ontario.

    Finally, where are Ottawa and Laurier?

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  7. Did all of those teams play Laval? No. Only Calgary did and you can penalize an entire conference because one team came out flat in its first time in that situation.

    By your logic, Saint Mary's beat Laval in '07, so the entire AUS should have been ranked last season.

    That's the problem with football ... the sample sizes are small.

    You use performance from this season first, factoring in last season's performance to give context to those results. It's one way to deal with the small sample sizes in football.

    That's why Windsor is not ranked after being 2-6 last season and beating two teams which are a combined 2-16 since start of last season.

    Neither Ottawa nor Laurier has had an impressive win over a good team. Neither kept it close in a loss to a ranked team, as Regina and Calgary did.

    These are volatile. Ottawa will be ranked if it wins this week.

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  8. Excuse me, cannot penalize an entire conference.

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  9. 2007 is pretty far while the 2008 playoffs are just a few games away! Not only Calgary came out flat against Laval last year but they barely beat Alberta last week. Not a typical #5 performance!

    Anyway, I believe Ottawa and Laurier are better teams than Regina and St. Mary's and should replace them at #9-10.

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  10. You are firm in your belief, but not so firm to stand behind with a name. Seriously...

    They might yet be Top 10 teams. This is not a final ranking, it's just for this week. We have what, 8 more of these to do this season? Win the next game, then we will talk.

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