Don’t get worked-up about rankings… yet

Cal Poly football isn’t always in the national spotlight and any recognition that comes their way is certainly earned. By Owen Main

Don’t get bent out of shape — at least not until tonight. Because, maybe Northern Iowa will win. Maybe the Panthers will beat Cal Poly in the Mustangs’ home opener at Alex G. Spanos stadium tonight. Perhaps Cal Poly won’t go 2-1 in what is, almost certainly, the toughest opening three games in the entire FCS.

What’s on the line

IF Cal Poly can beat Northern Iowa tonight — and it’s a BIG if — they will have beaten Montana on the road, been tied with FBS preseason top-25 Arizona State through the middle of the fourth quarter, and beaten Northern Iowa, ranked 9th or 11th depending on which poll you look at.

Montana, now ranked 7th/8th, actually saw their ranking go up after beating North Dakota State and losing to the Mustangs at home in back to back weeks, but in that same week, a 1-0 Cal Poly didn’t crack the top 15. Yep, that’s the same Cal Poly team who did what top-five North Dakota State couldn’t do in beating the Grizzlies in Montana. If they win this week and pollsters still don’t put the Mustangs in the top five, people in San Luis Obispo will have something to cry foul about.

Let’s look at it the other way too. A close home loss to (favored) Northern Iowa tonight would theoretically not be a really bad loss. Would pollsters keep Cal Poly in the Top-25 at that point, even though their only two losses were to a top-10 FCS team and Arizona State? Surely voters wouldn’t be as gracious about Cal Poly’s losses as they were about Montana’s. I would actually be surprised if a close loss didn’t put the Mustangs out of the rankings, at least for a week.

So, I guess all that’s left to do is play the game and let the chips (and votes) fall where they may.

Playoffs?

The best thing about this level of football is that rankings shouldn’t matter as much. Things are settled on the field, via a playoff, and rankings gripes are generally pretty limited at this level. A team who is ranked anywhere in the top 15 or so at the end of the season should be pretty comfortable with their spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately for those in San Luis Obispo, Cal Poly is on the West Coast and was ranked out of the Top-25 to start the season.

Nothing is given here. Everything must be earned. It might not be fair, but if I’m a Cal Poly fan, maybe I like it that way.