That was one of those ugly wins that causes teams to drop a little in rankings

[rmndcat]

Dance on. I'm not hating, just don't see this as a "great" team.

To the original point about polls...I think we still care about polls, even this early...not because they are any sort of accurate reflection of our relative strength against other programs or because we expect to be in the hunt for the 4-team playoff. It's because of what it means for visibility and being in the general conversation for most of the season, not just popping up on the radar mid- or late-season. You remember in the late 2000s when we were trying to get into NYD bowls, but were passed over by teams with larger fan bases but lesser records? Rankings and public perception are perhaps our best argument to take us over Iowa or Minnesota or Nebraska if it becomes a close call. We might still get jumped, but at least we make that that much harder for the bowl committees.

 

[NJCat83588]

To the original point about polls...I think we still care about polls, even this early...not because they are any sort of accurate reflection of our relative strength against other programs or because we expect to be in the hunt for the 4-team playoff. It's because of what it means for visibility and being in the general conversation for most of the season, not just popping up on the radar mid- or late-season. You remember in the late 2000s when we were trying to get into NYD bowls, but were passed over by teams with larger fan bases but lesser records? Rankings and public perception are perhaps our best argument to take us over Iowa or Minnesota or Nebraska if it becomes a close call. We might still get jumped, but at least we make that that much harder for the bowl committees.

You may be right. I think that bowls are all about $$$'s, and the ability of the invitees to draw eyeballs. I have no clue, but I suspect that a bowl is less interested in the ranking of teams and more about how many fans will attend and how good the TV ratings will be.............

 

[rmndcat]

You may be right. I think that bowls are all about $$$'s, and the ability of the invitees to draw eyeballs. I have no clue, but I suspect that a bowl is less interested in the ranking of teams and more about how many fans will attend and how good the TV ratings will be.............

The ranking won't help much with ticket sales, but it probably helps with ratings.

 

[CatQ]

That was one of those ugly wins that causes a team to drop a little in rankings".

Nope. Apparently not. Even up a little #16 and #17.

 

[pawildcat]

You guys are fans of the wrong sport if you don't think rankings matter. This sport is all about perception. Media coverage, recruiting, bowl positioning, playoff berths...perception, perception, perception.

In any case, this was exactly the kind of game we needed to have going into B1G conference play - struggle with a "gimme" opponent. I believe it will be a good week of practice getting ready for Minny, and our players will take nothing for granted.

Bottom line is win and the rankings will take care of themselves. Lose and you have to worry about rankings.

 

[NJCat83588]

Bottom line is win and the rankings will take care of themselves. Lose and you have to worry about rankings.

This. Silly to worry about rankings in week 4.

 

[mikewebb68]

This. Silly to worry about rankings in week 4.

Agreeing with you so often of late its scary after I disagreed with you a ton on the bball board. We were ranked after week 4 two years ago-- where did that get us?

 

[SciCat]

I'm not IN the locker room. I'm just a doofus who pays to watch them from the upper deck.

That is the post of the decade.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

I think Utah jumps us in the AP with their win against Oregon but maybe Oregon drops below us to keep our present AP ranking still in the top 20.

To keep NU on the radar it is most important that we stay ranked in the top 25 regardless of the number.

I was pleasantly surprised to see us actually move up in both polls though as expected Utah did jump us in the AP. I did not expect Oregon to drop so far so fast.

 

[Alaskawildkat]

The spin I'm seeing so far this morning seems to be fairly positive...the game is being spun as a "slow start" in the first half, but then the Cats "pulled away." It's not "the emperor has no clothes," so NU is getting some benefit of the doubt...take that for what you will. I don't think we drop much, if any. And, yes, it has some importance, particularly in where we go bowling.

Exactly. Here is today's reporting of our game in Alaska's major newspaper:

 

[SmellyCat]

I was pleasantly surprised to see us actually move up in both polls though as expected Utah did jump us in the AP. I did not expect Oregon to drop so far so fast.

With Oregon dropping out of the top 25, NU's victory over Stanford might actually be the best Big 10 victory of the year again. Michigan over BYU is probably the only other contender off the top of my head.

 

[villox]

With Oregon dropping out of the top 25, NU's victory over Stanford might actually be the best Big 10 victory of the year again. Michigan over BYU is probably the only other contender off the top of my head.

Northwestern is the only Big Ten team to have beaten a team that is currently ranked in the AP poll.

So the "impressive" non-conference wins for the Big Ten so far have been OSU over Virginia Tech (which is now 2-2 having just lost to East Carolina), MSU over Oregon, which is now unranked, and then of course NU over Stanford and Duke, both of which have beaten ranked teams since playing us.

 

[Grafcat]

It seems as if absent a loss we are "protected" in the polls to be slotted one above both USC and Stanford.

 

[Hungry Jack]

You guys are fans of the wrong sport if you don't think rankings matter. This sport is all about perception. Media coverage, recruiting, bowl positioning, playoff berths...perception, perception, perception.

In any case, this was exactly the kind of game we needed to have going into B1G conference play - struggle with a "gimme" opponent. I believe it will be a good week of practice getting ready for Minny, and our players will take nothing for granted.

Our uniforms matter more than rankings, at least to some recruits.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Exactly. Here is today's reporting of our game in Alaska's major newspaper:

Do the fine people of Alaska associate The Northwestern featured in "The Deadliest Catch" with our institution? Is there some accidental spillover awareness?

 

[Alaskawildkat]

Do the fine people of Alaska associate The Northwestern featured in "The Deadliest Catch" with our institution? Is there some accidental spillover awareness?

Good catch! (pun intended) The font even matches.

Added Alaska Karma for our game with Minny? Here is to our D repeatedly "catching" the Minnesota Offense behind the line of scrimmage Saturday.