Alright, everyone. Firstly, thanks for all the kind words! I appreciate it. All the conferences are now up and this season is ready to rock! I'll try to get some playoff predictions out before the season rolls but may not get around to it. We'll see.

This is great stuff ickiwonkin. It is obvious you look at all of the teams in depth spending some real time on this. Thanks for the great read ...

What an incredible job icki has done on the blog. I think everyone universally enjoys the analysis he has done.

Game of the day
GVSU vs Stonehill

Why not start with the team that is ranked #1 (press) and #2 (coaches) in the poles, GVSU. At first glance not an impressive exhibition season but realist was playing underclassmen the final two games. JDP won't be seeing most of those guys. So how does he stay in the game with GVSU. Icki evaluated GVSU as having no weaknesses. I might view the D line as a little suspect and with only 6 in a 4-3 alignment there might be some hole there for Stonehill. And lets not forget Stonehill was an unguided 12-3 last season. JDP had an initial successful season at D3 Johns Hopkins and we will see what he has learned as he moves up to D2. In a surprise Stonehill comes away with the game. No, I don't see that happening. GVSU wins and probably be much more than the spread (which are pretty much useless). It will be a good game for JDP if he keeps it close.

A couple other games to watch will be Bryant vs. Miles and California (PA) vs. Truman State. I would give slight edges to both Miles and California (PA). Good luck to everyone and I hope it's a fun season!

There were several games on the docket today that would qualify for the game of the day. One of those is Valdosta vs St. Joseph's.

Game of the Day
Valdosta vs St Josephs

These teams won their first contests by a combined score of 146 to 10. It certainly looks like the ball is going to be flying through the air a lot. If the St Joseph D line wants to get recognition they had better be able to rush the passer. Both can put up points. For me it comes down to which defensive backfield can best handle the pressure. I think that will be Valdosta. In a squeaker, Valdosta.

Posted by ranger1951 on 4/13/2016 9:54:00 PM (view original):
There were several games on the docket today that would qualify for the game of the day. One of those is Valdosta vs St. Joseph's.

Game of the Day
Valdosta vs St Josephs

These teams won their first contests by a combined score of 146 to 10. It certainly looks like the ball is going to be flying through the air a lot. If the St Joseph D line wants to get recognition they had better be able to rush the passer. Both can put up points. For me it comes down to which defensive backfield can best handle the pressure. I think that will be Valdosta. In a squeaker, Valdosta.

Icki is making your prediction look icki , Ranger .

I may have maligned the St. Joe D-backfield. It wasn't that I thought they were bad but I thought the Valdosta D-backfield would play better than their counter part. Looks like icki got his tightends heavily involved which was not handled very well by Valdosta and the St. Joe Dbacks stoodout. No doubt about it that was an icky prediction.

Aw, I was just ribbing you Ranger. In matters of "who's gonna win a close game, no one knows for sure. Icki sure did a good job !

Some very interesting games again today.
Game of the Day:
Quincy vs ACU

We see a complete shift so far this season in the Quincy game plan. Last season James Hines ran more times than any other RB I can find in Warner D2. So this season Quincy has basically abandoned the run. Will that continue? Whether running or passing Quincy always puts up huge #'s on offense. ACU does not want to get in a shoot I don't believe. Do they have the D to slow down that Quincy offensive machine. They completely dominated TOP against SBS. That would help. They have been able to get to the passer and done well against the pass. If they can keep Quincy under 35 they have a shot. So far Quincy is averaging 114 points per game vs 3 1/2 on D. Good luck with that. I can't go out on a limb against those numbers. The one saving grace has been those numbers are against vastly inferior teams. Should be interesting.

My money's on Brygold's Quincy. Played against him enough to know he is always at the top of his game with personnel to match. To beat him one has to be the same and lucky.

I was able to beat Valdosta State, but not without a little luck of superv forgetting to swap his starters back in for the first half. I think that's probably what made the difference. I haven't been able to get on much the last couple days as me and my wife have had some time off together and been spending some quality time together. I should be able to pipe in again soon enough with ranger's take on stuff as well.

Just as long as you remember that :Quality Time" means Wis - And Not Family ! . Just kidding .

ACU scored first and last with a touchdown and a field goal. Quincy scored 45 points in between. There are a couple of very interesting games. Delta vs NCCU and Humboldt vs GVSU.

Posted by ranger1951 on 4/15/2016 8:55:00 AM (view original):
ACU scored first and last with a touchdown and a field goal. Quincy scored 45 points in between. There are a couple of very interesting games. Delta vs NCCU and Humboldt vs GVSU.

I was definitely surprised to see that Delta/NCCU score. Delta State is very young and though I still expect it to be a lopsided 2nd half, very impressive just to keep it close in the first.

3 more games till I get to face Colorado mines and find out where I really am with this team. Hoping my guys can put together a quality showing and maybe even pull out a W. I've been happy with my team so far but i've been playing slouch Sim AI teams so I really don't know what to think