Power Rankings

I'm going to put together a power rankings formula for the MVFC this year. So far I've come up with an effective, simple, formula. I plugged in last years regular seasons' stats into the formula and this is what resulted:

These power rankings do not include strength of schedule of margin of victory. I would love to include those two variables if anyone has any ideas on how to plug those into my original formula. Like I said before the formula is very simple: 

((wins* points scored)-(losses* points allowed))/games played

Anyway, I just thought to myself doing power rankings for this season would be something fun to do. I am unaware of any MVFC explicit power rankings out there (besides the GPI), so I thought I'd give it a shot. If anyone has any suggestions for a more accurate system please comment here or leave me a PM on AGS. 

#8 South Dakota

The South Dakota Coyotes will become the tenth team in the MVFC conference this year. The addition of USD into the conference was a hot topic for many MVFC fans. Many fans saw the addition of South Dakota as a problematic travel aspect since it may require (in some seasons) two plane trips to the Dakota region a year. Other fans saw the addition of USD as a dilution, in terms of overall team strength, in the MVFC. Some South Dakota State fans are bitter that the Coyotes have joined them on the same level in D-1; North Dakota State fans are not threatened. Whatever angle, opinion, or feelings we might have on the addition to South Dakota means nothing. What we can discuss will be the potential strengths the Coyotes will bring to the table.

2010 Coyotes after beating Minnesota (USD Media Guide '11)

South Dakota RB, Marcus Sims (Photo by: David Lias)

The Coyotes have been a traditionally fairly well-to-do program for decades. In Division II, the Coyotes made 4 playoff appearances and won 10 conference titles in a strong D-II NCC. So what have they done in D-1? Their strength of schedule since moving to D-1 has been an issue, mainly consisting of a worn down Grest West Football Conference, a couple D-II schools, and an FBS game each year. South Dakota did not perform as strongly as North Dakota State or South Dakota State in the Great West and it will be interesting to see how they handle the heavy strength of the Missouri Valley Conference. With the exception of a victory on the road against Minnesota in 2010, the Coyotes have struggled to be a threat on the road since joining D-1. That certainly must be turned around before the Coyotes can think about contending for the Valley crown and a trip to the playoffs. South Dakota has recently hired new head coach, Joe Glenn, to take over the reigns after releasing coach Ed Meierkort. Glenn has an 8-2 playoff record in the FCS and will look to rejuvenate the Coyotes.

In 2012, South Dakota will look toward some young talent to carry the Coyotes through the first season in the MVFC. Sophomore QB, Josh Vander Maten is expected to take the reigns and provide efficiency for the Yotes. Last year as a backup to star Dante Warren, he managed the game very well during his limited time on the field. He connected on 22 of 38 pass attempts for slightly over 200 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs.

At RB, Marcus Sims will lead the offense as a lone senior in the backfield. Sims ran for 678 yards last season and scored four times. He split time with Chris Ganious at RB and QB Dante Warren effected the Coyote run game last year as well. Warren ran for 415 yards 9 TDs, and had the most running attempts by any other Coyote last year. If the Coyotes can recreate Warren's production then the Coyotes could be an offensive threat in 2012.

On defense, South Dakota returns a tremendous athlete Tyler Starr who had 14 sacks and 7 forced fumbles last year at linebacker. Starr will look to step into a leadership position as a junior and will continue to impact the game defensively for the Coyotes. South Dakota lost their top three tacklers from last season. Look for LB Darius Hogans and DB Aaron Swift (no relation to Taylor) to accompany Starr as this years leading defensive starters.

South Dakota's schedule will be much more difficult than what fans have seen in the past. The non-conference schedule is highlighted by a September 22nd date with Big Ten foe, Northwestern. I see South Dakota coming out of the non-conference slate sitting at 1-2 with their win coming against Colgate.

They open up the conference with two home dates against Illinois State and Western Illinois. Illinois State handled USD last year; they allowed the Coyote offense only 108 yards as ISU beat USD 28-3 in Normal.

The games I see USD having the best chances of winning are Western Illinois, Missouri State, and South Dakota State. The last game of the season against South Dakota State will be a barnburner. As the rivalry is renewed, USD will be bringing everything they have; no rivalry game is a guaranteed win. At the end of the season, I expect USD's final record to be somewhere between 2-9 and 4-7.

#7 Southern Illinois

I caught some grief with picking Southern Illinois at #7. Southern Illinois has been a top notch program in FCS for years. The recruiting, development, and coaching for the Salukis has been among the best in the nation. However, the past two years Southern Illinois has been a very inconsistent team. The Salukis best games came against North Dakota State (3-9, loss) and Indiana State (35-28, win).

SIU's transfer RB, Mika'il McCall

The problem with the 2011 Saluki team was the defense, especially in the second half of the season. In the last six games of 2011, the Saluki defense gave up 191 points. The pass defense was primarily the problem; 21 touchdowns were given up through the air last year. The offense needs to be more efficient and consistent as well. Too many times drives were cut short by poor decisions and turnovers. Changes must be made in 2012 to turn the program around. 

Good news is... Southern Illinois has restocked their talent for 2012. Per usual, Iowa running backs continue to fall out of the Hawkeye program like rain. This year, transfer Mika'il McCall will look to make an immediate impact in the backfield. McCall had only 11 attempts at Iowa, however, in those 11 attempts he averaged nearly 6 yards per carry. McCall is also only a sophomore, giving the Southern Illinois run game promise for the next three years. 

Kory Faulkner is anticipated to take the reigns at quarterback this season. At times, Faulkner showed signs of brilliance, he shredded the Eastern Illinois defense in a 45-28 win going 16-22 for 234 yards a touchdown, and most importantly no interceptions. That type of production form a quarterback will most certainly effect the rest of the players around him. In 2012, Faulkner needs to continue to develop as a leader and limit costly mistakes. 

A big name we all need to be watching for on the Saluki defense is Kenneth Boatright. Boatright came up huge last season with 7 sacks and 13 tackles-for-loss. Boatright's sacks, combined with NT Kayon Swanson's presence create a very stout defensive line. The Saluki's should have a very good running defense in 2012. 

In 2012, Southern Illinois has a chance to start off strong with a weak non-conference schedule highlighted with MAC member, Miami (OH). Miami will be coming off of, presumably, a pretty bad beating against Ohio State the weekend before they meat up with the Salukis. This should be a good chance for Southern Illinois to make a statement to announce they mean business in 2012. I envision Southern Illinois at 3-1 before they enter league play against Indiana State on September 29.

Their conference schedule provides no relief from difficult teams. Southern Illinois will be playing all of the forecasted top teams in 2012. The team they miss out on is newcomer South Dakota. With likely conference wins against Missouri State, Western Illinois and possible wins against South Dakota State and Indiana State, Southern Illinois could go anywhere from 4-4 to 2-6 in conference. 

Hello World!

Wow, my apologies everyone. The past month was a blur, I moved, got married, and traveled between South Dakota and Iowa about 14 times. needless-to-say, I was busy.

Now, we're extremely close to football season and I've got a few more write ups on a few more teams in the MVFC. I'll get those done soon.

I was contacted by a Bison fan about possibilities of multiple bloggers to help carry some of the load on the blog. I would love that. If you are interested in guest blogging please email me at mitchellmiller32@gmail.com. I'll be looking into how that all works.

I am also newly armed with a brand new smart phone, my first. I plan to use it diligently for the blog.

In the mean time, enjoy these pictures of future MVFC stadium projects: