Wearing the badge of courage that YSU belong to the SEC of the FCS is getting old. Jeff Sagarin has been serving bettors for 30 years and his rankings appear in the USA Today weekly.
Sagarin does not fully disclose how he arrives at his ranking of 261 Division 1 teams, a list YSU finished number 138. Sagarin does disclose that strength of schedule plays a large part in his rankings. I put stock in his findings because gamblers are the best barometer of wins and losses, and the gamblers love his sheet.
Back to number 138 for YSU in the Sagarin rankings. The following teams have made the FCS playoffs this year and finished below YSU in Sagarin. The teams are Delaware, Samford, Southeast Missouri State, Elon, Gardener Webb, New Hampshire, Fordham, St Francis, North Carolina Central, Eastern Kentucky, and Davidson which comes in number 238 a full 100 teams below YSU.
Look at the map, are we really a mid-western state? I think we lean East and Youngstown, Ohio is almost in Pennsylvania. I also think it's time to let North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois and Missouri cut up the booty. I bet their fans feel the same about Ohio.
We play in a league where only one game is drivable and that's nearly 7 hours to Tere Haute Indiana. How has the Gateway/MVC treated us since Jim Tressel went to Ohio State? I can remember two playoff appearances during Heacock, Wolford and Pelini. One was really ugly at Appy State. Yes, it would still be a long drive to Villanova Richmond or Towson, but you could make a mini vacation out of it. Lots a history in those states.
The only people going to North Dakota are on the team plane. We arguably have top 25 facilities, including an indoor football field and we are relegated to watching Delaware on TV in the second round, a team ranked below YSU in Sagarin.
The deck is stacked against YSU. Crazy travel to a league that will forever be dominated by North Dakota State and now South Dakota State. Indiana should pull out too.
Each year I attend games with great anticipation. The first game we have 15,000, by the last game you can count the fans in the stands. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring, Canfield Fair repeat. I am one Penguin Fan who realizes it won't likely get better. The Dakotas basically capture all the talent that didn't get a offer by Minnesota, Purdue, Northwestern, Nebraska Iowa, Iowa State, and other border states. Now that is bunch of linemen.
The MVC basically has games near them compared to YSU. We move an entire team into another time zone and usually are down two touchdowns before we realize what time it is. It's getting worse each year. The fans who remember the Tressel days are getting fewer, and they are not being replaced. It can be embarrassing to see a facility like Stambaugh Stadium mostly empty.
While I am piling on, why is Doug Philips and the top rusher in college football in Jaleel Mcglauflin sitting at home and Davidson, St. Francis, Fordham, Eastern Kentucky, Elon, Samford, and Holy Cross are playing in the tournament. I tell you the deck is stacked and back to Sagarin, yes, his rankings have it right, Georgia, and Michigan. By the way we have a drivable game next year, out second game of the season is at Ohio State.
Dan Rivers
YSU 81