Well, the end of the D1A season was thrilling, but the end of the rankings is not.
We make no changes. Everything seems, in the end, to be where they should be.
We had moved Saint Mary's up in our last rankings three weeks ago, and they stay at #1, of course. Navy remains #2. And all down the line.
What we can say about all of this is the following:
1. This was a hugely competitive D1A season. Think about it this way. Navy lost just twice, once in the final and once on the road to Cal. But they also beat Life twice in really close games. Lindenwood played Life three times and lost twice ... but they did win once. They beat CWU, BYU, and Davenport, but most of those games (they played Davenport twice) were really close. Cal lost four games. This is true all over the place—top teams won games and lost games in tight margins. That's how it's supposed to be.
2. Saint Mary's ended the season, by our count, 21-0 against collegiate opposition. Ultimately our comment early on that they didn't have a supremely challenging schedule was a bit harsh. Look at this list: Trintiy College U20s, Oxford University, Cambridge University, University of British Columbia, Cal (twice), BYU (twice), Central Washington. Of the 17 US-based opponents, 12 ar in GRR's D1A Top 25. Seven are in the Top 10.
That's an astonishing record in a very competitive season.
