Men DI College Rankings Spring 2017 Week #5

Well there was bound to be a shakeup in the rankings at some point, and frankly we didn't think it would be this week, but there you go.

Cal lost to UBC, which wasn't in and of itself a massive surprise, but it wasn't Cal's best day overall, and the scoreline doesn't tell the whole story of the game. Even so, the Bears might have held onto their #1 ranking with that loss had we not seen two other results. Those results, of course, were Saint Mary's over BYU 27-12 (and it wasn't that close) - Saint Mary's In Control Over BYU, and Life 57-0 over Arkansas State. Either of those results could have been enough to bump the winning team up to #1, but in the end we pick Saint Mary's because they beat a stronger opponent.

Central Washington, off on its lonesome out there in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, is doing its best to get some results and show they know what they're doing. Unfortunately, the Wildcats play a lot of men's clubs, and it's really tough to measure exactly how good they are. Their trip to the Lindenwoods helps a lot, but it will be March - two games against BYU and one against UVic - that will set the tone.

The other shakeup was San Diego State moving way up after beating Arizona. it was a really good result for the Aztecs (SD State Takes Boost from Win Over Arizona), and drags Cal Poly up with them (we're still not sure about Santa Clara, who could be suffering from St. Bonaventure disease and losing games in a super-tough conference, but could win in a variety of other conferences). Arizona takes a hit. Arkansas State takes a hit. BYU takes a hit. UCLA takes a hit because they lost big to Arizona and Arizona took a hit (yes, sorry, it works that way). 

Baylor gets a move up after a good win over Oklahoma. (Baylor Takes Control with Win over OU).

Florida State and Middle Tennessee State won big games in the SIRC. Oregon faltered in the NCRC, so we move the Seminoles and the Moosemen in and the Ducks out. Seeing as we couldn't justify moving anyone else out of the top 50, MTSU and FSU tie at 50.

(By the way, we are fielding a few extra questions about DIA, DIAA, and Varsity Cup. Here's the quick answer - we rank DI-level teams, DIA or DIAA or Varsity Cup. We think that some DIAA teams are as good as, or better, than some DIA teams, and we rank accordingly. There are some teams that choose to play independent schedules and go to the Varsity Cup; they are still considered DI-level. There are some teams in DIA conference who choose the Varsity Cup invitational tournament, and some choose the DIA playoffs. They are all DIA.

Of the 51 teams ranked this week, 30 are DIA, 19 are DIAA, and two are Varsity Cup only. Eight of the DIA teams also are Varsity Cup, and one DIAA team is. While that's quite a mix, it's worth noting that in the Top 20, only three teams are DIAA.)