The narrative around this football program is why the AP Poll/traditional ranking systems are so limited: Had NIU missed that game winning field goal and ND held on and won that game instead, ND would be ranked in the top 10 in the AP still at 2-0 and the narrative around the football program would be a lot more optimistic than it is now.
But does a missed fieldgoal really mean all that much when trying to objectively evaluate your football program overall?
This is why I feel like the peripherals (the under the hood data used in in the F+ formula) is more valuable than ever in scenarios like this where there's drastic change in narrative based on the results of a single event in a game.
My guess is F+ will have ND ranked somewhere in the 15-20th range after their performance vs NIU and then eventually ND will work their way back up the F+ rankings before maxing out somewhere around 10th (but only if everything goes perfectly the rest of the way) and this highlights a major organizational problem
ND --VERY PREDICTABLY-- recruits 10-15th ranked talent, puts together a 10 to 15th ranked 85 man roster, produces 10-15th ranked seasons, and is on a 10-15th ranked trajectory/projection (If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it probably is a duck)
But does a missed fieldgoal really mean all that much when trying to objectively evaluate your football program overall?
This is why I feel like the peripherals (the under the hood data used in in the F+ formula) is more valuable than ever in scenarios like this where there's drastic change in narrative based on the results of a single event in a game.
My guess is F+ will have ND ranked somewhere in the 15-20th range after their performance vs NIU and then eventually ND will work their way back up the F+ rankings before maxing out somewhere around 10th (but only if everything goes perfectly the rest of the way) and this highlights a major organizational problem
ND --VERY PREDICTABLY-- recruits 10-15th ranked talent, puts together a 10 to 15th ranked 85 man roster, produces 10-15th ranked seasons, and is on a 10-15th ranked trajectory/projection (If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, it probably is a duck)
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