Opinions

Matt Dougherty is the Sports Network's resident I-AA guru. His twice-weekly "Extra Point" column is out today. Here's how he picked OVC games in the first full-fledged week of league play:

Jacksonville State 41, Murray State 10
Eastern Kentucky 24, Samford 14
#22 UT-Martin 20, Tennessee Tech 13
#20 Eastern Illinois 31, Southeast Missouri State 10

Matt also posted his ballot for TSN's poll. He's got EIU at 21, UT-Martin at 23, and JSU at 25.

I-AA.org has posted the first Gridiron Power Index of the season. The GPI is an amalgam of polls and computerized ranking systems used to predict selection for at-large playoff berths. Here's how the OVC teams ranked (the number in parentheses is the rating assigned by the system):

• 23. Jacksonville St (26.89)
• 28. TN Martin (31.22)
• 38. E Illinois (36.33)
• 75. Tennessee Tech (56.78)
• 78. Tennessee St (58.56)
• 80. SE Missouri St (58.78)
• 83. E Kentucky (60.33)
• 86. Samford (63.89)
• 87. Murray St (65.56)

The Ohio Valley Conference ranked ninth among the 16 I-AA conferences rated with a 50.93 average team rating, just behind the #7 Southland (48.32) and #8 Big South (48.87). This probably is the best place to look to see if the league's reputation is improving. So far, it's not; the OVC finished 2005 ranked #8 as a conference, with a 53.37. Fortunately, there's a lot of football left to be played this season, including three non-conference games (though two are against I-A teams).