Just a bump in the road for SIU football

Commentary

The SIU football team is now out of the top 25 after a disappointing loss at Illinois State, but take heart. The top 25 has little bearing on a team's success.

This loss alone was not a bad loss or an unexpected loss. This young team still has much to learn about winning, especially on the road.

Winning at home is one thing, but winning on the road is much more difficult. Playing at home gives the team all the advantages, while playing on the road means facing a stacked deck.

Young teams often have trouble maintaining their intensity level when they hit the road, but in actuality, teams must raise their level of intensity in order to overcome the odds and win on the road.

The fact that the loss came to the Redbirds was almost expected, though. It doesn't mean that ISU is necessarily the better team. When these two teams meet in any sport, it seems the weaker team wins a good percentage of the time.

This is a rivalry game that means the two teams' records are irrelevant.

The football Salukis did not really deserve a top-25 ranking, though.

Their record in my mind is now 2-4, as the games against Kentucky Wesleyan and West Virginia Tech weren't much different than when the old-time teams played local high schools. These games allowed us to have a respectable record and inflated our offensive numbers, which is not really fair to teams who play decent competition.

Yes, they did play a I-A team, but Eastern Michigan is a I-A team in classification, not skill level.

How a team can have a sub-.500 record and have a top 25 ranking is beyond me.

This season has given the team a chance to show that they're at the very least becoming a respectable program that's on the rise.

The team has proven many things this year. They've proven that they are steadily improving after beating two strong opponents with a very young roster.

Head coach Jerry Kill's worth as a coach has also been proven this season. His exciting style of taking risks and playing to win will draw many people to McAndrew Stadium during the next few years.

Kill isn't afraid to lose as it seems many coaches base their decision making on not wanting to lose.

He's also gotten his players to buy into his system, so good things are definitely down the road for the football Salukis under Jerry Kill.

They've also proven that to fans that it's worth the effort to attend the games.

But although this team proved many things, it didn't prove that it deserved a spot in the top 25.

The creation of Division I-AA football, while a noble effort, gives teams recognition that they don't deserve. It must be easy to make the top-25 in Division I-AA football if the Salukis can win one or two games early in the year and some voters think they're top-25 material.

Teams that play in the Gateway Conference are kind of like Notre Dame or Nebraska- pollsters just want to vote them into the top 25 whether or not they really deserve it.

This year, SIU was given votes for the top 25 before even beating a non-Division II team.

College football in general is far too quick to hand out accolades. In big-time football, an above-.500 record is usually enough for a bowl appearance.

So don't worry about your beloved Salukis, because a spot in the bottom half of the top 25 doesn't really carry that much weight anyways.

This team has bigger and better things to worry about than being 25th in the Division I-AA, and once it learns from its mistakes and the tough Gateway road, the top 10 will be waiting.

Ethan is senior in journalism. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Daily Egyptian.