2011 NCAA College Football Polls and Rankings for Week 3 - ESPN

This week's puzzler question in college pigskin - how did FSU drop a place from last week?

The facts: Last week they were rated 4th. They won 62-10. They dropped to fifth. WTF?

The answer: they played mighty Charleston Southern, which is in last place in the all-powerful Big South conference, which has eleven schools in the conference, but only six of them play football. I had no idea there was such as school as Charleston Southern, and I've never heard of several of the other schools in that conference, like Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, and Presbyterian. I have heard of Liberty University, Jerry Falwell's school, and Stony Brook, because it is part of the state university system of New York, and an ex-girlfriend of mine taught there.

I had heard of those last two, but had no idea what their sports teams were called. Can you identify what the teams are called at any of those schools? If so, you are a serious sports nut. I just looked them up, and I won't remember them tomorrow:

The Presbyterian Blue Hose. OK, maybe I'll remember this one, because it's such a stirring call to victory! Who can forget their rousing cheer: "Go, you fine young Presbyterian gentlemen with your blue blood and matching hose, and hand a defeat to the dastardly Methodists, with their pagan rites and their unseemly scarlet attire!"

The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. That's one of the more subtle ways to say "cocks." Go, go, go, you Chaucerian euphemisms!

The Gardner-Webb University Runnin' Bulldogs. (They must have some very large pennants to fit all that on there.)

The Liberty Flames. Presumably this nickname does not reflect their conservative Christian opinion of gay marriage.

The Stony Brook Seawolves. OK, that one actually makes sense. The school is noted for marine research; and Jack London, who wrote The Sea-Wolf, was a rugged dude.

The Charleston Southern Buccaneers. This is a Baptist school. Oh, how the fur must fly when they take on those rambunctious Presbyterians, with their satanic so-called "dancing."

Also in the same conference, but not playing football: the Radford Highlanders and (I'm not making this up) the Campbell Fighting Camels. (The women's teams are known as the Lady Camels. Really.)

Anyway, back to the question ...

In the previous week, Charleston Southern lost 62-0 to The University of Central Florida.

You know that the big football factories like FSU often schedule some patsies early in the season in order to run up the stats. That strategy kinda backfires when the patsies do better against you than they did against Central Florida. Some of the coaches in that coaches' poll had to be looking at the results and thinking, "How do you give up ten points to Charleston Southern, whatever that is?"

Next week's mystery: why is a Long Island school (Stony Brook) playing football in the "Big South" conference?