Tag: Media Poll

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg, Aquinas get first-place votes, but Stateliners end up topping final Media Poll

With three first-place votes and a 10-2 record, the Phillipsburg Stateliners have finished 2023 as the top team in the Big Central Media Poll.

P’burg was the preseason No. 1, as well, and held the position until a late-September loss to Hillsborough in the Rumble on the Raritan. The Stateliners’ only other loss came in the North 2, Group 5 final to Union City; they came back to beat Easton on Thanskgiving, the first time they’ve beaten the Red Rovers back-to-back since 2002 and 2003.

St. Thomas Aquinas finished second in the final media poll, three points behind Phillipsburg. The Trojans (10-1) got two first-place votes. They finished the regular season undefeated with a Thanksgiving Eve victory at Immaculata, their only loss coming to DePaul in the Non-Public B semifinals.

Ridge – which finished 8-2 and made it to the North 2, Group 4 semifinals – came in third, whiel National Silver Champion North Brunswick (8-1) finished fourth.

Coming in fifth is Bernards (12-1), which set a program record for wins and took home its first-ever state sectional title three weeks ago when the Mountaineers rallied to beat Lakeland in overtime for the North 2, Group 2 Championship. They were also Patriot Gold Division Champions.

The bottom five includes Sayreville (8-3) in sixth, Hillsborough (8-3) at No. 7, Liberty Silver Division winner Montgomery (8-1-1) at eight, followed by Watchung Hills (8-3) and St. Joseph-Metuchen (7-3) at nine and ten.

Summit, Hillside, and Westfield also received votes.

Below is the full Final Big Central Media Poll for 2023:

by Mike Pavlichko

Ridge again No. 1 in Big Central Media Poll

For the fourth week in a row, Ridge is the No. team in the Big Central Media Poll.

The Red Devils didn’t get any first place votes, but ended up with the most points in the formula. Again, for the fourth straight week, North Brunswick got three first place votes, while St. Thomas Aquinas got the other two.

There were few other changes. Hillsborough and Phillipsburg flip-flopped into fourth and fifth, respectively. Summit climbed from ninth to seventh, Sayreville inched up a spot to No. 9, and St. Joseph-Metuchen entered the poll, as they did in the CJSR Top Ten, at the expense of Watchung Hills, which they beat 26-21 on Friday night.

Below is the full Week 8 Big Central Media Poll:

by Mike Pavlichko

Week 7 Big Central Media poll finds Ridge at the top for third straight week; Sayreville back in

The top eight in the Big Central Media Poll remained unchanged this week, with Ridge holding down the top spot for the third consecutive week, even though North Brunswick pulled in three of the five first place votes and St. Thomas Aquinas got the other two, just like the previous two weeks.

With Union losing to Elizabeth, the Farmers (4-3) drop out of the poll, and Sayreville comes back in at the tenth and final spot.

Spotswood (8-0), Union and Hillside (4-2) each got one vote, but didn’t make the top ten.

Below is the complete Big Central Media Poll for Week 7:

by Mike Pavlichko

North Brunswick, St. Thomas Aquinas take first place votes after Phillipsburg upset, but Ridge gets No. 1 spot in Media Poll

This one was all about the math.

After previously-undefeated No. 1 Phillipsburg was knocked off by No. 8 Hillsborough, and No. 2 North Brunswick survived No. 7 Sayreville in Sunday’s Rumble on the Raritan, the 4-0 Raiders picked up three first-place votes.

St. Thomas Aquinas, which is 5-0, got the two other first place votes.

But the disagreement on who should be No. 1 left neither team with the top spot. It went to Ridge, which got all three second-place votes and two third-place votes, earning them 43 points, two more than the Raiders, who picked up 41 points.

Just like the standard AP Polls in college football and basketball – which give 25 points for a first-place Top 25 vote, 24 for second, 23 for third and so on, the Big Central Media poll awards 10 points for a first-place vote, nine for second, and so on down the line.

Below are the full Big Central Media Poll Week 5 rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Unanimous again: Phillipsburg remains No. 1 in Big Central Media Poll for Week 3

Once again, Phillipsburg got all five first place votes and is a unanimous No. 1 in the Big Central Media Poll for Week Three.

The Stateliners are 2-0 after wins over two ranked teams – Sayreville and Ridge – in its opening two games. Phillipsburg visits 0-3 North Hunterdon this week.

Somerville – which received votes the last two weeks – break into the field in a three-way tie with Montgomery and Sayreville, while Cranford (1-1) dropped out.

Following is the full Week 3 Big Central Media Poll:

by Mike Pavlichko

Another sweep at No. 1 for Phillipsburg in Week Two Big Central Media Poll

Once again this week, Phillipsburg got all five first-place votes from the media members surveyed in the Big Central Media Poll, as the Stateliners opened their season with a dominant win over Sayreville Friday night, 42-7 at Maloney Stadium.

If the Stateliners can remain No. 1 next week, it’ll be the first time in the history of the poll – now in its fourth season – that the same team that was No. 1 in the preseason or Week Zero was still ranked first after Week Two.

The Bombers were the only team that stayed in the poll to move more than one spot this week, dropping from fifth to seventh after the loss. Previous No. 8 Westfield dropped out after losing to Watchung Hills, which had been tied with the Blue Devils for eighth.

Hunterdon Central joined the Media Poll for the first time since its inception three years ago.

Below is the full Big Central Media Poll for Week Two:

by Mike Pavlichko

Idle Phillipsburg remains atop Big Central Media Poll, as Watchung Hills and Montgomery make inroads

Three teams who don’t open their season until this Friday night hold the top three spots in the Big Central Media Poll for Week One, while two new teams made their debut.

Watchung Hills and Montgomery made the cut in Week One after receiving votes in the preseason rankings. The Warriors are tied for eighth with Westfield, while Montgomery takes the tenth spot.

Three teams dropped out from last week (there were 11 overall in the rankings, with two teams having been tied for tenth): Colonia, Edison and North Hunterdon, all of whom lost their opening games in Week Zero.

Below are the full Week One Big Central Media Poll rankings:

by Mike Pavlichko

Clean sweep for Phillipsburg in Big Central Media Poll as Stateliners take all No. 1 votes

For the second time in the four year history of the Big Central Media Poll, a single team has taken all the first place votes in the preseason survey.

Phillipsburg – coming off an 11-1 year – ascended to the top spot after finishing second last year to North 2, Group 4 sectional champion North Hunterdon.

Four new teams joined the top eleven vote-getters in the preseason, with Sayreville, Colonia, Hillsborough and Westfield in the fray, while Hillside, Watchung Hills and Montgomery dropped out.

Sayreville is the only preseason Top Ten team to have more than four losses last season; the Bombers finished 4-5 in 2022, but have had a lot of preseason buzz among the media.

Overall, 17 teams received votes for the preseason Top Ten.

by Mike Pavlichko

Phillipsburg gains last first-place vote, is unanimous No. 1 for first time in Big Central Media Poll

For the first time this season, there’s a unanimous No. 1 team in the Big Central Media Poll.

In the final rankings before the season is over – with no rankings coming once the playoffs begin – Phillipsburg picked up all five first-place votes in the Week 8 Media Poll.

Cranford and Westfield joined the poll, as the Cougars knocked off previously-unbeaten and No. 2 North Brunswick Friday night with a 34-14 home win, while Westfield beat previous-No. 10 Hillsborough 17-12 Saturday afternoon.

The Raiders’ loss knocked them down to four, and out of the running for a top seed in the playoffs. That opened the door for Hillsborough to get a top seed in the South 5 supersection until their loss to the Blue Devils, which also knocked Hillsborough out of the Media Poll.

The full Week 8 rankings are below:

by Mike Pavlichko

Upsets juggle bottom half of Week 8 Big Central Media Poll; Phillipsburg remains on top

Three new teams joined the Big Central Media Poll for Week Eight, while the to four teams remained the same: Phillipsburg, North Brunswick, St. Thomas Aquinas and North Hunterdon.

The Stateliners again got four of the first place votes, while the Raiders got the fifth.

Of the three ranked teams that lost Friday night, Hillsborough was the only one to remain in the rankings, falling to tenth, tied with newcomer Bernards, which also received votes last week. Previously-No. 7 Sayreville and previously-No. 9 Westfield dropped out. Edison and Colonia rejoin the poll, at eight and nine, respectively.

Below are the full Media Poll rankings for Week Eight: