Poll may be good indicator

The first national I-AA college football poll was recently released and Youngstown State fared very well in the listings.
The AGS (AnyGivenSaturday) had the Penguins ranked No. 7 in the country and the only Gateway Conference team picked ahead of them was Northern Iowa, which reached the I-AA national championship game last year before losing to Appalachian State.
The Penguins haven't been ranked this high in a preseason or for that matter any poll in a long time.
In fact it was 2001 when the Penguins were picked No. 4 in The Sports Network preseason poll. They were also picked No. 8 in the TSN poll in 2002.
The Penguins made it into the top 16 last season, but still couldn't get the NCAA selection committee to give them a berth in the playoffs.
Last year's No. 16 seedis nowhere to be found
Actually the team that eventually knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs by getting the 16th and final berth was Lafayette, which didn't even make the top 25 in the AGS preseason poll.
The Penguins, who haven't made it to the post season since 2000, finished as tri-champions in the Gateway Conference last season with Northern Iowa and Southern Illinois.
However the Penguins' two league losses were to the Panthers and Salukis and that undoubtedly cost them a spot in the playoffs.
YSU and Northern Iowa were joined by two other Gateway teams in this year's poll. Illinois State was picked No. 9 and Southern Illinois 17.
Western Kentucky was 27th in the voting, while Missouri State also received votes.
Defending national champion Appalachian State was No. 1 and received 45 of the possible 90 first place votes. New Hampshire of the Atlantic 10 was second with 31 first-place votes, followed by Northern Iowa (7), Montana (2), Furman (2) and Cal Poly.
The Penguins didn't get a first-place vote in the No. 7 spot, while James Madison was given two at No. 8 and North Dakota State got the final one at No. 12.
Placement means thatsomeone has a clue
By putting the Penguins at No. 7 it at least shows that somebody knows a little about the game and can recognize the fact that the Penguins have a host of talented players returning from last year's 8-3 season.
Illinois State, by the way, was also selected by the poll as the team which made the biggest rise from 2005. Texas State, which was ranked 21st, was rated the team that made the biggest fall from 2005.
The Youngstown State football staff, led by sixth-year coach Jon Heacock, opened their summer camp Saturday. The opener was the O-Line/D-Line Skills Camp. It will also be held next Saturday.
Today, the quarterback, wide receivers and defensive backs skills camp begins at 5 p.m. Former YSU and NFL quarterback Cliff Stoudt, former NFL linebacker Mike Zordich and former YSU quarterback Mark Brungard will oversee the camp.
The kickers and punters camp will be held Thursday and Friday with former YSU and Philadelphia Eagles kicker Paul McFadden running the event.
For more information about any of these camps contact the football office at (330) 941-3478.
Other summer campson tap this month
Football isn't the only sport that will get under way with summer camps this month.
The men's and women's basketball teams will get their camps underway June 12.
The women's camp will be June 12-15 for girls entering fifth through 12th grades. Contact assistant coach Stacy Krueger for information at (330) 941-3116.
The men's team will hold two camps, June 12-15 and June 19-22.The first camp is for boys in grades 3-9 and the second camp for grades 4-10. For more information call the basketball office at (330) 941-3004.
Don't forget the Bill Daily Memorial Golf Outing which is slated for Wednesday afternoon at Oak Tree Country Club in West Middlesex, Pa. The YSU women's golf outing is Aug. 14 at Pine Lakes Golf Course in Hubbard and you can contact Krueger for more information.
Pete Mollica covers YSU athletics for The Vindicator. Write to him at mollica@vindy.com.