Portland State Favored to Pull Rank on Northridge in Key WFC Meeting

National rankings in Division II athletics tend by nature to be suspect.

The polls are not conducted by a vote of national writers or coaches’ associations. They are tabulated during a conference call by a committee of 4 athletic administrators--one each from the West, East, Midwest and South regions.

Chances are, these voters have never seen many of the teams play; Division II games rarely make national television.

So what is a thoughtful voter to do? Apparently, pay close attention to records--and little else.

Cal State Northridge opened with four consecutive wins and reached a high-water mark of No. 5 in the rankings 2 weeks ago. The Matadors were promptly humbled, 38-7, at home against unranked Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

The committee, perhaps ignoring the 31-point margin and the fact that the game was at CSUN’s home field, still read 4-1 next to Northridge in the standings. The Matadors dropped in the rankings, but only to 12th.

Last week against lightly regarded Cal Lutheran, Northridge got back in the win column but by an unimpressive margin, 24-21.

No matter. Northridge is 5-1 and all the way back to No. 6 in the rankings.

If only the Nielsens were as forgiving.

Coach Bob Burt of Northridge says he is not overly concerned with his team’s place in the rankings at this stage of the season, but he does have a prediction:

“Come Saturday about 10 (p.m.), we’re either going to be up a few notches or completely out,” he said.

Northridge’s opponent tonight at North Campus Stadium is Portland State, a team that also has grown accustomed to bouncing around in the ratings.

Portland (3-2-1) played for the Division II national championship last season, opened this season ranked No. 2, dropped out of the poll after 2 weeks and is back up to No. 11.

Although ranked behind Northridge nationally, Portland is considered the favorite. The Vikings have won 8 Western Football Conference games in a row, dating to 1986.

Their last conference loss: 34-0 to Northridge in Portland’s last visit to the Matadors’ home field, a setback that knocked the Vikings out of contention for a conference championship.

Portland could return the favor this time around. A loss would drop Northridge to 1-2 in the WFC and seriously damage the Matadors’ hopes of gaining a berth in the 16-team Division II playoffs.

The Vikings have won their past 2 games, routing Santa Clara, 42-0, and knocking off previously third-ranked Indiana (Pa.), 20-17, last week.

Coach Pokey Allen of Portland State says the Vikings are not a team on a roll, however.

“We haven’t exactly been the juggernaut we were supposed to be,” Allen said. “We’ve played hard and been in every game, but we’ve had a lot of injuries and basically been very inconsistent.”

In the first half against Indiana, Portland gained only 32 yards and trailed, 11-0.

“We came back from the dead and found a way to win it,” Allen said. “It probably seems like we’re playing better, but we’re not. In a lot of ways we played worse.”

Among Portland’s victories is a 21-3 decision over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, the same team that routed Northridge 3 weeks ago.

“Cal Poly played over their head against Northridge,” Allen said. “The same thing could have happened to us. The Northridge I saw on film is a good football team. They are typically athletic and physical.”

The key to beating Northridge is controlling tailback Albert Fann, Allen says, but he also is concerned about Matador quarterback Rob Huffman.

“They throw better than people think,” Allen said. “The quarterback does a fine job, particularly off play-action fakes. We’d like to get ahead and make them pass from a straight drop instead of passing when they want to.”

Burt would like to see anything similar to a repeat of 1986.

“That was one of those nights everything went right,” Burt said. “Some of the performances in that game were unbelievable from an effort standpoint. Our guys played out of their minds.”

Perhaps the Matadors have been saving their strength.

Northridge appeared uninspired in getting flattened by San Luis Obispo and again showed little emotion against Cal Lutheran last week.

“We were flat,” Burt said of the Matadors’ effort against CLU, “but when we had to fight, we did. I think once we realized we were in a dogfight it was too late to blow them out, but I never felt the outcome was in doubt. Not once.”

Burt rates the match-up against Portland State a tossup, providing the Northridge team from games 1 through 4 takes the field.

“They’re a real good football team,” Burt said of Portland, “and so are we. When we show up.”