I was hoping for a higher ranking because we don't play any "real" competition the remainder of the season, so we won't climb much, if any, with a 11-0 or 10-1 record. Honestly, it'll be hard to break the top 8 or so with only playing 2 ranked teams for the season. to be higher, you need to play and beat teams like Georgia, Ohio, USC, etc. etc.
If we can go at least 10-1 for the season, I think we'd have a shot at the Fiesta Bowl, but its highly unlikely I think.
I have a feeling we'll drop 1 during the season as ECU tends to play strong against top notch teams and then when playing teams like Marshal or Rice, they tend to drop their guard and loose. However, I think that no matter how bad ECU plays against NCSU, State doesn't stand a chance.
I don't think Skip will leave ECU anytime soon, at least I hope he doesn't. If we are a top team and continue to be a top team, it'll be hard to pull Skip away from that. However, ND has tons of $$$ and really needs some good coaching. If anyone can take him away, I'd think it would be ND.