A relatively placid weekend in the NAIA, although the #3 team in the nation stumbled.
Big games to note:
#18 Shorter at #7 Georgetown (KY)
#22 Baker at #6 Missouri Valley
#11 Morningside at #9t Midland
Montana State-Northern at #17 Rocky Mountain
And now, the good stuff:
CENTRAL STATES:
The final week with no conference games included no unexpected activity. Only two teams stayed within the NAIA, and both were expected to win. Didn’t expect Bacone to go HAM on Haskell in the battle of Native American schools, but I don’t think we can afford to be surprised by how badly Haskell gets beaten by anyone. Langston fell from the rankings after being throttled by Missouri Western. And just look at that PA/PF for Texas College, being outscored on average 49-“less than a safety”.
Southern Nazarene is going to win tomorrow, as will SW Assemblies. Langston’s got a good shot against a fairly bad Emporia State team. Bacone and Panhandle are toast, though. And NW Oklahoma should dispatch Texas College with little effort.
DAKOTA:
Dickinson State, ranked #7 before the season began, finally won a game, and the two teams playing out of conference both won, so it was a good week for the little league that’s dying. Dickinson gets a week off to try and get things back together. Mayville will handle Jamestown, I’m sure, while VCSU should take care of South Dakota Tech. If those two things happen, both teams may end up ranked next week.
FRONTIER:
As I said last week, MSU-Northern wasn’t long for the poll. Aside from them, all three ranked teams won, although Rocky Mountain had an interesting time of it. Carroll and Eastern should win this week; Rocky Mountain has to contend with MSU-N, and may fall prey.
GREAT PLAINS:
There goes the apple cart. Both #3 Morningside and #16 Northwestern got upended, shaking up the race. Doane, having beaten them, slides in and replaces Northwestern in the top 25. This week, Morningside will try and rebound against Midland on the road; that game’s just too close to call, but Midland’s got more offense so may have an edge. Dakota Wesleyan’s off for the week, and Doane’s got a winnable challenge at Nebraska Wesleyan.
HEART OF AMERICA:
Straight chalk last weekend. This week, we’ve got an important match between Baker and Missouri Valley. Rankings aside, there’s not much separating these two other than Baker’s loss to Evangel, which is just enough evidence to lean toward MoVal. Benedictine and MANU should romp.
KANSAS:
Bethany continues to roll, but they’re still giving up points in buckets too. This won’t matter this week, as they should get past Kansas Wesleyan with no trouble. Ottawa has recovered from their season-opening hell schedule and climbed back to .500 and a tie for the league lead. They’re idle this week.
MID-SOUTH:
Georgetown won the top-10 showdown with Cumberlands, but didn’t get a lot of poll traction out of it, only climbing one spot. Campbellsville got hammered by D-III #1 Wisconsin-Whitewater, and dropped seven spots as a result. This week, Georgetown against draws a ranked team as they host Shorter; going strictly by resume, I can’t really lean too hard Georgetown’s way. Campbellsville should rebound, but Cumberlands may not. Pikeville, UVA-Wise, and Cumberland should win.
MID-STATES:
The end result of Morningside’s upset loss? The Mid-States now hold the top three spots in the poll, plus #5. All five ranked teams cruised, and Saint Ambrose moved into the top 25 as well following a win over Malone which really wasn’t that impressive. (I’d be more cross about this, but there are no undefeated and unranked teams whose honor I need to defend here.)
Saint Ambrose is idle. The other five ranked teams should all roll; only Marian faces a team that can fog a mirror (Malone), but Marian is outscoring its opponents 39-3.
INDEPENDENTS:
Menlo stays unbeaten, and Azusa still hasn’t lost to a team outside D-I. This week, those two teams should win again. Ave Maria might — might — get their first win ever. I don’t think Webber can overcome the effect of a cross-country trip, and Haskell and Dakota State are going to get stomped.