We still have no playoff tickets punched, and unbelievably there is only one team which can clinch a playoff spot this week (Sam Houston State). The only honors claimed by any team thus far: Cal Poly-SLO has clinched a share of the Great West title. This week’s action isn’t nearly as bombastic as last week’s, but there are still some games you should keep an eye on:

#1 North Dakota State at #21 Indiana State
#2 Montana State at 3-5 Weber State (MSU would claim a share of the Big Sky title with a win)
#4 Sam Houston State at 2-6 Southeastern Louisiana (SHSU would claim a share of the Southland title, and the autobid, with a win)
#14 Towson at #7 Maine
#13 James Madison at #9 New Hampshire
5-3 Eastern Kentucky at #18 Jacksonville State
6-2 Jacksonville at 7-2 Drake
6-2 San Diego at 6-3 Dayton
5-3 Cal Poly-SLO at 2-6 Cal-Davis (CPSLO will convert shared title to outright with a win)

I have composed a handy primer for playoff formats and guidelines, because we’re getting very very close to starting to hand out bids.

BIG SKY:

Eliminated: Northern Arizona, Idaho State, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State, Eastern Washington, Weber State, Portland State
Could go this week: nobody

Nothing strange happened Saturday, so it’s all down to next week’s showdown between the Montana schools to determine the Big Sky’s autobid. Both schools could also win the conference title outright, though a likely Montana State win over Weber State would remove that possibility for Montana (who should win a non-conference tilt with D-II Western Oregon). Portland and Northern Arizona should pick up wins this week as well.

BIG SOUTH:

Eliminated: Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian
Could go this week: Virginia Military, Gardner-Webb

Liberty had to go to two overtimes to knock off Presbyterian and eliminate them from the race. VMI and Gardner-Webb remain theoretically alive; Liberty should take care of them both this week as they host the Keydets; if not, Stony Brook should deal with the problem at winless Charleston Southern. Should VMI upset the Flames, even an almost certain Stony Brook win over Charleston Southern doesn’t eliminate either team. GWU can’t hurt themselves in the conference race, hosting D-II Virginia State, who they should beat. Coastal should beat Presbyterian, but Saturday showed the Blue Hose can’t be taken lightly.

COLONIAL:

Ineligible: Massachusetts, Georgia State
Eliminated: Richmond, Villanova, William & Mary, Rhode Island
Could go this week: Delaware, James Madison, Old Dominion

New Hampshire eliminated Rhode Island, and Maine took sole possession of the lead by beating Villanova while Delaware upset Towson in a tight game — one which, despite losing, earns Towson credit as a legitimate threat in the playoffs. Delaware and Old Dominion staved off elimination; Delaware simply by winning, and Old Dominion by winning as well as Towson losing.

Should Maine beat Towson this week, a prospect which appears more likely after last week’s results, Delaware would be eliminated, as would Old Dominion and/or James Madison should either lose. A Towson win would eliminate nobody, as Delaware is idle and can’t pick up their fourth conference loss. New Hampshire is safe regardless, though they should probably handle JMU. Old Dominion is probably safe too, hosting Richmond, whose season is just circling the drain now. In other action, William & Mary and Massachusetts are likely winners, while incoming member Georgia State has a particularly interesting cross-divisional matchup with NAIA power Saint Francis (IL). I’m very interested to see how that matches up, as games between FCS teams and actual NAIA heavyweights are rare.

GREAT WEST:

Eliminated: Southern Utah, Cal-Davis
Could go this week: Cal-Davis
CONFERENCE CHAMPION Cal Poly-SLO (clinched share of title)

There’s no autobid here, of course, so Cal Poly’s win over South Dakota didn’t really settle anything other than to ensure Cal Poly a share of the conference title and to eliminate Cal-Davis. Cal Poly can win the title outright with a likely win at Cal-Davis this week. Should they lose, things get hairy; South Dakota would share the title with a win over North Dakota on 11/19, while North Dakota would share it with wins over South Dakota and Cal-Davis (on 11/12).

IVY:

Eliminated: Columbia
Could go this week: Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell

Yale survived Columbia in a snowstorm which made Yale’s players almost invisible in their all-whites; while checking in on the game, I commented that Columbia had a chance because their quarterback could actually see his receivers, and they almost did pull the win out. Alas, they did not, and the Lions are still winless, and officially out of the Ivy League race. Brown slogged past Penn in an ugly contest, and Cornell staved off their own fate with a win over Princeton. Harvard is now alone in the lead, having rolled over Dartmouth.

Harvard should handle Columbia, meaning the loser of the Cornell/Dartmouth game is done, and Princeton should bow out as well by losing to Penn. Brown visits Yale, and the loser will remain in the hunt, but will be pretty seriously wounded. That game could go either way.

MID-EASTERN:

Eliminated: Delaware State, North Carolina Central, Savannah State
Could go this week: Howard, North Carolina A&T, Hampton, Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman

The most important game in terms of the race is a simple one: Norfolk shouldn’t have any trouble at all with Savannah, and that will eliminate Howard. The loser of the North Carolina A&T/Florida A&M game (toss-up) would also be gone, as would Hampton and/or Bethune-Cookman should either lose. The former is unlikely; the latter isn’t. Howard is gone with a loss even if Norfolk loses, but a Norfolk loss would mean nobody else is eliminated. Morgan State and South Carolina State are in the clear this week, Morgan because they’re safe even with a loss and SC State because they’re idle.

MISSOURI VALLEY:

Eliminated: Southern Illinois, South Dakota State, Missouri State, Western Illinois
Could go this week: Youngstown State, Indiana State, Illinois State, Northern Iowa

North Dakota State won what may end up being the de facto title game, knocking off #2 Northern Iowa and claiming the top spot in the poll. That sent Western Illinois to the showers when they got hammered by Youngstown.

This week’s possibilities are straightforward. If North Dakota State beats Indiana State, which is likely (though an upset isn’t a ridiculous idea) the Sycamores are gone. If Northern Iowa beats Youngstown (again, likely but not certain), the Penguins are gone. If both NDSU and UNI win, and Illinois State loses, the Redbirds are done… but they’re almost certainly not going to lose, so that’s a moot point. There is one other remote possibility, however. If NDSU, Youngstown, and Western Illinois all win… Northern Iowa is done, as they can win no tiebreakers at that point. The only team that could possibly remove NDSU from the autobid at that point would be Youngstown.

NORTHEAST:

Eliminated: Saint Francis (PA), Central Connecticut State, Wagner, Robert Morris (PA)
Could go this week: Monmouth (NJ), Sacred Heart, Bryant

Albany handled (and eliminated) Wagner, while Duquesne won the battle for second place with Monmouth, and now Albany’s fully in control of everyone’s destiny. Albany has a tough game against Bryant. They should win, but nothing’s assured there. If they do, Bryant is gone, as will be Sacred Heart and/or Monmouth should they lose (though neither should be expected to). Duquesne sits and waits, hoping for a Bryant upset, but they’ll need even more help than that.

OHIO VALLEY:

Eliminated: Eastern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Austin Peay
Could go this week: Tennessee State, Murray State, Jacksonville State

Well, hello. Tennessee Tech saved almost everyone with a win over Jacksonville State, and it’s now a three-way tie at the top with Eastern Kentucky, and UT-Martin lurking a half-game back. SEMO and Peay were eliminated.

UT-Martin can’t be eliminated this week, as they’ll be busy losing to FBS Mississippi State. Tech has a winnable game against Murray State, which would eliminate Murray, while Eastern Kentucky visits Jacksonville. EKU should actually win this one, despite Jax’s presence in the top 25 all season and EKU’s absence. If those two things happen, Jacksonville will be gone thanks to tiebreakers, and Tennessee State would be gone outright. Should Jacksonville win, EKU would still be alive thanks to next week’s game between Tech and EKU. If Tech loses this week, only Tennessee State is at risk of being eliminated, as a loss takes care of them regardless. The odds are on the side of TSU winning, however.

PATRIOT:

Eliminated: Colgate
Could go this week: Lafayette, Bucknell, Holy Cross

Expect Lehigh to handle Holy Cross, which will eliminate everyone but Georgetown on the spot since Lehigh plays Georgetown next week and the conference champion can finish with no more than one loss. Should Holy Cross somehow upset Lehigh, then idle Bucknell would cling to life; Lafayette would require a win over Colgate to remain in the hunt. Georgetown should handle Fordham in a game that doesn’t count for the conference race.

PIONEER:

Eliminated: Valparaiso, Davidson, Morehead State, Marist, Butler
Could go this week: Campbell, Dayton

Jacksonville visits Drake in a game too close to predict, but it doesn’t really affect immediate matters much, as the winner will finish no worse than 6-2 in conference. Thus, Butler’s gone even though it looks like they’re still alive on cursory glance. Dayton and Campbell would both be eliminated with losses; Campbell should survive, while Dayton is a slight underdog to San Diego. The Toreros will remain in the picture regardless, thanks to an existing victory over Drake and a remaining game against Jacksonville, but even so they can’t really afford to lose this one.

SOUTHERN:

Eliminated: Western Carolina, Citadel, Tennessee-Chattanooga, Elon
Could go this week: Samford, Furman

Appalachian handed former #1 Georgia Southern their first loss of the year, which throws everything into chaos. UT-Chattanooga and Elon both lose, eliminating themselves from the race; Samford won to cling to the faintest shred of hope.

The hope Samford is clinging to will be extinguished if Wofford or Georgia Southern win, as that will guarantee a 6-2 or better champion. Obviously, a loss eliminates them as well. Furman really needs to beat Appalachian, and while the upset would not be a complete shock, it’s also not that likely. They would be eliminated with a loss; they will also be eliminated if GSU wins, as they can’t win any tiebreaker at 6-2 involving GSU. A Georgia Southern win does nothing to eliminate Applachian (to whom they’ve lost) or Wofford (who they’ve yet to play), even if those teams lose. It’s still entirely possible for a three- or four-way tie at 6-2, though it’s so unlikely that Wofford will lose this week as to make that a pipe dream. Someone’s almost certainly going to get to 7-1.

SOUTHLAND:

Eliminated: Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana, Lamar, McNeese State, Stephen F. Austin
Could go this week: Central Arkansas, Northwestern State
CLINCH ALERT: Sam Houston State

Stephen F. Austin finally woke up, knocking off McNeese and removing them from contention. Having already lost to Central Arkansas and Sam Houston, SFA is also gone.

If we assume that Sam Houston will take care of business at SE Louisiana, then they can actually clinch the autobid with a Central Arkansas win over Northwestern State. If Northwestern wins, they’ll have to either beat Northwestern themselves next week, or hope Northwestern stumbles the following week against SFA. Should Sam Houston lose, Central Arkansas would still be knocked out with a loss to Northwestern.

SOUTHWESTERN:

Eliminated: Mississippi Valley State, Alcorn State, Texas Southern
Could go this week: nobody

Alabama State really blew a chance at locking things down, and now Alabama A&M has actually gone from the verge of elimination to being the team in control of its own destiny in the East. None of the three contenders in the East can be eliminated this week; all three should win. It’s an even bigger mess in the west, where only Texas Southern has been knocked out, and nobody’s getting eliminated this week either. Of the four contenders, Prairie View has the most inviting week ahead; they play non-conference against Texas State, so they can’t lose any ground. They could actually have a full game lead by the end of the week, which will be a relief.

INDEPENDENT:

South Alabama got back to winning, and this week should secure the winning record for the season as they host hapless Mississippi Valley State.