Archive for category Division News and Notes

D-II: First Round Precaps, Super Region Four.

Precaps for the first round games in Super Region Four, and information on the two teams that have byes, following this cleverly-placed jump device:
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D-II: First Round Precaps, Super Region Three.

Precaps for the first round games in Super Region Three, and information on the two teams that have byes, just after you click this thingy here:
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D-II: First Round Precaps, Super Region Two.

Precaps for the first round games in Super Region Two, and information on the two teams that have byes, right after this friendly “read more” activation device:
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D-II: First Round Precaps, Super Region One

Precaps for the first round games in Super Region One, and information on the two teams that have byes, right after this brief non-commercial linky:
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NAIA: Week 11 Recap/First Round Preview.

With the exception of one random and irrelevant game, the regular season is complete, and the playoff field is set; no conference champion failed to qualify, and the field includes the top 15 teams and one interloper. If you were paying attention last week you know who I’m talking about. Also, the craziest game in your entire life happened in Birmingham; more on that later, because I’m a tease.

Conference champions (bold indicates autobid recipient):
Central States Football League: Southern Nazarene, Langston
Dakota Athletic Conference: Valley City State
Frontier Conference: Carroll (MT)
Great Plains Athletic Conference: Morningside
Heart of America Athletic Conference: Missouri Valley, MidAmerica Nazarene
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference: Ottawa
Mid-South Conference (East): Georgetown (KY)
Mid-South Conference (West): Bethel (TN)
Mid-States Football Association (Mideast League): Marian (IN)
Mid-States Football Association (Midwest League): Grand View, Saint Francis (IL)
Independent autobid: Azusa Pacific

The at-large selections, in descending order:
MidAmerica Nazarene
Saint Xavier
Saint Francis (IN)
Saint Francis (IL)
Valley City State
Benedictine (KS)
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D-III: Week 11 Recap/First Round Preview.

The regular season came to a close, sort of with a whimper. There were no surprises whatsoever in games affecting the playoff field. Every single team that had reasonable hopes of getting into the playoffs as an at-large won last week, and in all five games where a conference’s autobid was still contested, the favorites won, keeping locks out of the at-large pool. As a result, only nine of the 32 teams in the field have more than one loss — but surprisingly, two of those teams got in via Pool C. Of the teams in the field, only two lost last week, but they’d already secured autobids.

Conference champions (bold indicates Pool A (automatic) bid):
American Southwest Conference: Mary Hardin-Baylor
Centennial Conference: Johns Hopkins
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin: North Central
Eastern Collegiate Football Conference: Norwich
Empire Eight: Salisbury
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference: Franklin
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Dubuque
Liberty League: Hobart, Union (NY)
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Albion
Middle Atlantic Conference: Delaware Valley
Midwest Conference: Monmouth (IL)
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Saint Thomas (MN)
New England Football Conference: Western New England
New England Small College Athletic Conference: Amherst
New Jersey Athletic Conference: Kean
North Coast Athletic Conference: Wabash
Northern Athletic Conference: Benedictine (IL), Concordia (IL)
Northwest Conference: Linfield
Ohio Athletic Conference: Mount Union
Old Dominion Athletic Conference: Hampden-Sydney, Washington & Lee
Presidents’ Athletic Conference: Thomas More
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference: Trinity (TX)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Cal Lutheran
University Athletic Association: Case Western
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Saint Scholastica
USA South Athletic Conference: Christopher Newport
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Wisconsin-Whitewater

Pool B bid:
Wesley (DE) (independent)

Pool C bids:
Centre (9-1)
Illinois College (9-1)
Illinois Wesleyan (9-1)
McMurry (8-2)
Redlands (9-1)
Saint John Fisher (8-2)

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D-II: Week 11 Recap/First Round Preview.

And so (with the exception of two dangling games), the regular season comes to a close, the playoffs tickets are handed out, and those that deserve them have new flags to fly, new trophies to display. Without further ado:

Conference Champions:
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association: Winston-Salem State
Great American Conference: Ouachita Baptist
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Hillsdale
Great Lakes Football Conference: Urbana
Great Northwest Athletic Conference: Humboldt State
Gulf South Conference: Delta State
Lone Star Conference: Midwestern State
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Pittsburg State
Northeast-10: New Haven
Northern Sun: Minnesota State-Mankato, Minnesota-Duluth, Saint Cloud State
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference: Kutztown
Rocky Mountain: Colorado State-Pueblo
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Miles
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conferece: Concord

Six of the teams in that list are already packing their equipment up for the winter, although three of their conferences did manage to get someone into the playoffs anyway. For the dirty details, continue on…
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FCS: Week 11 Recap/Week 12 Preview.

The playoff field has grown from one to… four. There are still six automatic bids up for grabs heading into the final week of the season. We’d have half the automatic bids nailed down, but once again the #1 team in the land tripped over its own feet. Over in the OVC, although there’s one game that makes it highly unlikely, there’s still a chance of a six-way tie for first place which would result in a three-way coin flip to determine the autobid.

Automatic playoff bids already claimed:
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: Norfolk State
Patriot League: Lehigh
Southern Conference: Georgia Southern
Southland Conference: Sam Houston State

Additionally, Harvard has won the Ivy League, and Drake will share the Pioneer League title with either San Diego or Jacksonville.

Key games this week:
bold indicates team will claim their conference’s autobid with a win.
bold italics indicates team can claim their conference’s autobid with a win, depending on other outcomes.

Montana at Montana State (Big Sky)
North Dakota State at 2-8 Western Illinois (Missouri Valley)
Northern Iowa at Illinois State (Missouri Valley)
Liberty at 7-3 Stony Brook (Big South)
Towson at 3-7 Rhode Island (Colonial)
Maine at New Hampshire (Colonial)
6-3 Tennessee Tech at 3-7 Austin Peay (Ohio Valley)
5-5 Tennessee-Martin at 6-4 Eastern Kentucky (Ohio Valley)
5-5 Jacksonville State at 5-5 Tennessee State (Ohio Valley)
7-3 Alabama A&M at 5-5 Prairie View A&M (SWAC East; SWAC West)
7-3 Jacksonville at 8-2 San Diego (winner claims share of Pioneer League title with Drake)
5-5 Sacred Heart at 7-3 Albany (Northeast)
2-8 Robert Morris (PA) at 8-2 Duquesne (Northeast)

I have composed a handy primer for playoff formats and guidelines, because we’re getting very very close to starting to hand out bids.
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NAIA: Week 10 Recap/Week 11 Preview.

We have a new #1, as #2 Marian upended the previous poll-topper. Six conference titles have been claimed, and six playoff bids are secure; the two sets are not precisely congruent. Everything else will be settled this Saturday.

Conference champions determined thus far:
Dakota Athletic Conference: Valley City State (no auto-bid, but playoff bid secure)
Frontier Conference: Carroll (MT) (playoff bid secure)
Great Plains Athletic Conference: Morningside (playoff bid secure)
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference: Ottawa (playoff bid secure with a win)
Mid-South Conference (West): Georgetown (KY) (playoff bid secure)
Mid-States Football Association (Mideast League): Marian (IN) (playoff bid secure)
Independent autobid: Azusa Pacific (playoff bid secure)

bold indicates team will claim at least a share of their conference title and their conference’s automatic bid with a win.
bold italics indicates team might not win an autobid, but will certainly claim a playoff spot with a win. (If the conference is listed, they can win the autobid depending on other results; if not, they cannot win their conference’s autobid, but will receive an at-large bid with a win.)
italics indicates team can claim at least a share of their conference title and their conference’s autobid with a win and other results — but might not receive a playoff bid if they do not claim the autobid.

Although a team not already ranked in the top 20 would be at risk of not reaching the playoffs, every team looking to win their way into the field should manage to get there. Specifically, this only applies to Grand View, who will almost certainly move up at least three spots should they beat William Penn. If everything goes according to form, the top 15 teams will all make the field; only #16 Benedictine (KS) would be deprived of a spot.

2-6 Peru State at #4 MidAmerica Nazarene (Heart of America)
3-6 Jamestown at #5 Saint Xavier
3-5 Evangel at #7 Missouri Valley (Heart of America)
#8 William Penn at #23 Grand View (MSFL Midwest League)
1-9 Central State (OH) at #10 Saint Francis (IN)
#17 Saint Ambrose at #13 Saint Francis (IL) (MSFL Midwest League)
#14 Bethel (TN) at 6-3 Shorter (Mid-South West)
#19 Langston at #15 Southern Nazarene (Central States)
6-3 Cumberlands (KY) at #20 Cumberland (TN) (Mid-South West)

I have composed a handy primer for playoff formats and guidelines, because we’re getting very very close to starting to hand out bids.
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D-III: Week 10 Recap/Week 11 Preview.

All twelve teams that could have secured their league’s automatic bids Saturday did so, bringing the known teams in the playoff field to 20. The remaining five automatic bids will be determined on Saturday, and the single Pool B and six Pool C bids will be awarded on Sunday.

Automatic bids already claimed:
American Southwest Conference: Mary Hardin-Baylor
Centennial Conference: Johns Hopkins
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin: North Central
Eastern Collegiate Football Conference: Norwich
Empire Eight: Salisbury
Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference: Franklin
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Dubuque
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association: Albion
Midwest Conference: Monmouth (IL)
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Saint Thomas (MN)
North Coast Athletic Conference: Wabash
Northern Athletic Conference: Benedictine (IL)
Ohio Athletic Conference: Mount Union
Old Dominion Athletic Conference: Hampden-Sydney
Presidents’ Athletic Conference: Thomas More
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference: Trinity (TX)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Cal Lutheran
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference: Saint Scholastica
USA South Athletic Conference: Christopher Newport
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: Wisconsin-Whitewater

bold indicates team will clinch their conference’s automatic bid with a win.
italics indicates team will clinch their conference championship outright with a win, but no autobid.

7-1 Lewis & Clark at #5 Linfield (Northwest)
8-1 Huntingdon at #7 Wesley (DE)
8-1 Widener at #11 Delaware Valley (Middle Atlantic)
#14 Kean at #15 Montclair State (New Jersey)
7-0 Amherst at 5-2 Williams (NESCAC)
8-1 Case Western at 5-4 Carnegie Mellon (University)
7-3 Framingham State at 8-1 Western New England (New England)
6-1 Hobart at 4-4 Rochester (Liberty; Union (NY) wins autobid if Hobart loses)

I have composed a handy primer for playoff formats and guidelines, because we’re getting very very close to starting to hand out bids.
Read the rest of this entry »

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