It’s the next to last week of the D-II regular season, and as a result all sorts of fun things are about to happen. Last week, three teams won divisional titles outright and berths in their conference championship games; one of the two remaining divisional races features a three-way fight resting on the results of two games. One team also won an outright conference title last week, and you can find out all about that following the jump, which follows this rather large list of games involving ranked teams, playoff implications, and conference titles at stake:

bold indicates team will win their conference title outright with a victory.
bold italics indicates team could win their conference title outright with a victory, depending on other results.
normal italics indicates team will win a share of their conference title with a victory.

#18 West Alabama at #1 Delta State (Gulf South)
#9 Washburn at #2 Pittsburg State (MIAA)
#3 Northwest Missouri State at #25t Missouri Western
1-8 Western State at #4 Colorado State-Pueblo (Rocky Mountain)
#20 West Texas A&M at #5 Midwestern State (Lone Star)
#6 Saint Cloud State at 6-3 Bemidji State (Northern Sun North)
#7 Winston-Salem State at 7-2 North Carolina-Pembroke
1-7 Pace at #10 New Haven (Northeast-10)
#11 West Virginia Wesleyan at 3-6 Charleston (WV) (WVIAC)
#12 Bloomsburg at #13 Kutztown (PSAC East)
#21 Albany State at 2-7 Fort Valley State (SIAC East)
#24 Wayne State (MI) at 7-2 Indianapolis
7-2 Minnesota State-Mankato at 3-6 Southwest Minnesota State (Northern Sun South)
7-2 Morehouse at 6-3 Kentucky State (SIAC East)
7-2 North Greenville at 6-3 Wingate
6-2 Ouachita Baptist at 2-6 Southeastern Oklahoma State (Great American)
1-8 Cheyney at 5-4 Long Island-C.W. Post (PSAC East)

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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Both divisions of the GLIAC race went HAM on us, while everywhere else things are steaming toward some sort of resolution.

#5 North Alabama at #23 West Alabama
#6 Minnesota-Duluth at #11 Saint Cloud State
#13 New Haven at 5-2 Merrimack
5-2 Saginaw Valley State at #15 Wayne State (MI)
#24 California (PA) at 5-2 Indiana (PA)
6-2 Indianapolis at 5-3 Ferris State
5-3 Findlay at 5-3 Ashland
5-3 Missouri S&T at 5-3 Urbana (GLFC title on the line)
5-3 Augustana (SD) at 6-2 Minnesota State-Mankato
5-3 Miles at 6-2 Stillman (de facto SIAC West title game)

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

The first Super Regional rankings of the year are out, and this is what the NCAA uses to determine the playoff field. I’ll note which teams are ranked in their Super Regional poll for each conference. At the end of the recap, I’ll also note who’d make the playoffs and what the pairings should be if the season ended today.

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Okay, I threatened you with a truncated recap, but you get a full one for D-II after all. We’ll see about D-III depending on how real life works today.

Three of the top six teams in the nation fell last week, causing a massive shakeup atop the poll. A division title was clinched on Saturday, the first title to be bestowed in this football season. And a quarterback you’ve probably never heard of had his second 500-yard passing day in a row. This week’s games to keep an eye on:

#3 Washburn at #6 Northwest Missouri State
#4 Pittsburg State at 5-2 Central Missouri
#10 Valdosta State at #1 Delta State
#9 Abilene Christian at #12 Midwestern State
#15 Humboldt State at 4-3 Western Oregon
#17 Wayne State (MI) at 5-2 Hillsdale
#18 West Virginia Wesleyan at 4-3 Glenville State (Glenville 4-0 in conference)
3-3 Lenoir-Rhyne at #21 Mars Hill (Mars Hill can potentially clinch the SAC title with a win)

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Last week’s chaos did not extend to this week, and what carnage there was in the poll took place either at the hands of higher-ranked teams or down at the bottom of the ladder… with one notable exception.

There will be carnage this week, though; several massive games this week, including the nation’s second 1v2 matchup of the fall, and we have our first potential title-clinching game of the season:

#2 Delta State at #1 North Alabama
#11 Colorado State-Pueblo at #4 Nebraska-Kearney
#6 Wayne State (MI) at 4-2 Ashland
#17 West Texas A&M at #10 Abilene Christian
#22 West Alabama at #12 Valdosta State
#13 Winston-Salem State at 1-5 Livingstone (WSSU clinches CIAA South with a win)
#14 California (PA) at 5-1 Slippery Rock
5-1 Fairmont State at #21 West Virginia Wesleyan
4-2 American International at #18 New Haven

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Who lost? Oh, #1, #3, #4, and #12 for good measure, shaking up the entire top half of the poll.

Only one game this week matches teams in the top 25, but several other ranked teams face major tests against dangerous foes:

#7 Northwest Missouri State at #19 Central Missouri
4-1 Colorado Mines at #11 Colorado State-Pueblo
#13 Valdosta State at 3-1 Ouachita Baptist
#14 Shepherd at 5-0 West Virginia Wesleyan
4-1 Minnesota State-Mankato at #17 Saint Cloud State
#21 New Haven at 4-1 Southern Connecticut State
4-1 Slippery Rock at #25 Edinboro

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Well, I’m just doing this for my own gratification now. It might be a good time to let me know you actually get some benefit out of this, before it goes away.  Cold hard facts: my pageviews are off 90% from last year (despite the fact that last year, I wasn’t even tweeting links to new content), and given the amount of spam comments I have to trash each day, I simply don’t know whether there’s anyone actually READING this thing outside of a couple of guys who want to contribute, and there’s not much point letting them proceed for no reason.

I don’t mean to be butthurt here; I can accept not providing value for your entertainment $0.00, I just really would like to know if I’m just wasting my time here.  I mean, I could be killing zombies or watching Justified or hanging out in a local dive bar instead of doing this, if it doesn’t matter to anyone.  Or, put another way, it’s not butthurt… it’s desperation.

To be fair, I could probably be doing a better job pimping myself, but it’s not in my nature.  So if you really give a crap about what I’m doing… help me out a little.  If you like it, retweet or otherwise pimp.  If you’re ambivalent, tell me why, tell me how I can improve.  If you hate the site… well, shit, if you hate the site you’re not even reading this anyway.

Oh… right.  Football.

Games to keep an eye on:
#15 Pittsburg State at #1 Northwest Missouri State
#25 Ouachita Baptist at #6 Delta State
#9 Wayne State (MI) at 3-1 Northern Michigan
3-1 Western Oregon at #11 Abilene Christian
#13 Albany State vs 3-1 Kentucky State (at Indianapolis)
#24 Hillsdale at 3-0 Saginaw Valley State
3-1 American International at 3-1 Bentley
3-1 Winona State at 3-1 Minnesota State-Mankato

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This week’s D-II preview will be truncated due to time issues; the upcoming games are not included in the post, but I will discuss the important ones. Next week, we should be on a proper schedule, especially since the realignment drama in FBS seems to have screeched to a halt. Last week, the reigning #1 fell, and five teams in the top 10 lost all told.
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