D2 Middle of the Pack

Here we are 7 games into the season and we’ll get a look at the middle of the pack teams. These teams I expect to make the playoffs and could potentially make some noise depending upon the brackets.

CIAA

Virginia Union coached by lsusaint. I see that Elizabeth City currently sits at #9 in the WIS rankings but two games later in their schedule are likely losses to Winston-Salem State and Virginia Union. I think those two schools will be dueling it out for the conference title. VU currently sits at 33 but with some expected wins to follow they should be propelled into a mid-seed by seasons end. Oh, and his two losses are to very good teams (Winona St and St. Joseph’s). Could be a dangerous mid seed for an overachieving team in the playoffs.

Livingstone College coached by PSC43. A signature win in the non-conference play over Truman State was huge, followed by a couple losses to Central Arkansas and Virginia Union. Currently sitting on the outside of the playoffs and could need a win over WSSU to get some breathing room. They’re on a streak of 8 straight playoff appearances and I do think 9 is likely.

PSAC

West Chester coached by stamps. West Chester is a consistent playoff participant and season 131 will be no different. They played a couple of challenges versus strong competition (South Dakota and Humboldt State) and were drubbed. The Golden Rams have a couple of testers ahead of them the next two days against Indiana and Millersville. The second matchup versus Millersville will determine the East division representative of the PSAC.

Millersville is currently at #5 after getting through non-con unscathed with a couple of matchups against humans to determine seeding to see where they will be seeded. West Chester and Edinboro over the next two days are all that’s left. The roster is turning the corner after montourfalls left and gutted some key positions.

MIAA

Lock Haven coached by chrondon. Currently sitting at 19, there’s not much left on the schedule that can affect the seeding too positively, as there is one human between chron and the CC game and that’s a big one against Cheyney. Battled Henderson State very well so there is hope for a chance to do some damage from the mid to lower half of a playoff bracket, depending on how things shake out.

Cheyney coached by SchoolyMe. They are on a collision course with Lock Haven to see who will represent the MIAA south division. Today’s loss to Sim Emporia State hurt, but they’ve been competitive against strong foes this season in Tarleton St and Valdosta St. At 55 WIS there is a big hill to climb and cannot afford any missteps.

NE-10

Southern Connecticut State coached by huskers2010. After today’s pasting against mcbethbr at Stonehill, they dropped to 30 WIS. From here on out, there is one challenge and that is going up against Long Island, which sits at #13. It is a winnable game from either team’s perspective. The reward for the winner is a matchup with Stonehill.

Long Island coached by adbfl. Has cruised along thusfar this season with sims and a coach in their first year. Tomorrow will be a reality dose for Long Island, as they play Stonehill. Projecting out as a lower seed come playoff time and we will need to see where this teams stands as the competition increases.

SIAC

Tuskegee coached by bigkeithdog. Not quite in the upper tiers…yet, but is dangerously close. It’s fun to see teams rise from the ashes, or at least it is to me. Currently ranked at 7 with no fear of slipping too far, even if Saint Joseph’s gives them a CC pasting. Looking at an upper tier seed and therefore, a chance to advance deep.

GSC

Valdosta State coached by columbusbuck. Currently at 21 WIS. I was surprised at the outcome of game one versus Texas A&M-Kingsville, as it was an uncharacteristic result for VSU. Righted the ship against Cheyney. Could they pull off a second upset of HSU in three seasons to take charge in the conference? Still lots of potential wins but also pitfalls left when you have 4 humans remaining on the schedule.

LSC

Texas A&M-Kingsville coached by streiffman. Played an incredible out of conference schedule, facing Valdosta St, Truman St, Humboldt St and Millersville. A couple of those matchups slipped away late, but that does show that this team can compete and maybe move up a level. Conference play is smooth sailing until the CC game with likely opponent Tarleton State.

Tarleton State coached by AlekTx2001. This roster has a nice assembly of talent, mostly young which could prevent this team from doing some real damage. Let one slip away against Lock Haven early in the season. Very curious to see how this potential conference title matchup with TAMK shakes out. The LSC is assembling some teams that could become giants.

NSIC

West Virginia State coached by harriswb3. This is a fun looking team. Zero quarterbacks, yep you read that right, zero. During this season, they’ve dropped a couple against very good teams, St. Joseph’s and Winona State, so not a thing to be ashamed of. I wonder if the run game can put them too far behind the 8-ball in certain matchups, but this is an effective winning strategy.

West Liberty State coached by rs78rs78. Won the NSIC last season, which is one of D2’s better conferences, possibly my favorite as it is very competitive at the top. Coach rs78rs78 also pulled in the number two recruiting class, so they have capitalized on the build put together by the previous coach, hypnotoad. They were defeated in interdivisional play by Winona State. It would seem that the matchup with West Liberty State will determine which of those two play WS for the conference title.