After just three weeks of MIAA football, it's clear that Pittsburg State and Northwest Missouri are performing at a level a step above the rest of the conference.

Pitt's first-team offense STILL hasn't allowed a point in 3 lopsided victories and Northwest is shutting the door in the second half of games in impressive fashion.

"Hey," I can hear UCO fans saying. "What about us?"

Yeah, the Bronchos are an unexpected 3-0 and a firm lock in the 3rd slot at the Top of the conference, and I do like what they're doing, but it's just not at the level of the Gorillas and Bearcats.

As we move past the Top, into the Almosts and Not Quites, things start to get interesting. Or depressing. It depends on how you look at it.

We are a far cry from the heyday of the MIAA, when as many as six teams were either ranked or coulda/shoulda been. Instead, for the second week in a row, just Northwest and Pitt land in the AFCA Top 25. Before last week, at LEAST 3 MIAA teams were ranked in that poll every week since the final season poll of 2011.

Missouri Western remains ranked in the D2Football.com Top 25 for a 3rd MIAA team in that poll, but in my opinion, as you'll see below, isn't even the fourth-best team in the conference, as of yet.

So let's take a look at this week's Top, Almosts, Not-Quites and the Basement of the MIAA. Keep in mind, as always, my rankings reflect only what has been done this season TO DATE. I am not taking into consideration past years, number of playoff wins or appearances, or especially what I think may happen later this year. Another thing to keep in mind is that the TANQB is made up of four 3-team sub-sections of the MIAA. Two teams in any same sub-section aren't necessarily being considered equals.

Last week's TANQB rankings are in parentheses. The rankings listed in front of team names are the D2Football.com Top 25.

The Top

1. No. 8 Pittsburg State 3-0 (1) - Forget my MIAA rankings. This is my No. 1 team in the country. Hands down. I'd listen to an argument for Pueblo because of their win over a historically good FCS program (a convincing win on the road, at that), but not for ANY other team.

2. No. 1 Northwest Missouri 3-0 (2) - And yes, that includes Northwest Missouri. So yes, I'm saying the D2 and AFCA pollsters are ALL getting it wrong. Northwest's defense has been ALMOST as good as Pitt's, but their offense is hit and miss. If their D wasn't so dominant and/or they were playing another top-tier team, their miscues would have had them down by double-digits in the first half of last week's game against UCM.

3. Central Oklahoma 3-0 (3) - For the third straight week, UCO pulled off an upset and is positioning themselves among the rest of the Super Region 3 playoff contenders. Again, they're in the "Top" in these rankings, but for now, still a step below the teams above them. This week's home game against Northwest will go a long way in solidifying just how good this team is.

The Almosts

4. Fort Hays State 2-1 (9) - What a world we live in when Fort Hays is the No. 4 team in the MIAA power rankings. Remember, this isn't about how I think things will end up. The Tigers will drop as they get into the meat of their schedule, but to date, their only loss is to the No. 3 team in the rankings and while their competition hasn't been awesome, they've put up good numbers in their two victories.

5. No. 21 Missouri Western 2-1 (8) - I imagine some of you, especially the Griffon faithful out there, want MoWest ranked above Hays here, but let's look at this objectively. Their losses came against the same team. They both manhandled NSU. But Western still looked awful in their Week 1 victory over a (so-far) up-and-down UCM team. Throw in a 9-41 3rd-down conversion clip for the Griffs, and I'm happy with where I have them.

6. Central Missouri 1-2 (4) - I called them lame and they blew out Emporia. I sing their praises and they get crushed by Northwest (at least I got that prediction mostly right). I'd say we're beginning to see a pattern here, but too many of you have been reading me for long enough to know that this is nothing new.

The Not-Quites

7. Lindenwood 1-2 (6) - It's tough ranking all of these 1-2 teams, so I tried to look at who you've beaten so far. Based on what's happened, I'm not calling the Wood's win over Washburn great by any means, but it's better than the teams below them.

8. Emporia State 1-2 (5) - It's only getting tougher for the Hornets, who are all of a sudden looking like just another middle-of-the-pack MIAA team.

9. Washburn 1-2 (7) - Washburn hasn't had a complete game since... Well, they haven't. Not this year. Not the last 3 games last year. Yep, it's been a while.

The Basement

10. Missouri Southern 1-2 (10) - A win moves you up in a lot of polls. Not this one. Southern and Washburn beat the same bad UNK team, but WU's losses (Pitt & Lwood) BARELY outrank the Lions' (NW & ESU).

11. Nebraska-Kearney 0-3 (11) - Give Kearney some credit. They've been in contention at points this season.

12. Northeastern State 0-3 (12) - The Riverhawks, on the other hand, have not.

Sound off!!!

What do you think of my conference rankings? Which teams would you move up or down?

Leave me a comment below, get at me on Twitter @miAARONd2, hit me up on Facebook.com/apheintz or drop me a note at [email protected].