Well, let's take stock of what we have here this week. GNAC followers knew Simon Fraser, Dixie State and South Dakota Mines would take their lumps this year. SFU with the new coaching staff, Mines with the fact that the Hardrockers are still transitioning and Dixie has always been those teams that can pull off a surprise, maybe two, but doesn't see the top of the standings.

With the rest of the field, Humboldt State and Azusa Pacific are clearly tops in the GNAC with Western Oregon and Central Washington in their usual spots of "can't quite get there." You'll remember I picked the GNAC to shape up with Azusa, CWU, Humboldt and Western Oregon to finish 1-2-3-4 and it still could happen. To be honest, I need to flip-flop the Lumberjacks and Wildcats. On paper, the GNAC is still up for grabs, but momentum-wise, it's still APU's to lose, with Humboldt right there.

Let's talk about Azusa Pacific and Humboldt State for a moment, but branch out to a national perspective. Both have caught the attention of the nation with Azusa's big win over then-No. 2 Grand Valley and Humboldt's switch from an 0-11 team to a (up until last week) undefeated first half of the season. The Cougars and Lumberjacks are clearly the best two teams in the league as we head into this weekend and it's believable they could generate even more respect for themselves with playoff success. However, the NCAA Division II's Super Region 3 (which houses the GNAC, MIAA, NSIC and GAC) has been the dominate region for a handful of years now. In fact, D2football.com national columnist Bob Eblen this week decisively called it the best region in D2 and few can argue against it. National pollsters agree. In the D2football.com national poll (which has no bearing whatsoever on the regional rankings) the top four teams in the nation - Northwest Missouri, Minnesota State, Henderson State and Minnesota-Duluth - all call the SR3 home. Three more SR3 teams - Harding, Pittsburg State and Sioux Falls - are in the top 20. Losses could mount - Pitt State and NW Missouri play this week, Sioux Falls travels to Minnesota State in two weeks and Henderson State still plays at Harding and Ouachita Baptist - so the rankings will continue to take shape.

The playoffs only welcome the top six of each region (I'm not in the mood to discuss Earned Access today), so if Humboldt and Azusa want to be there, they need to win and need their out-of-conference opponents to win. For Humboldt, that means a 1-5 Texas A&M-Kingsville squad that just fired their coach needs to right the ship (my guess is the Javelinas won't). For Azusa, that means a 3-3 Grand Valley team needs to continue his rebound from an 0-3 start (my guess is the Lakers will).

With five more weeks left on the ol' schedule, there are too many variables to consider today. Give it another couple of weeks and fans will really start seeing some predictable scenarios.

Speaking of predictions, let's talk about this weekend's slate. Nothing really jumps out with "Game of the Week" credentials, so we'll start with the league leaders.

Azusa Pacific (2-0 GNAC, 5-1 overall) vs. Dixie State (0-2, 0-6)
This is the second time these teams have met this year and to be honest, I was a bit surprised how close the game was. No disrepect to Dixie State, but the fact that it was 21-20 in Azusa Pacific's favor at halftime with Dixie gaining the lead early in the third quarter was probably an eye opener for the Cougars who ended up with the 42-23 lead.

Azusa is rolling right now, winning four straight, including such a commanding victory over Humboldt State last week. Dixie is going the opposite direction with the points per game differential at 23 against the Red Storm.

I don't see this going in Dixie's favor at all and contrary to the first game, this won't be close. Azusa over Dixie, 40-17.

Central Washington (2-1, 3-3) vs. Western Oregon (1-0, 3-3)
Anyone smell revenge here? In game one, Western Oregon kept Central Washington's offense inconsistent at best, holding the Wildcats to just 19 yards on the ground on WOU's way to a 27-14 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Wildcat defense then stepped up, picking off two passes to take back to the house and Jake Nelson hooked up with Aaron McQuaid for a touchdown reception to storm back, only to watch as the Wolves' Jesse Correa split the uprights for a field goal with less than a minute on the clock for the 36-34 victory.

Central Washington has always been hit and miss with Western Oregon. The Wildcats are like clockwork a "hit" in Ellensburg and a "miss" on the road. Luckily for the 'Cats, they're playing in Ellensburg this weekend.

Jake Nelson has continued to mature under center for the 'Cats, whereas Western Oregon has made a quarterback change from Ryan Bergman to Trey Shimabukuro.

The Wildcats don't like to defend the run that well, but Western Oregon doesn't like to lead with the run on offense. Both have pretty decent passing attacks, but the jury is still out on WOU's mid-season switch. That and the fact that Western Oregon is jinxed in Ellensburg will sway this in CWU's favor, 33-20.

Simon Fraser (1-1, 1-5) vs. South Dakota Mines (0-2, 1-5)

Neither team here has had very much consistency in stopping the opposing offense and South Dakota Mines has done well in putting up huge offensive numbers for the stat sheet, with not very much to show for it on the all-important scoreboard.

We're going against the grain here, South Dakota Mines 33, Simon Fraser 24.