Let's be honest, for Azusa Pacific to be 9-1 on the season, ranked 19th in the nation in this week's D2football.com poll, the outright GNAC champion and still be on the outside looking in for the playoffs, it's a slap in the face. It's reality and it's fair (yes, it's fair, given the parameters the NCAA has set), but it still hurts.

Let's take a look at these rankings for the 154th time this week:

1. Minnesota State
2. Ouachita Baptist
3. Minnesota Duluth
4. Pittsburg State
5. NW Missouri State
6. Harding
7. Sioux Falls
8. AZUSA PACIFIC
9. Henderson State
10. Central Oklahoma

Azusa Pacific and GNAC fans really need some help, but it's almost as though too much help can be a bad thing here. No. 4 Pittsburg State plays No. 10 Central Oklahoma. No. 2 Ouachita Baptist matches up against No. 9 Henderson State. Since Azusa's game on Saturday is a non-counter against NAIA Menlo College, a Henderson State win would probably help the Reddies catapult over Azusa, but conventional wisdom says Ouachita Baptist could fall completely out of the top six. In reality, NW Missouri, Harding, Sioux Falls and probably Henderson all have to lose. I would even go so far to say that in that specific instance, NW Missouri might drop just one spot to stay in the top six. All speculation. We'll know a lot more by 10 p.m. Saturday night.

My concern is that a potential 10-1 APU team will be mentioned in the same conversation as the 2011 Humboldt State squad. Both can do damage in the playoffs, both never made the playoffs. I'm getting ahead of myself in that there is plenty of football still to be played with a couple of great matchups in the region. But Azusa Pacific, it's fans and the GNAC as a whole needs some mojo tomorrow.

Let's get to the games.

Game of the Week
Azusa Pacific (9-1) vs. Menlo College (3-7)

Yes, Azusa is playing an NAIA team. Yes, the Cougars have already wrapped up the GNAC title for the second-straight year. But here's why this week's game is still the game of the week: The Cougars are still in the playoff hunt and Terrell Watson needs a big game to not only reach 2,000 yards in one season, but also claim the moniker as NCAA Division II's No. 1 rusher this year. Lake Erie's Anthony Bilal has 1,821 yards. Watson has 1,815 (Plus a certain GNAC blogger needs Watson to have a big game to win this year's D2football.com fantasy football league, but more on that at another time).

In all seriousness, there ain't no way Menlo College can contain not only Watson, but the Cougars in general. The Oaks lost 28-6 to Dixie State last month and no disrespect to Dixie, but the Cougars aren't the Red Storm.

One thing's going to happen, but there's two ways of getting there: Azusa's going to dominate. The Cougars will get there by keeping their starters and seniors on the field for much of the game since this could be it for them this year. If that's the case, the Cougar offensive line will open up Grand Canyon-wide holes for Watson to rumble through all day long on his way to 200-plus yards and four trips to the heee-ouse. Or, coach Santa Cruz will pull his starters early and have some of the reserves get playing time to whet their whistle for the 2015 season.

We're going to call this a 51-14 win for the Cougars...and hopefully momentum into the playoffs.

Simon Fraser (2-4 GNAC, 2-8 overall) vs. Central Washington (4-2, 6-4)
Will this be as blatant as the 63-7 victory Central Washington produced in the Battle for the Border. Probably not. Simon Fraser is at home and that might help the Clan to a few more points (or a few less for CWU), but it still doesn't look good for the Clan. Central Washington will improve to a respectable 7-4 on the season with a 42-14 victory in Burnaby.

Humboldt State (3-2, 7-2) vs. Dixie State (0-5, 1-9)
The same can be said for the Humboldt State/Dixie State challenge. This probably won't be close given the fact that HSU defeated DSU 50-3 in St. George. Humboldt is at home. Dixie is 1-9 on the season. Lumberjacks, 38-10.

South Dakota Mines (1-4, 2-8) vs. Western Oregon (3-2, 5-5)
We're going to see some offense here today. South Dakota Mines averages 482 yards per game. Western Oregon is the GNAC's No. 1 passing team (with SD Mines nearly identical actually). I see the Hardrockers making a game out of this. Yes, WOU is a bit more established, however, SD Mines can get you in the air and on the ground, whereas WOU is a bit one-dimensional, relying on his air attack. It won't be any stretch of the imagination though to see WOU's Ryan Bergman eclipse 400 yards in the air, given the fact that South Dakota Mines is last in the league in pass defense. We'll call this WOU, 37-20.