Pittsburg St. 24
Nebraska-Kearney 19rd quarter and, in a defensive battle where both teams finished with less than 270 yards of total offense, UNK could only muster another field goal in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin.

Northeastern St. 10
Central Missouri 54

The Mules jumped out to a 34-7 halftime lead and coasted to their fifth straight win. UCM dominated the Riverhawks in all three phases of the game, as the Mules outgained NSU 607-218, and had a 79 yard punt return TD by MIAA Special Teams POW Jaylen Zachary in the second quarter to go up 31-7.

Missouri Western St. 3
Emporia St. 17

If you would have told me that the Griffons would hold the Hornets to 17 points, I would have assumed the Hornets would have lost their homecoming game. Instead, the ESU defense, led by MIAA DPOW Kole Schankie, nearly blanked the Griffons, allowing only a field goal with 22 seconds left in the game (after MWSU had missed three earlier FGs). The Griffons could only muster 255 yards of offense behind third-string QB Nate Wilson in losing their second straight game.

Ft. Hays St. 24
Northwest Missouri St. 45

The Tigers had interceptions on their first two drives, the first one leading to a short touchdown drive and the second one being returned for a touchdown, putting the Tigers in a quick 14-0 hole. The Bearcats stuffed the #1 ranked FHSU rushing attack, holding the Tigers to just 67 total yards in the first half in building a 35-7 lead. The lone first half TD by the Tigers came on an 85 yard kick return by Daniel Lindsey. NWMSU RB Phil Jackson and MIAA OPOW QB Brady Bolles both had career-high days, rushing for 150 yards and 2 TDs, and passing for 329 yards and 3 TDs, respectively. The Bearcats remain unbeaten on the year and knocked the Tigers out of the playoff hunt.

Central Oklahoma 38
Washburn 27Lindenwood 34
Missouri Southern St. 30

The Battle of the Lions went to Lindenwood, scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 4:03 left in the game and held off MSSU on the last drive to take their second consecutive victory and hand MoSo their fifth straight setback. The Southern offense is starting to take off, as they rolled up 500 yards of total offense (368 passing and 132 rushing), but were doomed by not finishing drives, settling for field goals on their last three scoring drives.


First Set of Super Region 3 Regional Rankings Comes Out

Three MIAA teams found themselves in the first installment of the Division II regional rankings:

Rank Team (Region Record) (Overall Record)
  1. Northwest Missouri St. (8-0) (8-0)
  2. Humboldt St. (6-0) (6-1)
  3. Sioux Falls (7-1) (7-1)
  4. Henderson St. (7-1) (7-1)
  5. Emporia St. (7-1) (7-1)
  6. Minnesota St. (7-1) (7-1)
  7. Augustana (6-2) (6-2)
  8. Southwest Minnesota St. (6-2) (6-2)
  9. Minnesota-Duluth (6-2) (6-2)
  10. Central Missouri (6-2) (6-2)
2015-2016 Division II Football Championship Manual
Team In region W/L SOS Road Record Vs >.500
USF 7-1 0.526786 4-0 5-1
HSU 7-1 0.555060 4-0 4-1

The extra win over teams with winning records USF has must be enough to offset the sizeable advantage Henderson has in the SOS column.

Now looking at UCM, WOU, ATU, and HU:
Team In Region W/L SOS Road Record Vs. >.500
UCM 6-2 0.482887 3-1 2-2
WOU 4-2 0.527174 2-2 1-1
ATU 6-2 0.485119 2-2 2-2
HU 6-2 0.485119 3-1 2-2
When comparing UCM to WOU, similar to NWMSU/Humboldt, the Mules get the boost from the two extra in-region wins, as well as having an extra win in the last two columns. Comparing the Mules to ATU, UCM has the advantage on the road. So what about UCM vs. Harding? They have the exact same winning percentages across the board, and HU has a better SOS, so it seems that HU should be in the 10 spot over UCM. The only thing I can see the committee giving the nod to UCM is that their only losses are to teams with a combined record of 13-1, while HU has two losses to teams with a combined record of 10-4. But since that is not one of the criteria, I am at a loss as to why UCM is in the 10 spot.

Again, with three more game left for everyone to play, a lot can---and will---happen, but it is crystal clear that, with the lack of interleague play within the region, the selection committee is going to use more than just winning percentage and strength of schedule to determine the playoff field.


Halloween Rivalry Week in the MIAA

Every game in the league this week is between geographical rivals, which means it is going to be a little more difficult to get a good bead on each of the games. Records and stats will already put you on shaky ground when predicting games and rivalry games make it all that much worse.

#3 Northwest Missouri St. (8-0) at Missouri Western (4-4) 1PMrd down defense and are 4thCentral Oklahoma (3-5) at Northeastern St. (2-6) 1PM (Homecoming)ththth ranked offense, generating just a little bit over 300 yards per game. Still, NSU has faced the top defenses in the league already, so they should have a bit more success against the Broncho defense.

The last time UCO played at Doc Wadley stadium was the 2013 season finale, and the Riverhawks walked off their home field with a 45-38 victory. Since that game, however, UCO and NSU have gone on completely different trajectories, as NSU has only had two wins since then and UCO went to the Mineral Water Bowl last year. I expect the same kind of score, but I think the Bronchos offense will just be too much for the Riverhawk defense.

UCO 45
NSU 28

#18 Central Missouri (6-2) at Lindenwood (3-5) 1:30PMthWashburn (4-4) at #19 Emporia St. (7-1) 2PMthrdMissouri Southern St. (1-7) at Pittsburg St. (5-3) 2PMth against both the pass and the run, and are allowing a league-most 477 yards and 37.6 points per game. If the Lions want to go in and get a huge win to propel them into next year, they will have to make some stops.

The Gorillas are a very young team, but their talent level compared to a Southern team in transition is going to be too much for the Lions.

MSSU 10
PSU 35

Nebraska-Kearney (0-8) at Ft. Hays St. (5-3) 2:37PM
MIAA TV Game of the Weekst