Looking back at 2016thth in the MIAA) could not overcome a highly inconsistent offense (10ththth worst defense in the country.

Missouri Southern State improved by a win over a year ago, finishing 2-9, but repeated as the team with the worst defense in the conference. Considering how poorly defense was in the MIAA this year, that was certainly something the Lions did not want to do, and they actually regressed from last year by 34 yards per game, making them the 6thHow My Preseason Predictions Ended Up
  1. No team will go undefeated in conference play.


Oops. In my defense, I expected the Bearcat offense to have a larger learning curve than they did this year with a new starting quarterback. Zimmerman was absolutely outstanding, and ended up finishing second in the voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy.

  1. The Mules will win at least a share of the title.


Wrong again. The Mules finished 3rd
  1. UCO will make the postseason for the second year in a row.


Like UCO this year, I started 0 for 3. Although if they had made the postseason this year it would have been for the third year in a row, the Bronchos did not come close to sniffing the post season.



I finally got one right, although the Tigers were only a win a way from keeping the streak alive.

  1. UNK wins at least 3 games.


Uh, no. The Lopers were very close to winning two games (with a 3OT loss to Washburn), but not three, losing every other game by double digits.

  1. Missouri Western and Washburn both finish with losing records for the first time since 1998.


Half right. MoWest had their worst season since 2004 to finish 4-7, but Washburn found a way to win seven games and made it to the Mineral Water Bowl.



Nope. Fugate had a very good year, but Zimmerman was even better. Same goes for the defensive side, as Sie Doe, Jr. clearly deserved the award over Bevins and Harris, ranking fourth in D2 in sacks.

  1. A team from the MIAA wins the Super Region


While the NSIC was not as good as I thought they might be going into this season and Harding ended up having a monster season in the GAC, the Bearcats were the class of the region again.

  1. Six different teams will be ranked in the top 25 at some point in their seasons.


So close. Five different teams were ranked in our poll this year, with NWMSU, ESU, and UCM all being ranked wire-to-wire, and both FHSU and PSU being ranked at some point during the season.



This one depends. Roderique finished 3rdFinal Thoughts of 2016