And then there was one.
Despite the impassioned pleas of many for a very worthy Virginia State to also enter the field, it is the champion Winston-Salem State that solely carries the weight of the CIAA as we enter the playoff field. It is the time of the year where winners triumph on, and those who are unsuccessful loathly prepare for next season.WSSU enters the field as the 7th seed and makes the long journey up to Brookville, NY to play 2nd Seeded LIU-Post, one of three undefeated teams in Super Region 1.By now, you have heard of the many predictions, from National Columnist Bob Eblen to my NE-10 counterpart Paul Falewicz, all projecting a Pioneer.Statistical models such as Massey also predict that Post has a 89 percent chance of winning, highest of all the playoff participants.

Until now. For I too believe the Rams will pull off this win.But first, a small history lesson:

History lesson #1: The Rams and Pioneers are meeting for the first time ever. And yet, the Rams owe the Pioneers some payback.EA allows a team who is in the top 8 of the field and whose conference is not among the playoff contenders to bump out the lowest seeded team.

History lesson #2: Post played Virginia Union this year and won 14-12, a team that gave WSSU its worse loss of the season. Post last faced a CIAA team in the playoffs in 2014, when it was trounced by Virginia State.

So, why do I think the Rams will win?

Offensively: It would be easy to say that WSSU is a run first offense except that no one knows what Offensive Coordinator John Eder will throw at you. Moore is more of an option 1A to Hurse being option 1. WSSU tends to impose their will upon people in the second half of games and their offensive line has something to do with that.Post does tend to defend well in the redzone, something that seems to trip WSSU up, but lately WSSU has scored off big plays.Also refreshing is that WSSU does not tend to turn the ball over much, as Post tends to cash in off turnovers that gives the Pioneers a short field.WSSU is reliant upon QB Rod Tinsley to get the ball to his receivers occasionally to keep defenses honest, and he does deliver.Smart receivers like WR Will Walton and Canard Brown have developed quite the rapport with Tinsley.

Defensively: These teams are rather identical in a lot of ways. WSSU and LIU-Post both like to run and pass occasionally.I wonder if this is just the result of a change in playing style after being injured.WSSU tends to play a pretty good zone defense with its 4-2-5 setup, and pressuring the QB into mistakes has been critical for WSSU.I suspect that WSSU will have something similar for Post as they did for Bowie and their Pass-Happy attack.The Ram defense tends to crash down on inside runners, and teams have done more damage running outside than in.

Special teams/Intangibles: For many players on this relatively young team, this is their first time entering the high stakes playoffs.The Leg, senior Kicker/Punter Will Johnson, has been in clutch in several games over his career in both field goals and punts and can flip the field and/or improvise as needed.Canard Brown is particularly dangerous as a returner, something that was effectively used last week against Bowie.Games like that build character and the Rams have it.

How could it all go astray: Teams do not just luck up and run the table in the regular season. This game can get out control easily if WSSU cannot stay disciplined defensively.Again, Post is very effective in the redzone, scoring touchdowns on 70 percent of trips and scoring something 80 percent of all trips.More importantly, WSSU sometimes have trouble getting off the field on third down, and Post converts 49 percent of theirs.Defensively, the Pioneer secondary is filled with two ball hawks, NE-10 Defensive Player of the year DB Jared Chester and DB Joshua Flowers.Both have napped six interceptions apiece this year, and could spell WSSU trouble if they are creating turnovers.