Guide to the 2015 Super Region 3 Regional Rankings and Playoffs

Introduction:
The D2 Regional Rankings for football can be relatively hard to follow. This column will attempt to simplify things a bit, if possible. I will warn you now,there will be math involved.

The Basics:
There are 4 Super Regions in D2 Football. In the past, six teams from each Super Region made the playoffs. Starting this fall, seven teams will qualify from each Super Region for a total of 28 post season teams. For the purpose of this column I'm focusing on Super Region 3 (SR3) and the 4 Conferences that comprise it.

Conferences: (map below)
GAC: Arkansas, Oklahoma. (royal blue on map)
GNAC: California, Utah, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, and Canada. (green on map, and South Dakota Mines)
MIAA: Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Kansas. (light brown on map)
NSIC: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. (pink on map)








Regional Rankings:
The Regional Rankings are the criteria used to determine the best 7 teams in region. This is not a poll and national polling has nothing to do with who makes the playoffs. In addition, winning one's conference has nothing to do with the playoffs. Margin of victory has no bearing on playoff selection.

Regional Ranking is determined by a teams winning percentage, strength of schedule, and opposition's strength of schedule. The formula is shown below..

(D2 winning percentage plus SOS) divided by 2

SOS = (OWP + OWP + OOWP) / 3thCurrent Regional Rankings (10/26/2015)
1. Northwest Missouri State (8-0)
2. Humboldt State (6-1)
3. Sioux Falls (7-1)
4. Henderson State (7-1)
5. Emporia State (7-1)
6. Mankato (7-1)
7. Augustana (6-2)
8. SMSU (6-2)
9. UMD (6-2)
10. Central Missouri (6-2)

Conference SOSEarned Access
EA is when a conference has a team in the Top 8, but not the Top 7Other criteriaWhat's it going to take to make the playoffs?
There is currently 1 unbeaten team in Super Region 3 and 5 teams with 1-loss. By the end of the regular season there can be no more than 5 teams at this 1-loss or better spot, due to head-to-head competition in the coming weeks. Go unbeaten or 1-loss and you will be in without a doubt, due to the math. This means there will be at least 2 teams that make the playoffs with 2 losses. This is much different than in 2014, when USF and APU were both left out of the playoffs despite only having 1 loss.

There are currently 7 teams with 2 losses in SR3. Considering the ups and downs of SOS, each team basically needs to win-out and hope the numbers work in their favor when all the smoke clears. Keep in mind, due to SOS changing weekly, a team might be #5 one week and then #7 the next, etc.

Who are the teams currently in the mix for a playoff spot?

Undefeated:
Northwest Missouri State - MIAA

1-loss teams:
Emporia State - MIAA
Mankato - NSIC
Sioux Falls - NSIC
Henderson State -GAC
Humboldt State - GNAC

2-loss teams:
Central Missouri - MIAA
Duluth - NSIC
Augustana - NSIC
Southwest MN State - NSIC
Arkansas Tech - GAC
Harding - GAC
Western Oregon - GNAC (has 3 losses, but 1 of those was against FCS Portland State which does not count for/against WOU for D2 playoff selection)

With 7 teams how does the seeding work? Who plays who?
In a 7 team regional tournament the top seed will get a bye. Here is the breakdown..
#5 at #4 (winner plays at #1 in round 2)
#7 at #2, #6 at #3 (winning teams play at the better seed in round 2)


Hope this breakdown helps a bit. Our other Columnists will also offer insight on this process, so feel free to check out their work on the topic as well.