Playoffs!! What Playoffs

[Predatory Primates]

some of the dregs that don't belong there sure but the league isn't what it used to be

If you think about it, though, the MIAA was only super deep for a half dozen years or so.
Most of the 30 plus years I have been following it there have only been 1 to 2 really good teams per year.

What has changed is that even the middle of the pack teams can still jump up and bite a good team, whereas bitd, middle of the pack MIAA teams were about the caliber of the current NSU or Southern teams and didn't have much chance of beating a decent team.

[Predatory Primates]

Kearney went to the playoffs quite a few times when they were an RMAC team, but this is the first year they have been in the hunt this deep in the season in the MIAA.

[northwest missouri state]

If you think about it, though, the MIAA was only super deep for a half dozen years or so.
Most of the 30 plus years I have been following it there have only been 1 to 2 really good teams per year.

What has changed is that even the middle of the pack teams can still jump up and bite a good team, whereas bitd, middle of the pack MIAA teams were about the caliber of the current NSU or Southern teams and didn't have much chance of beating a decent team.

i agree with the first part

the second part....i think that's driven in large part by the top teams not being elite at this time. since the time i started following the league up until our most recent nc run which at this point was five years ago 1-2 schools in the league generally were nationally elite & since then none have been.

only pitt & nwms have proven capable of reaching that level. it's hard but the barriers to success that keep schools from getting there in d1a aren't present in d2 which is why you get schools like west florida who can come literally out of nowhere. point being the league will eventually produce another team of that caliber consistently & it could be anyone fully committed (lincoln's not doing it obviously). smart $ would be on nwms or pitt since they've done it before but really many of the others could - they won't b/c it isn't easy, but its not impossible like it is for half the schools in the SEC to win that league (for example).

[psugorilla]

it could be anyone fully committed (lincoln's not doing it obviously).

Off topic a bit but Mentioning Lincoln, I can't be the only person here who would love to see a OOC game between the 2 Lincolns can I?
Picture it: Nationally televised matchup between two schools who are among the worst teams and worst managed teams in the country over the last 15 years or so.
We call it the Lame Kitty Bowl Lincoln vs Lincoln.
LOL It would be glorious.

[boyblue]

Kearney went to the playoffs quite a few times when they were an RMAC team, but this is the first year they have been in the hunt this deep in the season in the MIAA.

Ok, well it's always good to come across a new contender, I'll be looking out for them this year

[Wallst]

Ok, well it's always goo to come across a new contender, I'll be looking out for them this year

One of the guys on this board, and he is correct, said their QB was hand crafted by God to run their offense. I don't think they have the firepower to make a deep playoff run, but they control the time of possession and execute well.

[Try II]

Off topic a bit but Mentioning Lincoln, I can't be the only person here who would love to see a OOC game between the 2 Lincolns can I?
Picture it: Nationally televised matchup between two schools who are among the worst teams and worst managed teams in the country over the last 15 years or so.
We call it the Lame Kitty Bowl Lincoln vs Lincoln.
LOL It would be glorious.

Played in Lincoln, Nebraska of course. But at a high school stadium ... fits both programs well.

[Predatory Primates]

Off topic a bit but Mentioning Lincoln, I can't be the only person here who would love to see a OOC game between the 2 Lincolns can I?
Picture it: Nationally televised matchup between two schools who are among the worst teams and worst managed teams in the country over the last 15 years or so.
We call it the Lame Kitty Bowl Lincoln vs Lincoln.
LOL It would be glorious.

I'm all for them playing each other 11 or 12 times every year.

[CatFan88]

One of the guys on this board, and he is correct, said their QB was hand crafted by God to run their offense. I don't think they have the firepower to make a deep playoff run, but they control the time of possession and execute well.

UNK doesn't have the defense for a deep run. Teams like Ferris St. and GVSU will shred them to nothing.

[Try II]

UNK doesn't have the defense for a deep run. Teams like Ferris St. and GVSU will shred them to nothing.

Considering they went 1-10 in 2016 and 0-11 in 2015 making the playoffs would be another nice step. "Deep runs" can come later, if ever. I mean how many programs haven taken a decade break from making the playoffs, suddenly pop back up and win a few games in December??

[Wallst]

my updated guesses after a wild week of college football regardless of division.

GLVC Lindenwood in the drivers seat after a nice W vs Indy. Win out and they are in. lose to SW Baptist and a 3 loss GLVC team backs into the playoffs. Truman only has 2 losses but still has to play Indy and has a L to Lindenwood. Indy has 3 losses including head to head vs Lindenwood.

GAC If Henderson State had taken care of business this would be easy, but they didn't. Harding, Henderson State, Ouachita, and Southeastern Oklahoma all only have 1L. SEO lost to Harding, beat Henderson, and plays Ouachita in the next to last game. Ouachita lost to Harding and still plays SEO and Henderson State the last two weeks of the year, thats a tough road. Harding, lost to SEO by one and beat Henderson State and Ouachita. They have what should be all winnable games left. Henderson State beats SEO, gets drilled by Harding and still has Ouachita left. I think Harding wins this simply based off remaining schedule with SEO/Henderson/Ouchita still with too many games between them to decide. SEO has a great chance if they beat Ouachita, loser of Henderson and Ouachita is probably eliminated.

GLIAC I know some other people want to throw Michigan Tech into the fray. They have Ferris State this week and Grand Valley the week after. Good luck with that. This is still a two conference bid with Ferris and Grand Valley. If Tech upsets one of them it could be interesting especially if Tech defeats Grand Valley.but since they already lost to them once by 23 I don't see it happening. Tech only has (1) D2 loss. their other loss was to FCS St. Thomas.

MIAA : Way to go NW. Mess it up for everyone and make it a complete cluster. NW, UNK, Washburn, Pitt. Probably in that order. NW still has to play UNK in two weeks and in a " I never thought I'd be writing this" moment they have to go on the road with a bad offense to play a good defense at MOSO who is improving week to week. If UNK gets past NW the conference is theirs. They own wins over Pitt and Washburn. UNK's defense is a little questionable as the season has gone on but they should make the playoffs. Pitt and Washburn meet in what could be a playoff eliminator on November 6th. Washburn has two games that should be fairly easy before then while Pitt has the harder road between the two. Will be interesting to see if Washburn plays Schurig at QB this week and next or if they can get by with their backup and try and get Schurig better for the Pitt game. Pitt has to take care of business and hope the cache of the MIAA gets them into the playoffs as the definite 3rd team in the MIAA since the top 2 will both own wins over Pitt. Another loss and Pitt is removed from this list. No Coach Beck, you cannot say no to bowls and wait on the playoff committee when you have 5 losses.

1. Ferris State
2. Harding They only lost to another contender by 1 and have the H2H over the other 2
3. UNK
4. Grand Valley
5. Henderson just due to H2H over SEO
6. NW how can you rank mighty NW lower than 1 loss GAC teams when we only have 1 loss? Fair question, I've watched you play, you almost lost to Pitt, and if NW doesn't have a better offensive day vs UNK this is where you would end up as a 2 loss team.
7. Lindenwood

1st out: SEO,
2nd out Washburn

Life Support : Pitt, Ouachita, Truman, Michigan Tech

Still not making a bowl:
UCM
Lincoln

[Wallst]

Very slight changes from the above. Everyone took care of business yesterday, some better than others, but having more points at the end of the day is what matters. SEO drops from 1st out to the last life support. They still have to play Ouachita and have 2 losses with three teams ahead of them with only 1 loss. No way GAC gets 4 in. Michigan Tech is eliminated.

So top 7 remain how I think they will end up.
1st out Washburn
2nd out Ouachita
3rd out Pitt
4th Truman

UCM loses their homecoming game and from what I heard will disband football and concentrate on bowling.

[LeftSider]

Very slight changes from the above. Everyone took care of business yesterday, some better than others, but having more points at the end of the day is what matters. SEO drops from 1st out to the last life support. They still have to play Ouachita and have 2 losses with three teams ahead of them with only 1 loss. No way GAC gets 4 in. Michigan Tech is eliminated.

So top 7 remain how I think they will end up.
1st out Washburn
2nd out Ouachita
3rd out Pitt
4th Truman

UCM loses their homecoming game and from what I heard will disband football and concentrate on bowling.

SEO is out, they will probably implode at this point like they have every year before. WHO?derson looks worse every week and Ouachita will win out. GAC is doing what the MIAA is, cannibalizing the league and making sure the regional rankings look like a huge question mark.

[boyblue]

SEO is out, they will probably implode at this point like they have every year before. WHO?derson looks worse every week and Ouachita will win out. GAC is doing what the MIAA is, cannibalizing the league and making sure the regional rankings look like a huge question mark.

It seems like we're all going through the same thing, I now realize after seeing that it's not just us in the GSC, cannibalization happens in all of the competitive conferences.

[Wallst]

SEO is out, they will probably implode at this point like they have every year before. WHO?derson looks worse every week and Ouachita will win out. GAC is doing what the MIAA is, cannibalizing the league and making sure the regional rankings look like a huge question mark.

I can only go off the final score, but Henderson definitely did not impress this past week. Ouachita and Henderson could very easily switch positions by the end of the year. the game in 2 weeks between Washburn and Pitt game is a playoff eliminator. Even then a 2 loss team especially if it's Pitt will have a tough time getting in since they will have lost to both MIAA teams in front of them.