August 27th, 2023 5:00pm
YouTube Auto-Generated Transcript:
[Music]
hello everybody and welcome to inside D2 football and our week one preview you
with Chris Ferguson Tony Nicollet Justin pizzy Matt wh Wiki and Chuck bidner I am Brandon Meisner again thank you for
being here with us tonight we're g to have a fun show it's going to be a little different than we're used to we have no games to talk about being played
uh so we are going to do some things that we've never done before last week we revealed the top 25 this week we're
going to predict what our selections are for the conference champ for every conference in division 2 uh we will also
look at the week one games and get our season pick them started and uh at the end of the show or near the end of the
show we will each rank in order what we think the top five conferences are in division two and how we came to those
conclusions and that should be a lively discussion so uh it should be a really
fun time tonight uh so again tonight we're going to start though with uh the conference predictions uh when I'm going
to share screen here in just a second and when you see that it's going to have all my predictions for all the
conferences uh I did that so that I wouldn't have to try to talk and type at the same time I have enough time talking
or hard enough time talking that typing and talking wasn't going to happen so you'll know my predictions but the other
guys will give theirs as we go along so let's go ahead and add that
screen and let's take them in order guys uh first conference is going to be the CIAA and I picked picked Virginia Union
as my Champion I thought that they had enough coming back um I thought that
they have the best player in the conference and there's no Chan to upset them this year so I picked them to win
uh the CIAA what were your thoughts Chuck uh I second you Virginia
Union ker do I have to put it out there should I wait for call yes yes you
do well I I I have to agree with you I think Virginia Union's probably got the
the leg up from what I've seen okay what about you Tony yeah I'm
with you Virginia Union all right man hopefully somebody else picks somebody
another team where we're gonna give them the kiss of death right don't bet on all right uh Justin what were your thoughts
I'm I'm with you guys I think Virginia Union what how about you well I do have
some surprises upcoming this one to me the biggest surprise was how the the coaches in the
conference kind of did them dirty and didn't say hav winning the conference so I really think that this is going to be
a little bit of a battlecry for them going forward about disrespect I got a Virginia
Union well I'd like to apologize to the Panthers right now the Broncos are gonna win
now all right uh let's move on to the GAC uh I picked Harding uh I think uh
they're headed in the right direction they are the program in the GAC and they
have a lot of guys coming back and I think they're going to be a formidable opponent this year Chuck what are your
thoughts I agree Brandon I have Harding as well um you know the GAC has been a pretty deep race the last couple years
but I think you're still looking at the top three teams watching all Harding and and I think Henderson State's going to be in the mix this year as well
but with the defense that Harding has and that tough running game I have the Bison Chris what about you I'm gonna go
watch here okay pH all right
Tony I think I'm gonna stick with Harding on this one Brandon um just
feeling like the the physicality that they bring uh as just in their style of
play is gonna I think they've had to bring some guys along and I think they're going to be at that point of
taking the next step this year um yeah to me when I I mean I know East Central had a good season last year Henderson
had a good season of course Wasa ran the table even South even Southeast had a good season and something tells me
Harding is gonna be back at the front of things at the end of the year okay very good uh Justin what are your thoughts
what's your opinion I'm gonna stay with uh with Harding as well I think they're
uh in Prime position to to uh win the conference again here in
2023 and uh Whit you know what I like Henderson State coming on this year
wouldn't be surprised if they were the runner up in the league uh that said a little bit
concerned about watah and TJ Cole being gone love Harding you guys already heard
me last week talking about them uh I have them in the top 10 in my in my top 25 certainly have them
here so what are your thoughts on is that bad
loss that was suffered at the in the first round of the playoffs is that lingering in all of our brains is that
why we all have these thoughts you think I think there's something to that okay okay yeah but it's different it's
different when you're going against like Northwest and and versus the rest of the
GAC like that's just two different levels and and watah has you know been
very very consistent playing at that high level um in the GAC so I think you
kind of have to ignore that playoff piece because it's just different in conference way well to Harding's defense
they they've they've played with Northwest I mean they you know they
Northwest has has had has gotten them but they've also had where it came down last play of the game and another game
where Northwest looked like they were going to have a hard time with them and Northwest kind of took off late in the
game so I I I think Harding is shown much better on the national stage okay
right hold hold did Harley Harding make the playoffs last year if we're gonna use that that law
that you're bringing out there Ferg this sounds like a side bet with you and I for for a Dairy
Queen you have I have Harding and when we next see each other you will owe me a
Dairy Queen I hear you spor Brandon he's not talking to
many he's going large on that one all right uh the gak um honestly for me this this
was a very close decision um at the end what flip
my decision and I'm not a Personnel guy I think the college football coaches are experts at replacing players they do it
all the time so it's not like uh the NFL where if you lose some star it's a big deal uh having said that uh
I believe that Grand Valley lost just a couple of guys that they could have retained there's a coaching change there
and FIS State we found out that they were had a couple guys who were granted an extra year late in the process and I
think that's going to be too much and I think they will repeat as Champs in the gak uh Chuck you know I think it's kind
of easy to to forget or Overlook that Grand Valley actually is the defending champion in the GL because obviously you
know Ferris won the big prize so we we remember that that obviously carries more weight but uh I think Grand Valley
actually can repeat um let's be honest you know I think Sagen is a very good football team uh I think Davenport's a
very good football team but this league in all likelihood comes down to the matchup on October 14th and that meeting
is in lber Stadium at Grand Valley so I carry that a little bit of weight with that as well I'm going with the Lakers
to repeat very good all right Chris what are your thoughts man this is really
tough because we're really only talking about two teams I mean no disrespect to the to the rest of the league which is a
very good League by the way we'll talk about that later but this this is very hard because Grant
Valley has so much coming back too I mean and especially in key positions but man Ferris just finds a way to have so
much death and and sustainability year after year and and where's the game this
year is it at isn't it at Ferris it's I'll take R Valley then I'll take R
Valley all right very good all right Tony I'm sure this is
this one's exciting you go ahead hey I I have been
to I don't think I've missed a game between these two schools in I I couldn't tell you the last time and
other than the playoff game a couple of years ago
um that was pretty one-sided the games are all you know typically a couple of
Point deals um so I mean realistically it's it's
yeah I mean how do you how do you pick it I just I I think I have to I think I'm
with Brandon on the fact that the least amount of unknown variables reside in at
Ferris there just there are changes and things that had to be addressed at Grand Valley that Ferris hasn't had to deal
with this year until we know you know how those changes impact
things I mean honestly Tony I think you know the loss of for for Kine and and
the receiver that's that's a big deal you know those are two potential impact players and then uh they got olao back
did Ferris right at the end of the summer those are things that kind of flipped those no they did and but I mean
look you can't underestimate I mean Ferris did lose their best player I mean let's let's let's let's not Overlook
that I mean Murphy was you know that's very true too it's hard to overcome that
I I just I again and I and I I know that the players that Grand
Valley lost were important but you know Ferris lost one of their best guys to the portal as well I I don't know I just
to me there just there are just fewer variables with Ferris at this point and I and I mean and I could talk myself all
the way back around to the other side of it which is you know it's it's at Grand Valley they got you know everybody back
mostly on the offensive line most of the defense is back I mean it's I mean flip a coin yeah well hey that's what makes
that fun I mean we need we need more things like that in in the deuce uh Justin what are your thoughts so you
both bring up really really good points and when you look at it yeah Fair State brings brings people back but I think
HomeField Advantage can carry a lot of weight and so with it being at Grand Valley it I think you said Brandon flip
a coin and and that's really who's going to win this thing I think it's going to come down to that game but you know everybody talks about being a head
coaching change can sometimes be difficult I think a head coaching change might might just you know spark some of
the juices and change some stuff up and so I'm gonna take Grand Valley at home
to win that game and Conference both the road teams won last year just exact I'm saying the
same true Whit what are your thoughts when I take a look at the fact that they've uh Ferris ads in a a defensive
back who's on our Elite 100 team a d tackle who's on our Elite 100 team and
they bring back as much as they are we didn't think they were and then they really are uh I think this is a better
roster this year for Ferris I'm gonna take Ferris to to win it and I I think
maybe they uh they they're they're clearcut in my opinion no very good all right moving on
to the glvc uh I picked indan indanapolis uh with all due respect to
the other teams I thought they're the best program and I did I thought the addition of John Lewis will allow them
to play football in a style that they're very comfortable with and I thought that was a big addition and I think that will give them the edge over Truman
State well to a a lesser extent it's the same conversation that we just had with Grand Valley and Ferris it's a it's a
two- Team league and no disrespect to all the competitors in that League it comes down to Indianapolis and Truman
State for me um both teams bring a lot back a lot I was very very tempted to go
with Truman State they have almost their whole offense back they have an experienced quarterback who's heading into his fourth year as a starter most
of the defense is back I was really tempted to take Truman but I'm going to go with you Indy I think that the depth
that they have added at a few key positions puts them over the top for me all right Chris everything Chuck said
except that I'm going with Truman all right
Tony I agree with everything that Chuck said I agree with everything that Chris
said I until till Truman does it I I I I gotta see it
first okay and Coach po what's up foure
starter at quarterback taking Truman State okay and
Whit uh I like I'm impressed by the fact that we have this many people going with Truman uh I do as well and I think for
the same reasons everybody else is mentioning they bring back quite a bit um defense is the same as most of it lot
from a year ago also they just missed the playoffs last season and I think that they're hungry I think they make
the playoffs this year trumman State very good all right uh the gmacc this is one of two
conferences I had the most trouble with uh I went with tiffen I'm not absolutely
confident about it I just thought that they had the most that was the same that they were the fewest amount of changes
um it's the last one I would bet on the winner so I'm this is the one I'm not
very comfortable with Chuck what are your thoughts on that yeah with good reason you're not very comfortable I could make a case for four teams in this
right and just for some context there you know that the great Midwest has had five different champions in the last six
years so you know we're not going to get a national champion out of this league but it's a very competive itive League
within itself um I'm actually going with Finley in the great Midwest um I think
that they had a pretty good year last year following up on their conference Championship the year before uh what I
really like is the way the schedule sets up for them um they have a really tough opener against Truman State I think
Truman probably gets that one but then they really don't face anyone else that's probably going to be a winning
team maybe Hillsdale has a good year uh we'll see but they don't play Ohio
Dominic Ashen and tiffen until the last three weeks of the season so if they have some depth if they can stay relatively healthy Peak at the right
time I like the Oilers right uh what about you Chris Ohio
Dominican all right Tony man pardon me wants to do ashin
just so that I can be unique to everybody after the way we talked about
them last week though well that's what I was gonna follow up with I was kind of leading the charge with boy they got a
lot of question marks they probably over rank you know that whole thing no no matter what we're picking up we're all
picking former gak teams yeah how do you argue that
um I you know I I am actually gonna go tiffen in this one I just think they're
do okay which is the antithesis of what I said above until I see Truman Indian
but you know whatever that's what makes this fun right contradict myself all damn night uh what about you Justin H
I'm gonna I'm gonna take Finley okay wh oh man remember when Ashlin hated on
me last year and now not one of us are gonna pick Ashlin here they're gonna hate on all of us okay just you they
could not hate they could not hate us any more than we already hate ourselves well and and Brandon and Tony I'm
unhappy with you two specifically because I thought I sniffed something out here with tiffan and no one else was
G to touch this 35 points a game a solid defense last year uh They're bringing
back you know a really nice wide out you know playmaker I'm taking tiffen and I'm
unhappy with some of the rest of you who did too all right all right uh my thought
process on the Gul South chose obviously Delta State as you see
right there I thought they had the most coming back I
there's little transition there and they performed well last year I just to me
there's some good programs there and for a second I thought about some of the others but to me it's Delta State Chuck
same Brandon I'm going Delta State um it certainly won't surprise me if it's West Florida the talent level there is
extremely high I think West Georgia is really angry at after you know having a really good season a year ago but yeah
and having the experienced quarterback coaching staff and the the size of their offensive line uh I'm going Delta State
okay Ferg yeah this is a really tough one because again we're down to two teams
like we have been in Prior conferences and and uh I I think with West Florida
you're you're certainly asking a lot out of a firste coach despite the talent level um and so you know Delta state is
the trendy pick but I I kind of do like Delta here
okay Tony yeah it's it starts and ends with Patrick shog for me guys uh when the
best quarterback in the League's on your team you got an advantage y yep Justin so I I think this is not as
clearcut as maybe I thought it was when we started and what I mean by that is I think I think West Georgia is angry uh
about missing out in the playoffs last year I think West Florida has a ton of talent ultimately I think the team
that's going to win it is Delta State but I don't think it's as clear cut as we think it is and there's a sleeper to me and it's and it's West Alabama um I
think they're gonna be a tough out for a lot of teams this year but I I I'm going with Delta State to
repeat okay Whit well well
well so you guys have cleared the runway for me you know I was kind of in between on
this one because I have concerns about Delta State Lo losing some of their top offensive players um losing some of
their top Defenders to best lineman in the league and I have some concerns about
West Florida as well just the uncertainty of a new coach and and everything that goes along with that but
now that I see this West Florida May this that's for sure for me now because
now I know if I get this one right all the rest of you don't so I like
that all right very good good L good a safe pick yeah oh was a coin flip so
there you go all right in the Lone Star I picked Angelo State uh the reason I
did is I I'm not confident in Angelo State this year I think there are way too many questions at least questions to
me maybe there are maybe those questions don't exist within the program uh they do to me but I thought the golf was too
much to overcome it's there was too big of a gap between Angelo and a team like
West Texas you know having a great first year uh under Josh Lynn um something to
that effect Kingsville taking the next step so I went with Angelo State so I think the Lone Star could
either be really really wide open this year or Angelo is just gonna run the table again I really don't know which
way it's going to go um I'm going with Angelo State as well simply because they're a known quantity uh over the
last couple years and yes they did lose a lot in the portal but their systems been really good their defense is outstanding and I really don't know what
to make of the rest of the the Lone Star you know I think central Washington's a great program you know it's it's
difficult to to compete in that League long term so we'll see heading into a second year with them and after that I I
really don't even know who a third place fourth place team is in that League um so I'm going to go with the known entity
and and pck Angelo State okay and let's go with
Chris the Lone Star is really really difficult too for I mean because you
know you have Kingsville that's out there um but I'm a little concerned
about well how much offense do they truly have West Texas is seems to be kind of young uh Midwestern has question
marks on offense um premum basing I mean maybe
they can make some noise um but you know in cases like this I think you go the
known quantity and I think you start off with Angelo okay uh Tony in cases like this
you go with a known quantity unless you're trying to mess with wit at which point you pick Texas
peran Basin all right very good
Justin
[Laughter] well let's go west Texas all right
nice that's fun all right Whit you're uh all my speaking points you pretty much
took on this one um I have the same concerns that you do that Angelo's probably not the team they were a year
ago but I don't see a next team ready to unseed them
um you know I I I I think if if we were looking at Central Washington I think they have a lot of good things in place
I'm just not sure if they're you know G to be good enough uh in the passing game
uh I think they will be able to run the ball and the play defense um otherwise I I'm having a hard
time really believing that somebody's gonna beat Angelo uh Kingsville is probably gonna be the best chance to be
consistent but I got to go Angelo here okay in the MIAA I went with Pittsburgh
state uh for you know to me there's a lot of echo of what was going on in the gak um I believe uh pit Northwest would
have been the other team I picked between uh I think pit state did enough uh to maintain that small Edge and I
like where their program's heading so I picked the gorillas to win the mighta well Brandon this screenshots going to
be on the Northwest Missouri hype video a few weeks from now has been calling
you out calling you out and uh and when that hype video drops then they can drop
the sound bite of me saying I like Northwest Missouri to win the [Music]
MIAA okay Chris you know I I'm kind of looking at this dark horse in uh central
Oklahoma but I I I'm just a little too afraid to pick them right now so um I'm
gonna go with Northwest as well I think they do have a lot of pieces to to make a run okay
Tony so I'm with Chris I'm with Chris in that uh
central Oklahoma is extremely interesting I I mean is Emporia State gonna drop that far off or are they
gonna take a step forward I I don't know I to me if heny plays the whole year and
plays like he did at the in the spots that he did at the end of the year I don't see anybody beating
Northwest okay Justin first I'm gonna go with Northwest
West Second that is Brandon Meisner d2.com
brandner after they get done creating the video about how you're not in the foxo with them and everything else but
good news for me the young man who creates those videos transferred to Kansas State and is doing the same thing
for them so maybe maybe they will not their videos what's that he's got you in
their videos too that's how influential I am yes about to say what did you say
about somebody in that conference um so guys uh pit State's the
answer here what I mean what are we doing um pit pit state is got too much
defense uh I'm a little concerned with Northwest up front defensively I'm not
sure that they are convincing me they still they have enough Firepower offensively to be better than Pit I I
like pit here and you know who you know some mentioned Emporia don't be
shocked if they somehow won this conference this year I think you should be shocked all
right MEC I went with uh
Concord uh honestly this comes back to mangle coming back that we had no clue
about I had that was completely surprised a week ago to find out that's why I selected them uh Chuck uh well
I've known about that for a long time I guess you don't talk to me often enough Brandon but um but uh mangle top Target
Jared Bowie is not there uh so that's definitely a factor and they they have head coaching changes there as well I
think concord's a great pick but uh I'm gonna stick with Notre Dame they've won this league five years in a row uh they
are the team to beat now they they lost their starting quarterback Chris brim he finally graduated so there's a change
there but they was a big deal looking defense fair enough fair enough that's a very big deal uh but I'm sticking with
the Falcons okay fer Concord because I'm riding with them
on my fantasy team this year all right Tony and we were talking about these
guys I think a little bit before the show uh I'm thinking Frostburg State uh
I think uh they've been kind of plotting their way along here and in their first season of Eligibility they want to make
a splash and try and make it to the dance so they're going all in they've been a great addition to two in these
early stages that really happy to have them Justin well Tony took my thunder because
that's who I was gonna pick but uh no I I think I think Tony
you kind of Hit the we be right together no I think you hit the nail on the head though I think they you know they when they when they transitioned uh their
first year at D2 they would have won the league if they if they were eligible and uh I I think they're they've got
themselves in a great position and I think they're going to make a run at it and I think they're going to be compe comptitive in in the league for for
quite a few years I mean they're not going anywhere right wh what are your thoughts well hav't heard all that from Justin
I'm instantly re-evaluating my
[Music]
frosturus it was a difficult decision it was between uh assumption and New
Haven um literally is flip of a coin for me not literally but uh it was it was TR
truly felt like a flip of a coin I went with assumption uh returning champs yeah
it it's close between assumption and New Haven the coach's poll went with New Haven but it's it's very close uh but
I'm with you Brandon I'm gonna I'm gonna go with assumption okay perk New Haven okay
and Tony well given their the gleak tie here
I'm G to have to go with the the fighting Brian Kelly's and take
assumption uh Justin Whit who are you picking so make sure I get this one right no I'm just kidding uh I'm gonna
I'm gonna take New Haven yeah all right what do you think Whit
yeah there we go um you know assumptions defense top five nationally a year ago
um I you know they bring back a dual threat quarterback who I think is going to be the guy and um I I like assumption
here they did they had the you know he their leading passer and rusher you know he's
back at and the know the only thing that the only thing that was I was hesitant about is they won so many close games
you wonder if that can be duplicated so that that was one of the things that I
thought was a potential red flag um the northern sun was a little tougher than I
thought in fact I started out with Mano Minnesota state and then convinced
myself that b miji had enough coming back that they were going to win the conference plus I was also heavily
influenced by the broadcast of nsic weekly with Tom Frederick and Matt with
Wiki so I went with bidi state that was smooth yeah I uh I prefer the uh the
audio version of that show the uh video didn't do much for me but um just CU everybody's getting a chance
to see what Tom looks like I've uh I went on a little bit of a securious journey there too Brandon I I
started with beiji then leading towards Mano but I'm back on board with piji
State I I we know what their offense looks like Brandon Al's back I really like how far they've come on defense in
the last couple years uh have a a nice addition at running back as well so I'm going with the Beavers
okay what you thinking Chris as Whit would say that'll be enough and that'll be enough for the B
State love I'm gonna go with M here all [Music]
right all right Tony not enough love for me yet Chris I
gotta go back and jump on the bandwagon with the guys and get be miji
unacceptable all right po you thinking
bigi go beeses all right and Whit well this will be on a bulle board tomorrow morning
um by the way Brandon your spelling been mid you differently this week I've noticed hey file spelled
correctly screenshot say hey least got the file name correct you know thank God beiji wasn't on the opening last week
but anyway um I will take uh bigi as well uh um I I just like everything that
they're returning man K's got a few question marks as to you know making sure they get everything fill in
defensively um but I wouldn't be shocked if Minnesota state were to forge their
way ahead they've done it so many times exactly all right in the
psac I picked uh the reigning psac Champion iup I think honestly I think
cars Hunter is going to make iup uh the most interesting that they've been
in a very long time because of his unique skill set and it's something different for them and I think it's
going to be fun to watch and and kind of see how that plays out so anyway I was most excited about them and I picked
iup yeah you know Brandon the uh the known quantity at quarterback typically carries a lot of weight with me and
slippy Rock has everything but a known quantity at quarterback uh but I am
going with the rock I think they have a just a tremendous system in place they bring back almost everything except a
starting quarterback uh and I'm going with slippy Rock to win the P okay all right
Chris to me this is like three teams and neither of those teams are Shephard
which is like really interesting to show like how big Tyson bent like matters
there um to to me the three teams is iup slippy Rock and cown and I think cown
always gets forgotten they do in they thought but because because they're not they're not fancy they just play solid
football that's why they it always happens you know right right right so I just wanted to show them a little love
because I don't think I'd be surprised if anybody picks them but they're there um but to me I think that um the staff
at slippy Rock always finds a way to get a good quarterback to run their system I don't know how they do it they do um but
they do and uh and I like them over iup so give me the Rock and I'll throw you a
little extra love there Ferg because if it comes down to Slippery Rock and Kutztown because they are in different divisions and they have a conference
Championship Game Kutztown has had a lot of success against Slippery Rock yeah
okay uh Tony excellent segue Chuck my goodness
uh see to me to me Kutztown lost a couple of games last year that they shouldn't have and I just I I think
they're going to write that this year so give me the give me give me a coach down all right
Justin so a couple things I've learned on this show particularly is Chuck Nobody Knows the pack better than Chuck
for sure however every time I pick against iup I lose so I'm gonna take
iupp so curses wh your thoughts foiled again
uh well you covered we covered all the bases before we got to you yeah yeah I know uh I I actually like I like the
words being talked about with Kon I think that's you I think they're going to be a hard-nosed team and they're
gonna be a handful this year I don't think there is a clear number one um in the peace act this year um and like the
others I just have a hard time Shepard's having to replace so many guys
offensively especially that I'm really concerned um I I like what iup is going
I like cars Hunter there I think he gives him a little shot in the to I'll take iup all
right um in the armac I picked uh CSU Pablo for a couple
of reasons I thought it was fun uh you know just for the same reason wi thinks
a lot of these things are fun uh I also thought that Phil V Hills doing some
interesting things with their program uh that's certainly the case and they play
mines in peblo tough place to play the armac and that is why I chose the
Thunder wolves to win the arm this year well I was very tempted to do exactly that Brandon but I'm sticking
with the defending champs mines um at the end of last season and through the
whole off season I was a little cool on mines you know I kind of had them towards the back end of my top 10 not
closer to top five and the closer we get to the start of the season the more I see about every everything that they've
got coming back I actually think the coaching change there could actually be a positive for them and I think mines
continues this um at least for another year I think PBO is going to close the gap to them a lot but I'm going to stick
with mines okay uh Chris yeah I gotta go at mines as well I
I think that they just you know another school that finds a way to sort of reload uh rather than rebuild and and
and they've got some pretty big pieces there so I I like mines um before pbl
right now Brandon I'm really glad how well you thought through all the abbreviations before we did this so that that that floats smoothly he's he's
keeping me on my toes Chuck I don't know what he's gonna do [Laughter]
next uh Tony colam mines is that not not to be confused with colon blow is that
what we're here where do we go there everybody's got to be old like me
to get that one um I I'm sticking with mindes here guys I'm
going back into the till I see it uh you know I'm I'm I'm rolling with it but I I
think Chuck coined it very well I think peblo is gonna take a step forward and close the gap um but I I also want to
say too that you know there are a lot of these conferences that we've kind of Whitted down that they're pretty much two team races that's not I mean mes is
no joke I mean there's some good teams in the arac I mean it's not like it's a cakewalk for either Pueblo or mines
they're gonna have to go out and win some games but I I still think mines is the favorite until I see otherwise all right
Justin well when you when you go at the back end of this thing you guys pretty much cover everything so I'm going with
the guys Colorado of mindes okay and
wh I think Pueblo is good enough to beat everybody else in the armac and I think
that they hard not enough and I think by that time their offensive weapons will be getting going
uh I'm going to take peblo and a surprise here uh in this
one okay um in the South Atlantic
conference I picked Lenor Ry obviously and honestly this is just a gut feeling
pick by me I I whenever I do things I always like to have some kind of metric
or really write stuff down from for me it's just a gut feeling it it just feels like they're headed in the right direction they got enough good players
coming back like impact players you can have a lot of returners and it it be
largely meaningless because they're just average players they've got great players coming back and I just feel like
it's time for Mike Jacob it it he'll get his system going and I think that they're going to ascend to the top of
the South Atlantic conference I agree Brandon uh for all the same reasons I think this is you
know mind are r Lenor Ryan has been very good under Mike Jacobs but they haven't been the elite team that they were the
couple years before that I think this is the year that everything comes together with that system and the talent that's
in place um I think that from a roster standpoint they're they're probably quite a bit better than any other team
in the league at least heading into the season I think they have a little bit more depth as well so I I think that
they are the team to beat okay uh
Chris well one team I will not be picking is Windgate I think they've lost
quite a bit offense I think defense I think they're going to be pretty solid
um players on D yeah yeah yeah that defense is the truth um but I'm gonna go
with Limestone here I'm gonna go a little bit different direction than
do right Tony I am playing the Brandon Meisner gut card here and taking taking
Newberry okay
Justin so better not get this one wrong what's that so better not get this one
wrong careful now I know no I think I think you guys make a lot of really really good points I think for me uh I
think Lenor Ryan has enough Playmakers coming back and they have a lot of tough games on the road this year they're at
winggate they're at Newberry and they're at Limestone um and so but I I think Lenor Ryan is is set up right now if
they can stay healthy to to win the conference Championship but don't sleep on Limestone they're going to be a tough out Chris I think you're right on that
but but I I'm I'm gonna go with Leno Ryan in this one okay
Whit I really like wingit and um I was kind of torn here but I just
think Leno Ryan's got too many stars coming back that you know as you kind of alluded to and uh I I think it's kind of
their time now all right all right and in the
siac this was one that I had a lot of difficulty with because I thought it
could go a number of different ways uh in my heart you know I kind of wanted to
go with Tuskegee because I I've always liked them I've seen them play in person the people were great people you know so
there's always kind of a love for them that doesn't Factor any any of this though and in spite of the fact that
they lost Phoenix uh Fort Valley lost their quarterback as well but I just
went with Benedict um I thought you know they they had a great season last year and I think they'll repeat it again this
year I'm gonna go I'm gonna go Fort Valley State now they did lose their
bcal running back and that's a a big deal for them but uh the the rest of the team they have coming back looks pretty
solid I think they've got the uh the quarterback that's projected to be the the Sak U you offensive player of the
year um really good team they were kind of On The Fringe of the playoffs as a lot of teams in in Region 2 were a year
ago uh that opener against Tuskegee is going to tell us a lot but um I'm going for
Valley uh Chris you stole all my thunder here um I was going with for Valley as
well um here okay uh
Tony Tuskegee uh Justin
Benedict and wh you get the last word that's how it should be
um you know I thought Benedict Was going to be F I didn't hear that it's probably
better that way um because he sucked all the air out of the room
uh Benedict seems like such an obvious pick here uh but at the same time I'm
I'm just concerned I don't think they're going to be as battle tested I'd like Fort Valley um you know Kelvin Durham my
quarterback real good dual threat guy then he's got corinthus Edmonds or
receiver I just kind of like some of those guys they're returning I think it's their time all right very good well
there you have it everybody um we will uh review this at the end of the year
and see how we do um do you guys think this this might have been the longest segment in the history of segments we've
done it wasn't and we weren't wasting a lot of time either you're exactly right
it's a lot of picks though yeah is it is so uh yeah so anyway we we'll pick that
up uh and look at that at the end of the year do you guys think that was harder to pick the games individually each week
or the conference Champion games games okay that's why
that's what I thought too that's what I thought too there's there's so many variables with who ends up winning a championship that I don't put I wasn't
putting too much pressure on myself to try to get that right that's that's that's true too and um and you're not
also you know it's it's a generalist decision versus a specific
you know it's just I agree that's that was what I my thought was too with that it was easier to pick this than it was
to pick uh to pick games so yeah um well that is the end of segment one
and I want to go ahead and uh uh again thank boss pizza and chicken for uh
coming uh online as a sponsor supporting us uh this year we talked a lot about
them last year um or last uh last show and uh really happy to have them on
board and really want to uh thank them for uh for what they're doing for us
having said that a little reluctant to put images of food on the show because
I'm a little worried that Matt might be distracted and uh yeah yeah yeah what
what what were we talking about exactly so uh but uh you know boss has pizza chick
chicken that's that is the best is picking up right there yeah picking up right there yeah yes so
I need to find out what flavor that is because that's yummy I would eat it without even knowing what flavor it was
well that that's I mean you know with all due respect to bosses uh I think you would do that with a lot of food so uh
one thing to watch out for we we joke about being fat which is also the truth
um but Matt and I are going to take the challenge and we are going to try uh to
eat this pizza so what you know these two dudes tell us tell me about these two dudes well I don't know them but um
they are they yeah they uh they are they travel all across the country and they
go ahead and they do eating competitions and things of that sort that doesn't mean that Brandon and I are all of the
sudden going to be a road show very Sim to that although I'm sure you would all find that very entertaining um I
thoughted um Instead at the end of September when sou Falls and Augusta
meet for the key to the city game we're gonna stop by and maybe even do like a
live uh thing out from bosses where uh our fearless
leader and myself we will be trying to take down this 28 inch piz
in less than an hour I'm sure there'll be all kinds of side bets on it and everything um I have been practicing I
just thought I'd put that out there um so I've been buying Pizza folding in a
half Justin's already shaking his head like there's some disbelief like you like I wouldn't do that uh so and I
found out that when I fold it in a half I can do work so Brandon we're gonna
need for you to practice a little bit more because I'm I've been practicing a few days a week and I'm getting I feel
like I'm going to be in game shape by the time it's the end of September well I'm in some shape but it's usually round
so just a reminder guys uh go to the website they are looking to expand into
what I would call the Midwest but you guys up there we probably call it lower Midwest or whatever um think of the MIAA
and the territories down here they're kind of a an upper Midwest uh organization go to their website and in
the upper right hand corner there's a link for franchises uh put in your
information if you're interested in this make sure that you tell them that uh let
them know that you heard about them from us so uh again we uh really support
their uh their support of us which helps us do things uh and bring this show to
amongst other things to you guys so again wanted to say thank you to uh boss's pizza and chicken and Brandon you
know what if somebody opens up a franchise you and I will come try the go go eat there sometime that there you go
hey that's a hell idea that that ought to make you do the purchase just by itself I think if they open up a
franchise will force Tony and Chuck to go there and try to eat the pizza well will there be a a me will there be a
meet and greet can people maybe do photos with you like a photo op or like a book signing kind of a thing there
there will be autographs of course you know I just want to know if Wht is gonna wear the hat that that that the little
logo has pull that logo back up well I'll be wearing my Bear's hat there what
are you talking about no I know you have that one I think you get one of those little hat the little chef
hat oh Brandon lot of lot of side chatter here from the uh peanut gallery
all right well Wht would like to reassert his dominance so let's talk about this
week's games uh the uh didn't a lot of
games this year or this week Brendon did I win didn't I win last year I have no clue do we even keep track it felt like
I won I I my thought was that that simply
existed for trash talking is the only reason we do the pick thems so um let's
look at these uh look at these uh games look at the undercard first uh
frostberry uh opener with uh to some teams that got some picks there in our uh our projections for Conference
champions um remember that's in regions so definitely something that could be a factor by the time we get to the playoff
season with Mountain East and and Northeast 10 favorites facing off also the first ever home night game for New
Haven on the blue Turf so that'll be a pretty cool thing for them all right um Albany State is at
wingit yeah there's a lot of intrigue with this game um a lot that has to be
figured out on offense for wingit and uh you know Albany is is is a little bit of a mystery um under a new coach um so uh
probably going to go with uh Windgate who's been a bit of a thorn in the side of many HBCU in the last couple
years all right Northern State of bidi State yeah Northern State returns uh two
top receivers uh in the northern Sun along with really good defense from a
year ago so I'm I'm curious to see if they're going to test piji right out of the gate uh hard not to to like piji
here but an interesting game to keep an an eye on nonetheless all right Angelo State is at
West Alabama wasburn will travel to Pittsburgh state and Minnesota state is
that sou Falls yeah that's a game I'm going to be going to uh since I live in sou Falls here naturally and uh a lot of
story lines here defensive coordinator from us or from Mano goes to uh to USF
and uh first you know first game of the year they they play each other um certainly in Mano is Minnesota State's
the fa uh but you know I would I wouldn't count on Who falls in this okay uh Limestone
we mentioned them traveling to West Georgia who is also mentioned yeah it's a big game between
the sack and and the Gulf South I think Limestone you know got some questions at quarterback but they return a lot West
Georgia at home obviously a little disgruntled with how things went last year so I think this is a this is a
exciting game particularly for week one on Thursday night so I'm looking forward to watching this one right uh what we got do I don't know
this is going to have playoff implication guys but I think this could be a preview for the playoffs down the road well it would have last year for
sure um East Central is going to play at Henderson State that will be interesting
Winona State an extremely interesting game versus Sagen Valley Matt W Wiki
welcome to non-conference games oh it's beautiful thing uh you know we also got
in the northern Sun Northern Michigan traveling to duth but uh in looking at
this one here week one um I really I I like Winona State's defense I think
they're going to travel well uh I need to see that they're going to have enough offense to win this game I think Sagen
sagov Valley is still a favorite on the road but very interesting game
okay well else we got Ashland and iup wow we've talked a lot about both the
last two weeks Ashland starting this season exactly where they ended last year remember they met in the playoffs
and iupp kind of got away in that one didn't really play their best ball Ashen really had a chance to win that game I
think IEP comes into this season quite a bit further ahead of Ashlin just because of you know some turnover and some
changes um in the Ashlin program so I think iup is a a pretty heavy favorite
this one but I think it's the first of a four-year deal so these teams are going to get really familiar with each
other all right uh Nebraska Carney is at UCO Hillsdale will play at Indianapolis
and Midwestern State going to face CSU pbl yeah you know Midwestern is
certainly an opponent that has a lot to a lot of question marks right but at the
same time they tend to be very well prepared and and well coached so this is going to be really a really interesting
game um because and you got you know chance Fuller Adrien stto and and Reggie
ratl over at peplo that's got um some new faces as well so this has got a lot
of intrigue to it okay uh Kutztown is that assumption yeah these two teams
have a lot of history with each other this has almost become like a pseudo conference game I I believe it's the eighth year in a row that they've opened
the season against each other uh Kutztown won the first three in that series assumption won the next three
it's been a little bit back and forth and the last two in the series have both been shutouts uh including last year's
really bizarre three to nothing win for assumption so I have no idea what we're in for this year but it should be pretty
interesting right and uh undercard is rounded out with Westchester
Bentley Brandon this is one that I find kind of interesting I almost almost took
Westchester to be a big upset winner in the from at the conference standpoint in
the psac they bring back a whole lot on that football team um probably a pretty
even in game here but if Westchester is on the rise this year you heard it here first or maybe maybe you read it in my
column no I I Chuck I don't Chuck I didn't read your did did you remember to include
Westchester chuck all right yeah they're they're in there inside jokes folks all right let's
uh let's move on to the pickham and uh look at what games we
have Southeastern Oklahoma uh Southern Arkansas that's on a Thursday Grand Valley Colorado Mines
That's Thursday as well that's probably the Marquee game of the weekend uh Truman State is at Finley on Saturday
West Texas at Western Colorado on Saturday and Fort Valley is at Tuskegee on Sunday and again uh the pickham we
don't the the main reason the games are selected in the pickham are twofold they
have to be interesting and we have to think or I have to think that there's a going to be a 50-50 split
in the vote it's no fun to pick games where you think one team is going to win
so let's start out with uh um Southeastern Oklahoma at Southern
Arkansas and I'm going to start and take them in order that I see him on the
screen so Tony you're gonna go first yeah so Southeast is coming off a pretty decent season last year um and for as
much as the mule Riders is one of my favorite uh mascots in all of division two I just see them going in the wrong
direction based on where they've gone the last couple of years so I I think uh Southeast Oklahoma gets their conference
season off on a good start okay all right and
Whit I like some of the Firepower that Southern Arkansas returns offensively
I'm taking him in this game okay I would
have this is to me clearly 50/50 I'm going to go with Southeastern in this
one though uh who we got next Chuck uh two of the best running backs in the country country in this game um and I am
going to go with Southern Arkansas I think that the uh I think the MU Riders have a really goodlook team and I think
that they are going to potentially be a big uh big surprise in the GAC this year
all right uh Ferg what you got South Eastern all right good job FK uh Justin
Southern Arkansas ah boo all right let's look at Grand Valley at Colorado Mines
you know what let's let's do that one even though it's Thursday let's do that one last uh Truman State at Finley what
you go first well for the same reason I think Truman State makes the playoffs uh I
also liking like them winning week one uh with Finley all right I am going to pick them
to win as well the Bulldogs will win uh Chuck well I like Finley to win the great Midwest but in this matchup uh
this early in the season I like Truman State okay uh
Chris Truman uh uh oh
Justin I'm gonna go Finley oh thank you I consider everybody picks the same
team uh Tony what you got buddy man that's like that's like sitting at the blackjack table with a 12 against a two
and you're like man somebody better take a damn card right yeah I'll roll I'll roll coach po I'll I'll
take the Oilers as well I'll go former gak all right very good
uh all right West Texas at Western Colorado that game is
Saturday I am gonna go with West Texas I'm really excited to see what Josh Lyn
will do there so I'm gonna go with the Buffs Chuck um I have a lot of questions about
both teams um um I really like the future yeah I really like the future at
West Texas but I think that they're pretty young this year um I'm GNA go with Western Colorado Okay K
Ferg WT all right uh Justin West
Texas that's what I'm talking about all right Tony you notice that he's been giving
accolades to people who just Pat him on the fanny and take the same team he did kind of nonsense is that okay so no
Fanny pattent for me I'll take Western Colorado you that's your loss buddy all
right uh wh so be it I feel like Western Colorado is probably more the smart pick
so I'm gonna take West Texas and uh I I you know I take a look at the fact that
um I I think it's gonna be harder for people to figure out exactly what West Texas is right away um I don't think
they're going to be exactly the same offensively as they were Carney TJ davidon there and stuff like that so I
feel like they they have a little advantage in this game I'll take West Texas all right so let's uh look
at um the next game is going to be Fort Valley at Tuskegee we'll be watching it
as we prepare for the show what a great uh great game to open up the season for
both teams yeah uh Chuck well I went in with Fort Valley to
to win the Sak this year so I need him to take this game for me so okay I'm going Fort Valley right fer Fort Valley
right for Valley yeah yeah okay you already knew all right
Justin Fort Valley okay I will go with them as well um wh
well certainly there's a little bit of you know bleed over from the the conference pick as to where we go on
this one uh I like Fort Valley in this one but I think it's a real good game and I'm interested to watch it on Sunday
all right maybe we'll start the show early just live stream it and talk over it uh and uh uh Tony what you got well I
could I could subscribe or or try and emulate the Matt Whit Wiki D2 football
cavalcade and and and and then predict Tuskegee will
run the table from there to win the conference but uh no give me give me the golden Tigers to get the season off on
the right foot all right awesome all right now let's go ahead and pick the
last game which will be on Thursday Grand Valley is at Colorado Mines we're
gonna start with Ferg wow what a doozy um gr Valle is
returning the trip this year um well mines looks good in a lot of ways but
Grand Valley and and really that league is just on a different level um I I think Grand Valley is is gonna win this
game okay
Justin yeah I I really don't know but I would say
Grand Valley for everything you just said Ferg I mean they're just not that that conference is on a different level
all right Whit first off who do you guys think Massie has favored in this
game over an hour probably probably has Fort Hayes
winning this [Laughter] game correct well which team played
Northwest last year Grand Valley so Grand Valley's favorite of course because by the you
know the properties thing did you guys know that Northwest is ranked number one according to to Massie preseason just
throw that little out there yeah anyway go ahead a other news what's
what um man I want to take mines in this game I really do but I just have too
much faith in the defense of Grand Valley okay um man this is a tough
one uh for me as well two firsttime head coaches that's interesting how often do
you get two programs this good with first year head coaches true to open a season that's that's insane
um I'm gonna go with the Lakers though okay Chuck all right I guess I'll go I'll be
the one to go against the grain here a little bit and I I showed my love for Grand Valley I pick them to uh to win
the gak and I think that they will but I think going into Golden Colorado to beat
mines on Thursday night with the team that they have in place the Harland Hill winner and John Mata
I'm going with the or diggers okay and Tony you get the last
word well um I think mes has a lot more guys back
than maybe we all thought they could have back um and there a lot of that you know coid stuff that seems to still be
um impacting things but Zan didn't come back and I don't believe armandas did either and those are two really key guys
on their offense uh that they're going to be without and they had a major impact on helping John makoka do the
things that he did um and Grand Valley's
defense uh you know the Scuttle butt is it may be better than was last year I guess we'll see that on the field um but
uh I'm gonna go with Grand Valley but yeah doing that on the road at altitude all those other fun things it's it's not
going to be easy um I don't know at the same time being at that game last year I I don't feel like Grand Valley played
their best game and I wonder if if you know they're g go out and try and do that for their new coach I guess we'll
find out but yeah I'll take the Lakers even though it's a uh kind of falling in
line with everybody else or most everybody else all right there you go well we we'll uh ridicule each other
about this next week when we find out who uh uh who won and who lost uh we
next subject or next topic will be the favorite of the message board over the
last 20 years 25 years however long it's been now what is the best conference in
division 2 we will rank them one through five or 5 to one when we come
back just wanted to take this opportunity to thank those who have supported D2 football this year D2
football is free but it isn't cheap your support helps offset our expenses and allows us to expand our
coverage if you like what we're doing please consider supporting supporting us visit d2.com
ssupport or if you want to do it the oldfashioned way click contact on the website to find our mailing address but
again thank you for supporting D2 [Music]
football all right well welcome back to the time in which everybody either Tunes
out or a thousand people come in I don't know what it's going to be but uh we're going to discuss uh the the topic that
comes up every stinking year and Tony you're you're an old old vet of D2
football you know that this subject is is a conversation every year where some clown will think five teams in his
conference are top five and and uh everybody else in the world stinks so uh
before we get this started and we really haven't like done any discussion or prep or anything for this we I thought it was
it was important that we kind of figured out and talked about how you measure
individually how strong a conference is um let's take
this in uh we'll start with wit and go in uh
clockwise as I see it wit go ahead and start please H how do you measure what are your criteria for to measure a
conference versus the others I I think it's very challenging because I think there's a few the thing things that
immediately come to mind for me are how how do since we have such you know a
small sample size of out of conference games with the top teams playing each
other um certainly we have to take each one of those games as a pretty precious
thing you know when we see those contests especially with the top squads
now does that mean that your conference strength is only defined by how your
best team is in your conference that doesn't seem probably right either so I
think it also comes down to the other side which is is let's say we took your conference and went one through eight or
whatever you have and how would you fair one through eight against the next conference right next door so I think
it's a combination of those two that's kind of what I see myself um Tony would
like uh you know I'm referring to you because you're pretty kind of Veteran
guy here been around E2 longer than I have what what are your thoughts as to a
way to f fure this out
well there is I mean obviously there's no axiomatic way to do it um if there
were you know the playoff teams that get selected every year would be would be you know far more accurate than maybe we
all seem to think that they are and we'd AR argue less about it and what have you
um certainly out of conference is is is part of what you would use or at least
some sort of a frame of reference but I think you've got it nailed that that the the the sample size is so small and
that's due in part to the fact that uh everything's so regionalized right I
mean let's face it last year at the end of the year I don't think there was a whole lot of argument that Grand Valley
Ferris pit State and Northwest were all what top seven top eight one could argue
top five and they're all the same re so you don't even see in the playoffs
when the elite teams are getting deeper into the field they don't play each other really until the final four and
it's really hard to gauge well what happens at that point now you know I've I've had a lot of people on The Message
Board want to argue to the to Kingdom Come about how um one Region's better
than the other and one's not but I mean you got to look at the the kind of the elephant in the room in that piece of the deal is that okay super region one
hasn't ever I don't think they've ever won a title have they at least not since Grand Valley was in it um
so but I mean is that sample size really legitimate I mean they're only getting one shot at a team or two shots at a
team every year and now you're basically painting a brush with that includes you
know multiple conferences I I don't know if those guys are any good or not and I don't know there's part of me that that
wants to argue in a bunch of different ways and and doesn't care and then another our part It's like I got to vote in the poll so I got to use whatever
biases that I have um and I don't know I mean at least in the last couple of
years it certainly seems like teams from the uh MIAA and the gak and maybe the
the Gulf South and a little lesser extent the Lone Star seem to have the physicality on can't can't foret the
arac I mean those tend to be the ones that have risen further up but I again that's more my own eye test than
anything and that I guess ultimately with that's really what I try to use I try to use as much ey test as I can but
that's completely subjective that's my opinion and I think ultimately that's what it comes down to is you know
everybody's going to have their own opinion and do you get a consensus where like at least the guys in this panel for
example do we all tend to agree that our opinions kind of St to a line or you you
know how do how do you resolve something like that F fer what are your thoughts
buddy well when you look at a conference as a
whole you have to look at all the teams in the conference great point and I think that it's really important to not
look necessarily at the top of the conference but the middle because I
think the middle of the conference sort of represents how strong your conference is as a whole so when you look at you
know some of these conferences that are very topheavy how okay you kind of see
how they may shape up against the rest of the league but it's really the middle because the middle is the one that
really determines the strength of schedule in my opinion can the middle of the conference win out of conference can
they win you know and give some of those teams at the top of the conference to run for their money and you know maybe
it's a one score two- score kind of game um to me I think I think it's the middle
of the conference that would determine the strength of the conference to me Justin what are your thoughts I agree
with a lot of what Ferg said except I think it's that bottom level of the conference you know what I mean like so yeah you have your top teams and and
it's a kind of what you said Ferg you know is that that middle but how tough is the bottom of your conference right like are they getting you are they a
tough out and if the answer is yes if you know if if anybody could win in any given week then then that's a pretty Dam
good conference and typically like you said you got your one or two teams maybe three teams that are the top Echelon
teams but then you might have four through eight four through 10 that might be the how close are they and how tough
are they um because I think typically when you start looking at you talk about the transit schedule and T and and are
they a tough out week to week you know if you start have teams that are beating each other up and if the bottom level of that
conference is pretty strong and the and the middle to bottom of that conference is is competitive and they're a tough place to play and they're you know
they're tough on the schedule they they do maybe they don't win against a one and two in that conference but they're beating the two or the three or the four
in another conference I think I think that's to me where you're what you're looking at because everybody's got those
one or two teams that are really good right but it's really where does that two through whatever where where where
does that stack up and I think that's to me that's a metric of of a good conference and when you start looking at
like when I coached in in the conferences you start looking at like where where do you fit and but you start
looking at those those games right like those those games that you don't really pay attention to that don't make it on the show but what are you doing in those
games and how are those how tough are those games I think is a is a pretty big metric for me on on a conference
so do you guys feel like um if we're going to try and cap think about okay how much what kind of time frame are we
thinking about for maybe data or comparative results you guys think with
within the last five to 10 years is probably about reasonable given the fact
that there's changes that occur over the maybe 10 years is that fair I I think
that's important to to do that because I or to to set that criteria or at least in your thinking uh because I was going
to make fun of uh Matt because he said uh he was pulling out Wayne State's
appearance in the northern Michigan National Championship Happ division
two is 50 years old which means it's the same agees me which means if you or your
program's National Championship was when I was born it's not very relevant today
and uh I I do agree Matt that like it I I always View
the strength of a program in both a fiveyear and a 10year
window I thought a fiveyear window because that's when uh four fiveyear
window because that's when uh kids are are paying attention a little bit they get to high school they're looking at uh
recruiting maybe moving on to the next level although you know we all know that
kids are paying attention to Bama not Bentley you know so that there could be
uh you know a little little inaccurate that could be a wrong way to look at it but I think that it is true that there
needs to be some kind of time frame in your thought process otherwise we don't
want to talk about you know any schools Champion chips as an influence you know
I I talk about it all the time with about the the the residue of history and
how I still have to guard right today
thinking about programs who were great when I first started the website versus today and that's hard to do so I think
you know when you do that you have to be you have to be aware of that that potential bias and try to not let that
influence your decision because if if we're going to talk about history it's going to be the northern Sun I'm Excuse
me NCC or the Gul South that's gonna be the argument and everybody else can just
you know leave the room uh that's not the argument today though well and on top of that too brand I mean
let's you got to keep in mind that stuff changes right so yeah if we're talking about things from 50 years ago things
have changed since then I mean even 25 years ago I mean hey one of the paths
that the gleak had to getting to where they are now was the pack because there
was a stretch of time in the 80s and 90s where gak teams would get to the
playoffs and they couldn't beat pack teams they just couldn't do it and over
the last handful of years you don't know how competitive that is because I think Wayne State and Sagen might be the only
two teams I can think of that have actually played Pak teams in the Ashland a little bit but I mean back when they
were still in the gak but I mean and those games you know they've gak has fared better but you haven't seen the
top face the top in a playoff type format to really know other than I think maybe Grand Valley and Shepard and I
don't even know was Shepard still in the Mec at that point um or the WIC yeah or the wiyak yeah excuse
me so I mean uh you know so I mean is is you don't know if it's different you
know me you know stuff has changed you know the level of ball at the playoff level in the gak is has changed don't
know if how it measures up against the the Pennsylvania League I I mean I think a lot of folks might have opinions about
it but we can't we can't verify it fer Ferg let me let me ask you if I
could if we were going to kind of start off and look at okay who who is who is your five and what order would you have
them in so I had to write these down and I thought it there's just a lot number
five I think is the hardest one um and I would say that probably number five
probably will be the Lone Star but you know I debated between the Lone Star the P act the South Atlantic um and the
armac there um so that's kind of a tough one um number four the
nsic uh number three the Gulf South uh number two the the the
gak and the Ami will be number one so who you who do you have is four
and five F the northern sun is four okay
and the Lone Star is five okay now now Justin how would you see it buddy
one and two is difficult to me because I think it's it's the G the gleak or or
the MIAA I mean it's it's just kind of it's a coin toss to me up there and that
like Ferg you were saying the five I think it's the one and the two uh that I think is is pretty difficult um I I
think
number three I think it would be the northern
Sun four would be the gulf and five Lone Star or the the armac
probably did you pick between the MIAA and the gak crap no I didn't uh I was
just going to say something um you must choose your
destiny I'm gonna take the uh gosh the gak
okay interesting who do you want to go next Whit uh Tony you go
next so to me yeah I mean it's a coin flip
MIAA and act and I I think I'll put the MIAA one for
the exact thing that I wish I had said earlier that kfg said which is um you
know if I look at the middle teams like if if I see Central Missouri or Missouri
West Tech I don't I don't know if I'm picking tech and and and and you know Tech is
is always got really good teams they execute they play well they could play physical um but I don't know if they're
going to beat Missouri Western same thing with a Wayne State Wayne State's always super physical um ask any team in
the league what kind of guys they have and and the physicality of those teams but can they hang with a middle of the road MIAA team I don't know I don't know
um I think three is Gulf South for me and then I struggle at four or five and
maybe even down to six the same way I do it one two where I think the northern Sun the armac the Lone Star and the pack
all start to kind of you know you could you could make cases you know uh one way or another for
for any of them okay so pick and
order you gonna make me okay so MIAA gak GF
South um it's four five or like I'm I'm gonna
go I'm going to go Lone Star armac but
I right it's a no it's so close there it
is absolutely close there's like a group of close and then another group of close you know well and that proves I think
that goes to what I was saying earlier though too because like I think I think 10 years ago the northern Sun would have
been higher on that list for all of us well with duth and Mano merging right
yeah for sure all right uh Whit do you want to go last or do you want me to go last I I'll have
last word it always seems to work out best that way okay you always have the answers for the test um you know whenever this argument
or this discussion has happened over a number of years the way I have always looked at it is this it it Whit has
often talked about you know one versus one two versus two so on and so forth who would win that obviously can't work
out because some conferences have 16 some have eight some have 10 whatever it doesn't matter but
my thought process has always been if you took the top eight because most teams have most conferences have eight
and you put everybody's gonna play 10 games so there there might be some wins that are accomplished out of conference
but if you took the top eight in a conference and play you know they played each other then that is uh a
one way the way I've kind of always measured it so honestly my list came out exactly the
way fergs did I had the MIAA the gag the Gulf South the northern sun and then the
Lone Star Okay the reason I came to that conclusion is that if you look at the
top eight in the MIAA versus the gak and that was the tough that was the tough
choice there because I have ultimate respect for the style everything that the gak does uh my thought was one game
one gleak wins game two gak wins but then when like kind of like Tony said
once we get to the third game does it flip and like right now I kind of feel like it does Tony would you say Saga or
Davenport was the third best team in the gak last year for me it was sagov Valley even
though even though the the standings didn't bear that out okay so I I would if you're talking about empor versus
Sagen I consider that a toss up but if it was Emporia versus Davenport I would
pick Emporia and so but even then that would be like maybe a five to three so
that was that was my my rationale in determining or or picking the MIAA the
best right now um is that the the gak would would win the first two but the
MIAA would likely win uh the next five in my imaginary scenario um thought
clearly the the Gulf South was the next having said that it would not the gak
MIAA and GF South are always three of the conferences that are
in the discussion for the best and it would take nothing for that to flip to
the Gulf South where it's better than both leagues in one year because they could you know bring in the right coach
and the right players and all of a sudden you know they're kicking they're kicking butt all over the place and
nobody can stop them and and that that would not surpris me either but I feel like right now uh they were third uh I
put the northern sun over the Lone Star uh I think uh there's too much the nsic
has more depth right now and that was the way I came to those
conclusions I uh I went back and forth on and I think for me there it's a it's a pretty clear top three and for
everybody who wasn't aware why are we having this conversation if you watch the media days for the a lot of the main
conferences across the landscape we were hearing a lot of and we have been for
years well we play in the top conference in division two well that's kind of what made us feel like we need to have this
conversation right now so when I look at this I land with the MIAA number one by
the smallest of margins my cons each one of the each one of the conferences has a little bit of a hole and that is that
Northwest has kind of carried the flag for for the MIAA in this last 10 years
um there really hasn't been a team who's had a great deal of postseason success that wasn't them in this last 10 years
so that's that's a bit of a concern right there however they have in my opinion more depth across the board and
I think that's what Brandon was getting at a moment ago um the next one I have
is the golf South now those May and I know the gak F folks are getting ready to throw rocks at me here's why I say
this so we're looking at a 10-year window valasa has won what twice yeah um West Florida's won a title we're talking
about Delta State this year we've talked about West Georgia before there's a lot of teams that are are ones that are
Front Runners not just another team in there and so that's kind of why I and
not to mention unaa you know they played a national title game as recent as what 16 so for me una or I was almost at the
point where was going to move the golf South up to number one but I think that
with una gone and valasta needing to reassert themselves and not be in there
just yet I think that dropped them down just enough for me to have them at two
then I think you know my fear with the gleak is you know if you take a look um
you know fah State's won a few titles here in the last few years Grand Valley hasn't won you know in the recent window
um and if I take a further look I'm just not seeing I I not enough of those teams
in that League have been competing with those two top teams and that's what kind
of moves me down from them having up being up higher because if you take a look at the Slate it's just a lot it's a
lot of blowouts and I'm not saying that no one can compete with them in the conference but you see a whole lot more
of that in the MIAA which is really why I have the MIAA one uh I have uh the
northern Sun forth um you know the the rest of the conference in the northern Sun not named
Mano has not had the best results in the playoffs um however they do have a fair
amount of depth to this conference so uh well let me interrupt on that though too yeah you're right about that the problem
again is something that a lot of other conferences talk about for instance the GAC would be one well how you know are
we're always playing Northwest or we're always playing Grand Valley we're always playing Fair that that is that is
certainly true the depth of the northern sun is playing the best teams in the first round from the other conferences
sure you know so so it's not like a true One Versus One matchup that's more of a one versus three matchup or one versus
two the way Underdog in most of those games you're right yeah they're an underdog in most of those contests um
now Mano has been a very good squad over this last 10 years very consistent um so obviously I think they
help repel um the northern sun up to that spot because you know I take a look
at some Northern Sun against some of the other conferences and they haven't fared awesome but then when mano's in there
they do so that can't be it can't be overlooked now then when you come to
five I think five is pretty challenging I have the armac at five because I look at Pueblo and
mines in kind of different little periods within the last 10 years who have been very tough and with and I have
them just over the Lone Star and the GAC uh the GAC I think has had without other
than Harding just hasn't shown the greatest in in that you know in the window that we're talking about but then
if I take a look for example the lonar if we were doing this five years ago I'd have the Lone Star in the mix higher
because you have Commerce oh yes and you have Tarlton those are two pretty substantial losses and we've kind of
elaborated over the last year so that there is not a number two jumping up to challenge Angelo at the moment
so the RAC five you know the the the west Texas a number still in 13 would
have been a considered a good opponent too you know so the the problem one of the biggest problems with the depth of
the uh the Lone Star is not just the fact that Commerce reclassified and Charlton reclassified the problem is
West Texas is not what they should be right and that would change perception and reality a lot if they become the
program I mean that that's a top 10 program waiting to happen the right person just has to make it happen sure I
I just want to throw out that like when you look at the RMC and Lone Star though that they do play each other quite a bit
in non-conference and when you look at the the outcomes a lot of times it's the
Lone Star coming on top and it's not just the top of the conference either though that's the only well last year
mines went down and and and and whooped Angelo down there right and then you also had peblo smack around Midwestern
State so I mean that that is kind of Chang in lurg when we talk about the better teams and and the other thing I
just kind of point out that the one thing I did notice is like at least somebody from the conference has made
the national championship game that in in those top fives I mean that that seems to be a barometer that separates
some of those conferences from the you know the six sevens and eights agree
agreed well what other I mean the psac would have a
representative in the championship game not within the are we just talking the window though yeah the window window
yeah um it does get a little hard because you're going back in time quite you know quite a few years to try to to
find representatives for some of these schools so yeah very good I mean the armac obviously has done really well so
interesting topic um uh and it not nearly as heated as I thought it was
going to be so I thought we were gonna get some heat but uh it was not so all
right uh let's go ahead and uh every week I remind you to like this video
subscribe to the channel appreciate all the interaction with the comments apparently it helps the
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Facebook D2 football on H Twitter D2 football Instagram D2 football I'll I'll
get that thing going a lot better uh during the week a columnist breakdown teams and races in their conference
Shane new sack columnist not sack
podcaster but new sack columnist Shane in the comments we appreciate you watching tonight uh look for I haven't
read or coling yet I look forward to reading it uh we provide perspective and
that many fans don't get from their SIDS releases so on game days coming up Thursday is going to be a game day uh
you can access our scoreboard cons sort scores by top 25 conference etc etc I
think right now it's fun to sort by top 25 uh later on the super region becomes very important uh when when it's near to
playoff selection time uh The Message Board haven't checked it for a while so if you're trying to get on there totally
apologize I'll try to check it tonight and uh and a preview uh try to keep spam
out of there and it's a it's a lot of work to keep spam out of there sometimes it's literally a 500 to1 ratio of spam
to a legitimate uh um a legitimate uh poster so uh but check out the message
board it's a neat place to be um let's oh my goodness Ryan I'm so sorry so all
right long story short back when I was in school there was a punter at my school named Shane Gladwin and I called
Ryan Gladwin or called M Shane Gladwin we had a big discussion about it I said I know I'm gonna do this at some point
all it took was one mention and it happened so hey sorry brother uh let's
go ahead and uh look at some comments and questions um get them in because we're going to we're not going to take
forever to do them so if you have a question make it fast uh let's show this one first good great news bars have
released PJ Walker so all indications are that Tyson bent will be uh the
backup quarterback in Chicago whether he's a backup or not with you're a Bears fan it looks like he's gonna be on the
roster right yeah there was some speculation about this because PJ Walker was couldn't get out of his own way in
the preseason despite the fact that they gave him a little bit of money and he had been a a good player uh in spot Duty
you know in in the NFL and the XFL um so I was a little bit surprised by that because he is a he's more athletic
player um and a little bit more of a a better true backup for what they do with Justin Fields with a lot of running but
Beijing has shown well and you know what I'm real happy to see this uh we haven't
had very many quarterbacks uh from division two in the NFL uh in in quite some time so this says a lot about him I
think Czech and I were talking in the pre-show and like in the last 20 years the ones that stood out to us were Chris
gon from Northwest JT O Sullivan from UC Davis um and then Dustin I think it was
Dustin vaugh from West Texas now lots of guys had chances you know Coen fery had
a chance lots of others had chances but we're talking about actually M making the roster can anybody else think of any
D2 quarterbacks that made a roster Luis Perez is still hanging around either the XFL or the
usfl and Chuck had mentioned that but it's not the NFL he never made one there oh that's true and I think Mike Riley
had a couple stin before he really ended up sticking in the CFL and he was a star in the CFL so I believe he's still
playing I think I think he might have just retired I could be wrong on that but yeah okay uh hold on let me check
the live Keith no Keith no started G great job kle y so um all right um let's
go ahead and look at the next one let me take that one off
um uh just so you know I'm passive aggressive Kyle you said let's get this
party started and it was like 45 seconds early so I waited 30 seconds late to get
it started that's on you everybody can blame you all right brandom thing to do
it is um's that to be spiteful or to blame Kyle for something yes
maybe all right uh talking about this is a side conversation talking about goker
or Malik Mitchell neither are great passers goker is a better Runner neither
one of them has to be a great passer because schematically they get so wide open that anybody can hit the pass you
agree right Tony definitely okay um
funny here but it's that's the scheme gives them a lot of advantages and you're you're not doing as many tight
window throws in Ferris system as you would be another right uh Shephard gonna
be very upset about the selection great group at Shephard they can take uh the criticism and do
with it with do with it what they want no disrespect but I think uh does
anybody disagree that they just lost way too much I mean they had five guys who are sniffing NFL on one offense in
division too that's insane totally right all right
uh does boss Pizza have a delivery window out to Michigan you know I bet
you could get it delivered I doubt it would still be warm when it got there
but remember Kyle man it's just everything's Kyle um if you want to be
an entrepreneur let us know and we'll let them know a bosses in western Michigan would would give my buddy
Jeremy a reason to go through the Chicagoland area and you know make that a normal thing I think he'd be okay with
that all right here is um an interesting question from Ryan
not Shane Gladwin uh here's the question outside of the top two teams in the top
three leagues who's the biggest threat to win a National Title so take away the
Gul South MIAA and gak would it have to be
mines I think manada would be on the outside of that conversation there you go I would agree with Mano I would agree
with mines um I
talking about Angelo like they're falling off but I mean you
know Angel were win cover's not gonna be be at Angelo right if I mean if they
were to you know win all their regular season you know super region four could very well have to go through them so
it's fair point and then you know and then Justin's Point earlier too you know West Georgia an angry West Georgia could
be interesting H all right very
good uh and finally the last
one why did the Battle of the bolds just show up on a suggestion movies for me just now this was during our food
conversation I thought that was pretty hilarious by Joe so all right um and
that that's it uh that's gonna be the last question that we answer tonight uh so in any case I appreciate you all
joining us before we leave does anybody have a parting shot either to the audience or to me I can I'm a big boy I
can handle it all right great should be a fun week it should it should be great uh again remember next week we'll uh
review the games that are actually played and that will be uh fantastic and
I'm always excited for the start it's this by far my favorite part of the year
um is the start of the college football season so uh for from Matt Chris Justin and Tony I am Brandon so long thank you
for [Music]
watching [Music]