MIAA Week 10 Column

November 2nd, 2022 9:00pm

The playoffs are only two weeks away. Let’s take a look at the teams with two or fewer losses in Super Region Three. 

GAC (3): Ouachita Baptist (9-0), Harding (7-2) and Henderson State (7-2)

GLIAC (3): Grand Valley (9-0), Davenport (8-0) and Ferris State (7-1).

GLVC (2): Indianapolis (7-1) and Truman State (7-1).

MIAA (3): Pittsburg State (9-0), Emporia State (7-2) and Northwest Missouri (7-2).

*A couple things to note on the teams above. Grand Valley has a 8-0 Division II record, Davenport is 7-0, Ferris State is 6-1 and Indianapolis is 6-1.

That is 11 teams battling for seven spots. 

Here is a chart with the remaining schedule for the 11 teams still in playoff contention.

At this point, I believe four teams have all but locked in their playoff spot. Grand Valley, Pittsburg State, Ferris State and Ouachita Baptist. Davenport is most likely in as well after beating Saginaw Valley last week. Even with losses to Ferris State and Grand Valley to end the year, Davenport should be in as well. Especially with the head to head tiebreaker over Truman State. The winner of the Truman State at Indianapolis game in week 11 will be in the playoffs as well.
This leaves one spot left up for grabs. Will the committee take a two-loss MIAA team (winner of Northwest Missouri at Emporia State), a two-loss GAC team (Harding or Henderson State) or a second GLVC team (loser of Truman State at Indianapolis). The numbers would lean towards the second two-loss GLVC team, but recent history in this region would point to either the MIAA or GAC two-loss team to get into the playoffs. 

If you are a fan of Emporia State or Northwest Misosuri, you are rooting for McKendree to beat Truman State and then Truman State to beat Indianapolis and for Ouachita Baptist to beat Henderson State. 

My prediction for the seven final playoff teams:

1. Grand Valley

2. Pittsburg State

3. Ouachita Baptist

4. Ferris State

5. Indianapolis

6. Davenport

7. Northwest Missouri

There is a scenario where a two-loss Truman State beat makes the playoffs over a two-loss MIAA team and for Pittsburg State to slide down to the four seed. If that were to happen, I would expect the silo scheduling in the MIAA to be voted against in the offseason.

Week Nine Game Recaps

Northwest Missouri 28 Nebraska-Kearney 24
A tremendous game between two playoff caliber teams. I had a great time watching this game in person last week. A solid crowd of 4200 showed up despite the Nebraska Cornhuskers playing at the same time down the road (why you would choose to watch that disaster over this game is beyond me). Nebraska-Kearney actually came out throwing in this game and found success through the air. The Lopers offense completed four passes over 30 yards and had one run for over 30 yards. But the difference in this game was the offensive line for Northwest Missouri. The Bearcats ran for 312 yards on the day including 150 yards on 17 attempts in the fourth quarter. The Lopers took a 10 point lead into the fourth quarter but could not hold off the Bearcats late surge. 

Pittsburg State 38 Central Oklahoma 7
The Gorillas are playing tremendous football right now. Central Oklahoma had under 175 yards of total offense before their last drive of the game when the Bronchos were down 38-0. Central Oklahoma is back sliding right now and is on the brink of finishing under .500 on the year. Congrats to Pittsburg State for clinching a share of the MIAA title with two weeks left. 

Missouri Western 31 Missouri Southern 27
This was a big win for Missouri Western. The Griffons had been on the struggle bus since the week two win at Fort Hays. It was also good to see Missouri Western go three of four in the end zone including scoring two touchdowns. That had been a problem all year for Missouri Western.

Emporia State 42 Fort Hays 14 
Another dominant performance by Emporia State. The Hornets are playing great football right now, Fort Hays could not run the ball and the Hornets offense did whatever it wanted to all day. Luckily for the Tigers, there are only two games left in the season. 

Washburn 21 Northeastern State 17
I still cannot figure out how this game happened. Northeastern State held the top scoring offense in the MIAA to six points in the first half. Despite turning the ball over three times in the second half, the Ichabods overcame an 11 point halftime deficit to avoid the upset of the year. Washburn lost the turnover battle three to zero and went 3/14 on third down. 

Central Missouri 61 Lincoln 14
The one thing I wanted to see Central Missouri do in this game was run the ball. Well, the Mules ran for 225 yards, including 12 first down on the ground. Shoutout to Cedric Case for throwing six touchdowns as well.

MIAA Week 10 Power Rankings

1. Pittsburg State –

2. Emporia State --

3. Northwest Missouri --

4. Nebraska-Kearney --

5. Washburn --

6. Missouri Western +2

7. Missouri Southern --

8. Central Oklahoma -2

9. Fort Hays --

10. Central Missouri --

11. Northeastern State --

12. Lincoln --

MIAA Picks

Last Week: 5-1 (83.3%)

Season: 40-14 (74.1%)

Week 10 Game Previews

I looked back at my picks last year and I am actually doing better this year by one game. I need to go 5-1 or better this week to continue to beat myself. 

Game of the Week: #4 Pittsburg State (9-0) at Washburn (6-3)
Saturday, 1pm
All-time series: Pittsburg State leads 63-27-1
Last Year: Washburn won 28-26.

Pittsburg State 34 Washburn 24

Missouri Southern (4-5) at #11 Northwest Missouri (7-2)
Saturday, 1:30pm
All-time series: Northwest Missouri leads 28-4.
Last Year: Northwest Missouri won 49-7.

Northwest Missouri 27 Missouri Southern 13

Central Oklahoma (5-4) at Nebraska-Kearney (6-3)
Saturday, 12pm
All-time series: Central Oklahoma leads 6-4.
Last Year: Nebraska-Kearney won 37-22.

Nebraska-Kearney 30 Central Oklahoma 17

Missouri Western (4-5) at Central Missouri (3-6)
Saturday, 1pm
All-time series: Series tied 18-18-1.
Last Year: Missouri Western won 59-28.

Missouri Western 24 Central Missouri 20

Northeastern State (1-8) at Fort Hays (2-7)
Saturday, 1pm
All-time series: Fort Hays leads 7-2.
Last Year: Fort Hays won 64-6.

Fort Hays 24 Northeastern State 17

#20 Emporia State (7-2) at Lincoln (0-9)
Saturday, 2pm
All-time series: Emporia State leads 6-2.
Last Year: Emporia State won 56-21.

Emporia State 69 Lincoln 0