Catch up on the *other* college football playoffs races, from D2 to NAIA

It’s the final week of regular season football everywhere other than Division I, which means playoff bids are straight-up on the line Saturday. Seventy-two teams vie for three championships, and except for about 20 other teams in D2 and D3 who get to play in bowl games, everyone else is packing it in this weekend.

Here’s a primer on what to watch out for.

Division II is unique in that, with one exception, there are no automatic bids for conference champions.

The D2 field consists of 24 teams, six from each of the NCAA’s super-regions. NCAA regional committees rank the top 10 in each super-region, and games against teams outside D2 are not considered, whether they’re against D3, NAIA, or FCS. The top six in each super-region go to the playoffs, with the top two in each super-region getting a bye in the first round. Simple, right?

Except for that one catch: if a conference champion from a conference that would not otherwise be represented finishes within the top eight teams in the super-region, it gets in, knocking someone else out. It’s called the earned access rule. Except for that whole “regional rankings being subjective” thing, it’s a pretty fair system.

1. Bloomsburg (10-0)
2. Concord (10-0)
3. West Chester (9-1)
4. Winston-Salem State (9-1)
5. American International (8-2)
6. Shepherd (8-1)

Concord plays at Shepherd to decide the Mountain East title. It’s a play-in for Shepherd, and they’re out if they lose, unless all the underdogs also bite it. Concord would survive a loss.

Bloomsburg visits 8-2 Slippery Rock for the PSAC title. Bloomsburg is safely in, and the Rock will get in with a win.

In the CIAA Championship, Winston-Salem hosts 8-2 Virginia State. The winner is in; Winston-Salem is not a lock if they lose.

American International hosts LIU-C.W. Post for the Northeast-10 title. AIU is in with a win, but a loss may mean no Northeast-10 team in the playoffs.

West Chester also needs a win at 6-4 Indiana (PA) to secure a spot. On the outside and hoping for an opening: 7-2 California (PA) and 7-3 Charleston (WV).

1. Lenoir-Rhyne (10-0)
2. Delta State (8-1)
3. Tuskegee (8-2)
4. North Alabama (8-1)
5. Valdosta State (7-2)
6. West Georgia (8-2)

The four Gulf South teams play the bottom half of their conference, so they should all be in. Lenoir-Rhyne, last season’s Division II runners-up, has already clinched the South Atlantic Conference.

That leaves the winner of Saturday’s SIAC Championship Game at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery. Albany State would replace Tuskegee in the top six with a win. The only question, barring a loss by any Gulf South teams, is whether West Georgia or Valdosta State gets pushed to No. 7 in the event of an Albany State victory. Unlikely.

1. Minnesota State-Mankato (10-0)
2. Ouachita Baptist (9-0)
3. Minnesota-Duluth (10-0)
4. Pittsburg State (9-1)
5. Northwest Missouri State (9-1)
6. Harding (8-1)

Mankato and Duluth, both playing doormats, are in. Northwest Missouri State also has clear sailing. But then things get scary.
Pittsburg State visits 8-2 Central Oklahoma. They lose, they’re gone.

Ouachita Baptist “visits” 8-1 Henderson State, their literally-across-the-street rival in the Battle for Arkadelphia. It would be hard to imagine Ouachita losing a spot with a loss, but this super is so tight it could happen.

Harding has a gimme, but may get left out anyway. Why? Lurking at No. 8 is 9-1 Azusa Pacific, which has already won the Great Northwest. They have a speed bump non-conference game at home against Menlo of the NAIA, which won’t count. Because of the earned access rule, as long as Azusa doesn’t fall another spot -- last week, they were safely in the top six but tumbled despite a win -- they’re in.

And for them to fall another spot would probably require Henderson State or Central Oklahoma to pull upsets ... which would likely also drop Harding out of the top six.

1. Ferris State (10-0)
2. Colorado State-Pueblo (8-1)
3. Michigan Tech (8-1)
4. Ohio Dominican (8-1)
5. Colorado Mines (9-1)
6. Indianapolis (9-0)

All six have relatively easy games. There’s one problem: none of those six is a member of the Lone Star Conference. Texas A&M-Commerce (8-2) hosts Angelo State (7-2) for the Lone Star title. They are currently ranked 7th and 8th in the region, so the winner is in.
Indianapolis, GLVC champion, is also in with a win. That means there’s one team that has to hope someone stumbles. That team is Bob Stitt’s Colorado School of Mines. Don’t tell Bill Connelly.

Division III has a 32-team field with 24 automatic bids -- one conference doesn’t participate, and four conferences do not have automatic bids due to either being too new or not having enough members. The field also includes two entries from among those four conferences and the independents.

Fourteen bids have already been claimed (see sidebar). Two more are basically under wraps. Husson should have no trouble claiming the ECFC title at Mount Ida. In Minnesota, a loss would create a massive pileup, but Saint John’s has the luxury of visiting 1-8 Saint Olaf, so they’re a safe bet.

Several of the remaining eight conferences have winner-take-all games, and because of the dearth of at-large spots, the losers (with one exception) could be left out.

The Midwest Conference, having just expanded to 12 teams with the addition of Macalester, split into divisions and is having a championship weekend. (All 12 teams play, with No. 1 vs. No. 1, No. 2 vs. No. 2, and so on.) As it happens, Macalester walked off with the North Division. They’ll visit Illinois College, the South champion, for a ticket to the playoffs. That’s the only conference with an actual championship game.

In the Middle Atlantic Conference, unbeaten Delaware Valley visits unbeaten Widener for all the marbles; the loser is probably still in.

In the Northwest Conference, it’s Pacific (OR) at Linfield. Linfield might be in with a loss, but Pacific won’t.

Another massive battle of unbeatens is in store in the Ohio Athletic Conference, but they’re both playing next week regardless. John Carroll visits Mount Union to determine the conference crown.

In the Old Dominion, Emory & Henry and Hampden-Sydney sit atop at 5-1. E&H has the tougher game, hosting Guilford (which was in the driver’s seat until an overtime loss to Hampden-Sydney last week); Hampden-Sydney hosts Randolph-Macon, which is having an uncharacteristically mediocre campaign. If Hampden-Sydney wins, they get the bid. If not, and Emory & Henry wins, E&H gets it. If they both lose, we could have a four-way tie and a headache.

New Jersey is a mess. Morrisville State is in the clubhouse at 6-1, with Rowan and Montclair State at 5-1. Morrisville lost to Rowan but beat Montclair, and Montclair beat Rowan, so you know what that means. Both Rowan and Montclair have winnable games. Unless one of the two loses, making it a head-to-head tiebreaker between two teams, this is going to come down to SOS.

Another mess is in the Northern Conference. 5-0 Lakeland visits 4-1 Benedictine (IL), while 4-1 Wisconsin Lutheran hosts Concordia (WI). If Lakeland wins, it’s over. If not, this could be another three-way tie, which head-to-head can’t break, as Benedictine’s loss is to WLU and WLU’s loss is to Lakeland. Once again, SOS would come into play.

In the MIAA (Michigan), Trine hosts Adrian Saturday, and the winner is in.

As for the expected two entries from the group without automatic bids, one is going to an independent: Wesley (DE) is 9-0 and finishes at Division I UNC-Charlotte. They’re not getting penalized for losing, and they may not lose anyway; they’ve knocked off FCS opponents before.

The other is Centre’s for the taking; the 9-0 Colonels need to beat 4-5 Birmingham-Southern to claim the Southern AA title. If they lose, it’s a toss-up between Framingham State of the MASCAC and Texas Lutheran of the SCAC; both would likely be 9-1, and both losses were high-profile non-conference losses.

The NAIA has a 16-team playoff, and with the exception of an allowance for a conference champion that finishes ranked better than No. 20, the field is determined by the top 16 in the NAIA coaches’ poll.

No. 16 in this week’s poll, Eastern Oregon, would be left out in favor of the No. 17 team, Central States Football Association champion Langston.

Ottawa visits No. 18 Tabor, and if Ottawa loses, the KCAC may also end up a playoff bid from outside the top 16.

The only other team that’s in the top 16 that has a clear problem is Baker, which hosts No. 7 Missouri Valley. A loss would almost assuredly end their season.