DII Report™️: The most complete DII football field of 32 to date
Big names are out of the hunt, while some curious teams are continuing to surge.
The newly added eighth spot to each super region is making for some exciting matchups. More teams have a door open to the DII football championship, and the bracket is really starting to take shape.
This week, Lenoir-Rhyne joins Valdosta State and Ouachita Baptist as long-time tournament stalwarts that seemingly have been eliminated from the chase. Of course, that is not official with half a season to go, but the Bears, like the Blazers and Tigers, have to play perfect football and receive a ton of help to make that final spot.
Only two teams entered the mix this week, and neither cracked the top 8. Saint Anselm joins Super Region One, and Northwood enters the Super Region Three conversation. I still have three-loss Fayetteville State on the outside looking in in Super Region One, but currently, it should be said the Broncos are very much in the mix.
Remember, this is a look towards November, and not the current landscape. If you follow Inkblot Sports, you’ll see a team like Chadron State is in the mix. However, that is more of a real-time look, and a deeper dive shows that the Eagles close their season against Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo. They would have to win one, if not both, to truly be in the conversation, and why I have them out of my field of 32. That is important to remember, because my projections will probably look a little different than the first regional rankings, but settle in and look more similar by the second.
If you’ve been following along, or if you are new, here are my guidelines for what you will see below:
This is my projection of how I think the bracket will look on Nov. 16, not how I necessarily think the seedings would look if the bracket were filled today. If you want to track each super region in real time, Inkblot Sports does a great job of that.
I use the strength of schedule (SoS) posted on NCAA.org. Other sites calculate their own, and that is fine; however, I want to see exactly what the selection committee is handed, and from what I’ve been told, it is that number.
The KPI used by the committee is from Faktor Sports. This has finally been calculated and will be for the remainder of the season. What you’ll see is the overall DII rank in KPI, not the super region rank.
Top 25 winning percentage is NOT a bracket selection criterion. However, I feel it is a nice gauge to see how a team may be performing.
Paid subscribers can see the rankings and stats below.