New D2 Football Regions

[bisonguy]

This was posted on the D2football message board, and I thought some Sioux fans might want to see how the regions were realigned. It looks like UND put Central Washington on the schedule for the next four years to have a good in-region opponent. The MIAA will no longer be in the former Midwest Region (will become the Northwest Region), but the GLIAC and some indies will be added.

NCAA DIVISION II FOOTBALL COMMITTEE

Regional Alignment.

That the following regional alignment be adopted, effective with the 2004

championship. Please note the proposed new names for each of the four

regions.

Northeast Region (34):

Northeast-10 Conference (11)

Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (14)

West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (8)

Independents (1)

[pirate]

The Northeast Redion is a joke. They're going to get six teams for the play-offs?

[Bison_Kent]

I might think that the Northwest is second worst. With NDSU, Northern Colorado, and not so much SDSU leaving, it is basically UND and Grand Valley State. I believe those are the only teams in the region to have won a second round playoff game in that last 5 years (granted that those two have won tites but there aren't any other teams in the region). What other four teams will make it every year with the playoffs expanding to 6 that year? Central Washington was undefeated but was beat in the first round. I believe Saginaw Valley State made it one year and lost in the second round.

[pirate]

Rate the other three regions however you want. (They seem pretty competitive to me.) The Northeast has one respectable league now that the GLIAC is moved. The PSAC, and they only allow limited numbers of scholarships. 21, I believe.

[bisonguy]

The PSAC is one of the major driving forces for scholarship reduction in D2.

The Northwest region won't be that weak. The only playoff contender losses were NWMSU, Pitt. St., and possibly MoWest. I'm guessing that the NCC should be able to get two teams in when the playoffs expand to six teams per region. It will probably break down to the top two NCC, the top two GLIAC, one NSIC (if they take two, the selection process is a joke) and one indy (Central Washington).

[pirate]

I agree, the Northwest will not be that weak. They get guality teams from the GLIAC, the most of the independents and with CWU, WWU and WOU some very good D2 teams. The Northeast still amazes me, a waste of four play-off spots.

[RD17]

I don't think UND's region will be weak at all. Central and Western Washington both have very solid football programs that are still building up to the D2 level. I believe both CWU and WWU only have 15-20 scholarships, but they're able to compete because there isn't any competition for players out there. These two schools have only been D2 for 5 or 6 years, but they have the potential to be major factors in the playoffs in the future.

Despite Grand Valley's recent success, the GLIAC has been pretty mediocre and doesn't compare to the MIAA. But remember, it only takes 1 or 2 really good teams from that league to make the playoffs pretty interesting.