New Region

[mustangfan]

As an outsider, congrats UND on your football season. I wish my team SW Minnesota State would finish in the top half of the NSIC for goodness sake . Maybe one of your assistants will go after our football opening. Please!

One thing to remember, next year the NCC, NSIC and GLIAC all in the same region. Grand Valley State at UND in the region finals could happen next year. This now makes the Midwest Region (if they keep that name) probably the toughest in the nation, again!

[Bisonfan1234]

I think the West continues to be a under rated and highly talented reigion while the south is obviously highly over rated. With the MIAA going to the west, they could easily be more talented than the Midwest.

[Sioux95]

What's the MIAA's playoff record over the last 4 years?

[bisonguy]

What's the MIAA's playoff record over the last 4 years?

I don't know, but I do know they haven't been any better than the best NCC teams .

The GNAC (Central Washington's four team conference) will also be in the region. I believe that it will be called the Northwest region. The region will stretch from Washington to Ohio. They might as well thrown in two more states and call it the Coast to Coast region.

[RD17]

The new midwest region will be very tough with Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley, and UND being 3 of the top 5 or 6 programs in the country right now. There also will be 4 conferences in the region, meaning one less available at-large bid.

The MIAA is catching a huge break getting out of the midwest region. MIAA teams are 2-7 in the last 4 years in the playoffs and they will be moving into a region that has sent only one school to the championship game in the last 20 years. The Lone Star Conference isn't very good and the RMAC is comparable with the NSIC.

The biggest joke of all will be the new northeast region. There won't be a single school in that region that funds 36 scholarships. IUP should be in the semifinals virtually every year.

[bisonguy]

RD17,

Won't there be one more "at-large" spot next year? Six spots per region less one spot for each of the four conferences (may not exactly work that way) equals two "at-large" spots. Currently, there was only four spots for three conferences, only allowing one "at-large" spot.

[RD17]

RD17,

Won't there be one more "at-large" spot next year? Six spots per region less one spot for each of the four conferences (may not exactly work that way) equals two "at-large" spots. Currently, there was only four spots for three conferences, only allowing one "at-large" spot.

bisonguy,

What I mean by at-large is in comparison to the other regions. The NE and west will only have 3 conferences each, so those regions will have 3 at-large spots.

[bisonguy]

Different reference points.

I think the GLIAC/NCC teams are going to be pretty dominant in upcoming years. It's a shame they will have to meet before the finals, or even the semis.

[RD17]

It seems that ever since regionalization started, the NCC gets stuck with another league with great teams in it. First it was Pitt St. in the early 90s and NWMSU in the late 90s from the MIAA. Now that those teams have come back to the pack, they stick the NCC in the same region as Grand Valley. Oh well, we'll just have to get used to seeing the championship game a couple of weeks early every year.

[Smoggy]

I get this strange feeling that this might not be the end of the region realignment. If it goes a few years where very good teams are consistently left out of the midwest region and not as good teams are making the playoffs in other regions, things might just change.

I think the at large bids should be pooled throughout the country. That way if one region is stronger than another, a team from the strong region could be shipped elsewhere.

[Bisonfan1234]

The new midwest region will be very tough with Grand Valley, Saginaw Valley, and UND being 3 of the top 5 or 6 programs in the country right now. There also will be 4 conferences in the region, meaning one less available at-large bid.

The MIAA is catching a huge break getting out of the midwest region. MIAA teams are 2-7 in the last 4 years in the playoffs and they will be moving into a region that has sent only one school to the championship game in the last 20 years. The Lone Star Conference isn't very good and the RMAC is comparable with the NSIC.

The biggest joke of all will be the new northeast region. There won't be a single school in that region that funds 36 scholarships. IUP should be in the semifinals virtually every year.

I think the Midwest with the NCC, NSIC, and GLIAC will be the most power reigon in the nation.

However, the West is a close second. Lone Star and RMAC have no one?! Central Oklahoma, T AM Kingsville, Mesa State, Tarleton, Chadron. Throw in Central Washington in there as well and you have alot of talent.

[Bisonfan1234]

I think it would be great to have the at large bids come from all over the country, but it will not happen. (money) Anyway, the way teams get ranked doesn't work either, because the midwest region teams always seem to get screwed in the polls. Everyone seems to think the region they are in is the strongest.

I don't like the reigon system either. It should just be the top 16 teams using a formula so you don't get good ol' boy, biased writers ranking all the south teamsi n the top 16.

[RD17]

I think the Midwest with the NCC, NSIC, and GLIAC will be the most power reigon in the nation.

However, the West is a close second. Lone Star and RMAC have no one?! Central Oklahoma, T AM Kingsville, Mesa State, Tarleton, Chadron. Throw in Central Washington in there as well and you have alot of talent.

First of all, Central Washington will be in UND's region- not the west.

Secondly, despite several more playoff appearances, the RMAC has exactly as many playoff wins as the NSIC (one).

Lastly, nobody from the LSC ever wins any playoff games against teams from outside their region, and frequently, they get blown out (TAMUK against Grand Valley this year and TAMUK against NWMSU a few years ago). Until that changes, my low opinion of the LSC won't change. You're crazy if you think the west is a stronger region than the south. I'll take teams like UNA, Valdosta, Carson-Newman, Catawba, and Delta St. over anyone in the LSC.

[mustangfan]

central washington in this region? I thought it was just the NCC, NSIC and

GLIAC?

[Hansel]

central washington in this region? I thought it was just the NCC, NSIC and

GLIAC?

and GNAC

[Diggler]

So there are going to be teams from Washington to Pennsylvania in the region? Yeah, that sounds like Midwest to me.

[Hansel]

i think the new region name will be northwest

[bisonguy]

Diggler,

I think it's just Washington to Ohio .

RD17,

I hate regionalization. It's a stupid knee-jerk reaction to the 1986 championship game. [sARCASM] How could the top two teams be from the same region, let alone the same conference? [/sARCASM]

The West region, even with the MIAA, will be the third strongest region. Obviously, the NorthMidWestCoastToNearlyOtherCoastFrequentFlyer Region will be the strongest. Next, would be the South Region, with the likes of Carson-Newman, Catawba, UNA, Delta State, and Valdosta. The West, once dominated by perennial Semi-final loser UC-Davis, might be able to advance to the final if they face the representative from the WeDon'tHaveATeamThatFullyFundsScholarships aka the Northeast Region.

[Bisonfan1234]

Say what you want about the RMAC and LSC. Those with the MIAA are going to have alot of talent.

The south is simply over rated. It's just so funny how badly they were over rated this year.

North Alabama was a joke this year and they were the best team in that reigon.

[bisonguy]

The RMAC has one decent team. The LSC champ got spanked by GVSU, they had second stringers in at halftime. The South might be overrated, but no more than the MIAA.

[RD17]

There is an interesting post on the D2football.com board today from the chair of the Division II football committee. He stated that the GNAC, which is now part of UND's region, is not classified as a conference by D2 standards, meaning that those schools will be classified as independents and not eligible for an automatic playoff bid. This leaves the new region with 3 at-large playoff bids, and virtually guarantees that more than one NCC school will go to the playoffs each year.

[UND Fan]

Did it explain why it isn't considered a DII conference?

[Hansel]

Did it explain why it isn't considered a DII conference?

Not enough teams (4.. they are listed as independents).. here is his entire post

Sir:

Thought I'd pass along the realignment.

Northeast Region:

PSAC, WVIAC, NE-10

Southeast Region:

CIAA, SIAC, SAC, GSC

Northwest Region:

NSIC, NCC, GLIAC (plus 4 independents)

Southwest Region:

LSC, RMAC, MIAA

We were required to align the regions more numerically equal and with a minimum of 3 conferences per region (the GNAC is by DII definition not a football conference). One region as a result would have looked fairly menacing geographically. Had the GLIAC remained in the Northeast, the WVIAC would have shifted to the Southeast, and the Gulf South likely shifted to the Southwest. That would've resulted in teams from Georgia with teams from Colorado. Just as much a geographic hodgepodge as what the new Northwest Region will look like. And in reference to another's posting on a different thread....it is indeed set in stone for 2004.

Thanks.

Steve Murray

PSAC Commissioner

Chair, Division II Football Committee

[bisonguy]

RD17,

There are no autobids in DII. It is strictly the *cough* best *cough* six teams in a region that will make the playoff field. If there are six teams that meet the playoff criteria better than a NCC team, there would not be a NCC team in the playoffs. The NSIC was proof of this fact, until Winona was selected in 2001.

Diggler,

Forgot Mercyhurst and soon to be GLIAC member Gannon are in Penn. Geez, get a team from Jersey and it would be the Coast to Coast Region

[RD17]

bisonguy,

Starting next year, if a conference has a school ranked in the top 10 in the final regional poll, that conference gets an automatic bid to the playoffs. That's why it makes a huge difference with the GNAC not being considered a conference. A school from that league will have to finish in the top 6 to get in and not be able to 'steal' a spot in the playoffs. If the new format would have been used this year, the West Virginia conference would have been the only one not represented.

The midwest region would not have been effected this year, as all three conferences had a team in the top 6. The matchups would have been NDSU at Pitt St., with the winner taking on UND, and CMSU at Emporia St., the winner going to Winona.