INDIANAPOLIS – For the third-straight week, the Valdosta State football team remained the top team in the NCAA Division II Super Region II rankings, released Monday afternoon.
This is the final public ranking prior to the NCAA Division II Football Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. ET, and streamed live on NCAA.com. Check back with vstateblazers.com later this week for a link to watch the selection show.
Following the Blazers this week is Bowie State (Md.) for the third-straight week at No. 2. Albany State remains at No. 3 in the rankings, while West Florida, West Georgia, Mars Hill and Newberry each hold steady at 4-7, respectively. Savannah State replaces West Alabama this week at No. 8, while Lenoir-Rhyne and Fayetteville State are ninth and tenth, respectively. VSU currently is 3-0 this season against teams in the region rankings released Monday.
This year's bracket will feature the top seven teams in the final rankings, announced Sunday evening. The top team in the region will get a "bye" for the first round, while Nos. 2-4 seeds will host Nos. 5-7, on Nov. 20 for the first round. The second round is scheduled for Nov. 27, while the third round is set for Dec. 4 and the national semifinals are Dec. 11.
Once again, the NCAA Division II National Championship will return to McKinney, Texas, and scheduled for Dec. 18. VSU won the national championship in McKinney in 2018 with a thrilling 49-47 victory over Ferris State for the school's first 14-0 record. The Gulf South Conference has had a team play for the national championship each of the past four playing seasons, dating back to 2016.
VSU is 26-13 all-time in the NCAA postseason and looking for its 18th trip to the postseason in program history and third-straight.
VSU, who enters the final game of the regular season, is 9-0 overall and 6-0 in Gulf South Conference play as one of just two undefeated teams left in all of NCAA Division II (Ferris State). The Blazers are coming off a 31-21 victory over North Greenville for Homecoming and Senior Day this past Saturday. The Blazers remained at No. 2 in the AFCA (American Football Coaches Association) Top 25 behind Ferris State (Mich.).
West Florida moved to third, in the AFCA Top 25, following its 47-7 victory at then-No. 23 West Alabama last weekend in the AFCA Top 25. Northwest Missouri State sits fourth, followed by Grand Valley State to round out the top five. West Georgia remained 11th after its bye week last week, while Albany State moved from 22nd to 18th. West Alabama, who dropped out of the poll after the loss to the Argos, along with Savannah State are among others receiving votes. In all, including West Florida, the AFCA Top 25 features five Blazer opponents and VSU currently is 4-0 against those teams.
Click on the link to the right for the complete NCAA Region rankings and for a link to purchase tickets through West Florida for Saturday's regular season finale as VSU goes for its third-straight, outright Gulf South Conference title.
