INDIANAPOLIS – Through Week 8 of the regular season, Tiffin (No. 17) and Hillsdale (No. 25) landed in the American Football Coaches Association’s (AFCA) Top-25 Poll as announced on Monday.
The good news for the Great Midwest Athletic Conference also extended into the first set of NCAA Super Region One rankings published today by the national committee with three more teams represented.
Including the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), Mountain East Conference (MEC) and Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10), Tiffin was set at No. 4, Hillsdale was placed at No. 7 and Ohio Dominican appeared No. 8.
The Super Region One rankings determine the NCAA Championship bracket and the region will get seven at-large bids with the top seed receiving a first-round bye.
Tiffin is in a holding pattern at No. 17 for the second straight despite an impressive win over then-No. 25 and defending conference champion Ohio Dominican last weekend. The Dragons are 8-0, just one of 13 schools left unbeaten in the DII ranks.
Fans may be scratching their heads over how Tiffin could remain idle despite the program’s recent string of success, but the Dragons will get another chance to shine at Lake Erie in Week 9.
The collision course for a championship game is pretty much set for Week 10 at Hillsdale (7-1, 6-0 G-MAC).
The Chargers are nationally ranked for the first time this season, although the HC contingent has its own right to be a little frustrated with their team in the receiving votes pool for so long.
Tiffin and Hillsdale are both doubled up in the national and regional rankings while representing the Great Midwest.
Ohio Dominican was bounced from the top 25 with the loss against Tiffin, but the Panthers still have playoff hopes while on the radar of the regional advisory committee with a 6-2 overall record.
Ten different teams were ranked with the MEC’s Notre Dame (OH) leading the way at the top. Kutztown (PSAC) and New Haven (NE-10) are second and third before LIU Post (NE-10), a school that announced intentions to go Division I recent history, was at No. 5.
12th-ranked West Chester (PSAC) is at No. 6 while Slippery Rock (PSAC) and Assumption (NE-10) round out the top 10, respectively.
The AFCA national rankings or D2Football.com rankings have no bearing on the selection process by the committee.