Rockne D2 Conference Rankings
As the "smart dog" was patiently waiting for the upcoming season to begin and considering the amount of coaches changes that have taken place, I thought it would be interesting to ranked the conferences. To start this imperfect rankings, the "smart dog" had to decide what factors to use to take out as much personal bias as possible from it. The five categories used were 1) number of human coaches, 2) coaches' stability, 3) quality of coaches, 4) number of top-25 teams, and 5) number of championships won in Rockne only.
12 - Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference - Conference has just one team ranked in the top 25 and that team has a new coach. The five coaches are unproven and are still looking for their first championship.
11 - Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference - One of five conferences with just four human coaches. Also one of four conference whose coaches has not finished the season holding the trophy. One team ranked in the top 25.
10 - Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Five coaches, zero titles, two ranked teams. Conference has seen a lot of turnover lately with no coaches having completed five seasons with their current team yet.
9 - Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - A year ago the GLIAC would have been the top conference. All four coaches that were with their respective teams for 20+ seasons have all moved on. Four coaches and four ranked teams, to include the only SIM team in the top 25. This group of coaches have big shoes to fill as they search for their first title.
8 - Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Cheyney is the big dog in this conference. Four coaches reside in the conference but only Cheyney is currently ranked. Cheyney is also the only coach with a title.
7 - North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - One of the conference that could be rising in the rankings in the next few seasons. The four coaches haven't won a title yet, but Humboldt State is one of the favorites this season.
6 - Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference - Two teams in the top ten, but has lost some good coaches recently. West Chester has two titles and always in the running for more. Bloomsburg doesn't have any but the coach will soon change that deficiency.
5 - Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Six coaches make this conference tough. Two coaches with a title each with their teams getting better all the time.
4 - Gulf South Conference - Five coaches within the conference with North Alabama leading the way. Currently two teams in the top 15, but looking for improvement in the next few seasons. Conference is probably overrated due to the benefit received from having five titles.
3 - Lone Star Conference - Home of the two-time champs, conference has six coaches currently in its divisions. Conference is one of the top four in stability.
2 - Northeast 10 Conference - Another conference with six coaches and a surprising eight titles. On top of that, Long Island doesn't have any of them. Two teams in the top 15, but expect this conference to improve more as their future is bright.
1 - South Atlantic Conference - This conference is by far the most stable of all. Three coaches with over 25 seasons with their current teams. On top of that, conference has just picked up coachoatie after snagging dessasdad05 a few seasons before that. Those additions brought their total titles to seven and the title of this season's Top Conference.