Rockne's Top Ten (End of Season) - Season 140
Regular season is over. Conference championship games to be played tonight. Some teams need to win to make the playoffs. Other teams are playing to either keep their position for a top seed or to improve their rankings/seedings. Then there are other teams who season is over and are on the bubble to get into the playoffs. So before the "drive for five" begins tomorrow, here's the final Rockne Top Ten for this season.
#10 (previously unranked) - Virginia State - Currently #14 and a pending 4th seed, win tonight over North Carolina Central could give them a 3rd seed. Played decent schedule with wins over #19 and #22 teams. Only loss was to #1 North Alabama.
#9 (previously 9) - West Chester - 20th ranked and pending 4th or 5th seed with win over #22 Edinboro. After big win over Bloomsburg, West Chester could be prime to spring a second round "upset". Played easy schedule but passed its only test.
#8 (previously 10) - West Liberty State - Up to #2 in the WIS polls and has a #1 seed locked down with win against #15 Winona State. Loss will probably drop them down to a two seed. Good schedule but hasn't beat anyone in the top 25.
#7 (previously 8) - Valdosta State - Season over due to tough loss to #1 North Alabama. Currently #12, but expects to drop down to a 4th seed. Beat #11 Fairmont State. With new coach (aka smart dog), could be an unknown in the playoffs.
#6 (previously 7th) - Cheyney - 4th ranked team and should be able to hold onto their #1 seed after beating unranked Missouri Western State tonight. Beat #23 Ferris State and #13 Western New Mexico and lost to #3 Humboldt State.
#5 (previously 1) - Northern Michigan - 6th ranked and facing a good test in the conference championship game against #23 Ferris State. Beat #8 Bloomsburg but rest of the schedule was average. Talent to go head-to-head against all the top teams.
#4 (previously 6) - Long Island - 10th ranked and looking at either a 2 or 3 seed. Has good match-up against #11 Fairmont State tonight to help their cause. Beat #7 Southern Connecticut. Team/coach no one looks forward to facing in the playoffs.
#3 (previously 3) - Texas A&M-Commerce - If there was such a thing as sand-bagging in WIS, TAMC would be the picture next to the definition. Currently ranked 18th and playing #17 Central Oklahoma tonight. Best case scenario is TAMC will go into the playoffs at a 4th seed. Top seeds will not want to see the defending 2x champs in their brackets.
#2 (previously 4) - North Alabama - #1 ranked team with a one seed secured unless #33 Harding can pull out a major upset. Beat #12 Valdosta State and #14 Virginia State. Outstanding seasons continues...how far can it go?
#1 (previously 2)- Humboldt State - Slipping down the WIS polls to #3 seed. Beat #4 Cheyney and gets a rematch against #28 North Dakota State for conference title. Will this be their year?
Check back tomorrow as the "smart dog" presents his playoff brackets and reveals who will win it all this season.
Hope you enjoyed this season's articles. The Rockne Top Ten will be back next season following the fourth game of the season.
If you like to participate in this ranking, please site mail your top 10 (with or without comments) to omcs1981 by 8 PM central time. You can submit your top 10 just once, every day, or just when you have time. For it to continue, I must have at least one coach provide their rankings each day. Thanks and hope you enjoyed the article.