Now back on track with the REAL Season 108 blog. I'll try to pepper these out over the next several days. Looking like getting everything out by Friday may prove to be difficult but still hoping to get it all done by the end of the weekend.
Season 108 Warner DII Blog
SIAC
Miles (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 12) – Miles went out in the second round last season in a tough and closely fought battle against Saint Joseph’s. Husker immediately made a solid impact with a Miles team that has a lot of offensive talent and not a lot going for them on the defensive side of the ball. The team’s RBs is really where they shine the most and it will be tough for any team to stop them on a consistent basis. But if the opposition can put up big numbers themselves on offense, then there may be a lot of games that are uphill battles for Miles, as long as they’re playing top teams because of the wider disparity on the defensive side of the ball. Husker didn’t skimp on the OOC as Miles will play four human coaches, three of them in the top 25. All may be winnable but the game against UMC will prove to be the absolute hardest as UMC’s squad is pretty stacked from top to bottom. A match against Saint Joe’s on day 6 will be a chance for revenge from last season but Saint Joe’s should still have a small advantage. This team should expect to visit the CCG again this year and hope to have a good enough seed where they can avoid a #1 seed team in the 2nd round again. Even if they do, they’d have a chance for an upset and a 3rd round playoff appearance, which is right about where I see a realistic expectation of this team’s goals. But a lot of that will be very dependent on how the final standings and rankings play out.
Fort Valley State (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 8) – Last year was a decent result for where this team was at talent-wise. They finished 9-4 and probably weren’t going to be able to do much better. This season may not be much different, if not a slight step back. That’s partly due to the schedule that is a bit tougher, both OOC and in conference. This team could be a bit more competitive and at least a little scarier to face if it weren’t for all of the lack of depth. And that is solidly at all positions. Give it a few years to grow and that problem should be solved. However, it concerns me that though FVSU has eleven players interested in them during recruiting, eight of those eleven are yellow and only three green and ZERO players have been signed. That is certainly the bigger issue. My guess is that AriGold has spread himself a bit too thin and is in a few too many battles. But that still perplexes me that zero players have signed. Not quite sure what’s going on there. I guess he’s biding as much time to see which of those battles he can win. Still a risky venture. This year 9-4 would actually be very optimistic and isn’t very realistic. A record like 7-6 looks more likely and the playoffs aren’t exactly hopeful. The biggest goal should be to finish recruiting this year with a salvageable class. I hope AriGold remembers to offer scholarships.
Kentucky State (Seniors Lost: 14/Current Seniors: 13) – Chetty comes aboard as the new coach for Kentucky State and has a nice track record of success so I’d expect the same in several years if he decides to stick around. Even right away this team isn’t terrible, but still on the weak side. This team’s biggest weakness I’d say is that there is no position that stands out as being great, just a lot of mediocre dudes at best. We’ll see how much of an immediate impact chetty can make as there are a few games against human coaches that could go either way if the opposition isn’t careful. But a playoff trip probably seems like a little too high of a hope for season one. The SOS could be good enough to end up getting in with four losses, which might be doable, but it isn’t the kind of schedule you’d expect to get in with five or more losses. I think 9-4 with a hope of sneaking into the playoffs seems like a reasonable goal for this team. But that will be mostly out of Kentucky State’s hands and chetty will have to hope for the Sims on his schedule to put up a decent record.
Saint Joseph’s (Seniors Lost: 7/Current Seniors: 16) – Saint Joe’s made an improbable run last year to the finals and had the lead going into the 2nd half against Indiana (PA) 20-10, but that lead didn’t last and slipped further and further away as the 4th quarter played on. Still an impressive season and it brings much more hope to come for this season and beyond. They lose a great QB, a very solid WR and one of the best LBs in DII from last year but to make up for those losses, 16 seniors replace the 7 that left, so there should be something to be said for experience with this team. QB is probably the biggest hit, as the number one guy this season isn’t among the elite and will have to rely on the O-Line and the talent around him to carry him. The rest of the offense is solid and the defense gets better overall, despite the LB loss as the D-Line and secondary are both better. The schedule had just one human coach in OOC that suddenly turned into four human coaches when the season turned over. The biggest question this season will be if Saint Joe’s can finally get over the hurdle of Quincy to try to claim the CC. Even if they were to, Miles is up and coming and certainly not a gimme. Saint Joe’s finally beat Quincy last season in the playoffs to advance to the semifinals but Quincy is still the more talented team, probably by just a hair. I’d say the goal is to win the conference and be a solid NC contender but a minimum of a 3rd round appearance would be a contingency goal.
Quincy (Seniors Lost: 12/Current Seniors: 14) – Brygold lost a close one to Saint Joe’s in the 3rd round last season to end their season. It was a great opportunity to make the finals and get revenge against lyonzfan as their semifinal match would have been a favorable one against SDSU, but it was not to be. They try to bounce back this year with another stellar team, including a phenomenal RB and an outstanding DB that will lead the way on each side of the ball. The D-Line is a little weaker than it normally has been in years past but certainly not bad or even a weakness by any means. Great depth at LB and though the secondary has some great studs, the depth there is a little worse than it normally is. This team will still be capable of beating anyone on any given day though. Another day five game against Indiana (PA) this year and the conference game against Saint Joe’s will highlight the schedule this year. They could win or lose both or end up splitting the two. Winning or losing both will have a huge impact on where they’ll end up in the final standings. My guess is another close loss to Indiana and a close win against Saint Joe’s to keep hold of the string of CCs that Quincy has accrued over the years. I think retaining the CC and making a deeper run in the playoffs than last year is the goal this year, with sights on taking down their first NC. If any coach who hasn’t won one yet deserves it, I’d say it’s probably brygold.
SAC
Carson-Newman (Seniors Lost: 5/Current Seniors: 21) – Cubsfandave managed to easily take care of a cake schedule last year and went 14-0 and won the CCG for the second year in a row, but hopes deflated after a second straight 1st round playoff exit. Still, things looked better last season than they did the year before and now this team has some good talent with a ton of seniors to give themselves a nice experiential edge. There were some issues recruiting last year and though there is some time left for recruiting this year, there me be some more issues. There are players signed as there were last year but none of the walk-ons were cut and sooner or later that will present some ugly depth issues. Cubsfandave went from being the sole human member of the SAC to having four new coaches join the conference. They did, however, all join the other division so CN will still be by themselves in the east. This will still present two cross-division games that may prove to be tough, one more than the other – the visit to Lenoir-Rhyne. A game against Kentucky State on day 4 may be a slight challenge but with this much talent and experience on the roster, it shouldn’t be that big of a problem. This still looks like a schedule that should end without a blemish in the loss column but mgoblue (Lenoir-Rhyne) proved to challenge some teams quite well last year, so who knows. I think winning the conference and looking to win a first round matchup is a good goal to have this season. It should be very doable.
Lenoir-Rhyne (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 11) – Mgoblue coached Truman State last season and decided to move laterally to LR. It’s a team with a similar amount of talent and he has inherited an unfortunately hectic OOC schedule. In addition to that, the thought of moving to a more empty conference turned out to be anything but, as three other humans joined him for the ride. Back to that schedule, four out of the five OOC games are all against top ten teams, not a pretty picture. To add to the fire, the first conference follow up will likely be the toughest in the conference against Carson-Newman. All this adds up to an unlikely playoff appearance but he did it last year with Truman State and five losses, so the SOS may just be friendly enough for another appearance. That means any mistakes along the way that aren’t expected will put an end to that hope most likely. A very important game against Glenville on day 12 may just decide it all. They’ve got some tools to do some damage, more so on offense than on defense, especially the secondary, where teams should be able to have some strong success in the pass game against them. Making the playoffs will be at the high end of hopeful goals this year and the easiest way for that to happen may be to make the CCG and win it outright against CN. It’s always possible that they beat CN twice, win themselves a CC and head into the playoffs at 10-4. I really don’t see them beating any of the four top ten teams they face early on, but an upset in any one of those games would be monumental in its own right. Finishing 7-6 and missing the playoffs would certainly be disappointing but also very understandable considering the conditions.
Glenville (Seniors Lost: 19/Current Seniors: 16) – Slowtospeak takes over a Glenville team that was preceded by a Sim AI but for the previous 43 seasons, always had a human coach. So there’s a good amount of human talent still on the team, though the biggest chunk of that talent left from last year’s class. A bright, up and coming RB will be leading the way for an otherwise, mostly mediocre offense. The defense is decent with the biggest problems maybe being the depth of the secondary, but otherwise doesn’t look too bad. I don’t quite know what to make of Glenville’s chances this year. A new coach, both to the school and the game raise more of an unpredictability factor. There are some very likely losses on the schedule but then about three games that could really go either way. They’ll probably need to win two of the three for decent playoff hopes. The goal should still be to make the playoffs with any playoff victory a huge bonus but missing the playoffs wouldn’t be a shocker and it’ll be a learning experience for the new coach either way.
West Virginia Tech (Seniors Lost: 15/Current Seniors: 15) – Sdbmasters takes over at coach for this WVT team. A team that won’t have too high of hopes for the first few seasons. The best players on this team are at best mediocre and with no positions standing out amongst the rest, it makes it hard to put together complete games against better opponents, even Sims. Three games right out of the gate should start for an ugly season, and even if they beat up on all the Sims, three conference games against human coaches will most likely all be losses, considering all those teams are at least all a solid notch up from WVT. I think the most realistic goal to start here will be to win all games against the Sims and for sdbmasters to do his best against all of the human talent he has to face.
West Virginia Wesleyan (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 13) – Long time coach at West Chester (11 seasons) in the almighty PSAC, robbman, decided to make a lateral move as he was sick of all those powerhouses over there and I don’t blame him one bit. It’s a tough scene to hold your own in that conference and it’s very hard to get consistent results while still improving talent on your roster when vision never seems to budge enough. It certainly didn’t help to be in the tougher, more crowded division either. A fresh start now in what would have been a fairly empty conference, only to be moved in on by three other guests. It’s a big difference here though, because none of these teams in the west of the SAC can compare to what the PSAC had to offer in terms of competition – they’re all newcomers themselves. Robbman hasn’t completely escaped the PSAC yet with a day 5 match against metcalf’s California (PA). It wasn’t the best conference draw to also have to face CN in addition to the other three newcomer human coaches. The upside is that the talent gap isn’t so wide in most of the games on the schedule so robbman can look to hope to be in every game he plays. This should give WVW a solid chance at making a quick mark. Even a record like 10-3 may be good enough to get into the playoffs. And this first year may be an important one to take hold of the west division right away make a mark for who should be worthy of owning the west. The team has some bright spots but the biggest edge robbman will have is all the experience in the PSAC of having to deal with uphill battles day in and day out. He still shouldn’t take anything for granted but hopefully he’s learned some tricks along the way to help out in his favor. All that being said, this team is still a click down from the likes of Glenville and Lenoir-Rhyne, so a playoff run isn’t the only thing that will be determined a success for this first year for WVW. I think the goal is still to try to sneak into the playoffs but 8-5 or 9-4 would still be a good start.
RMAC
Colorado-Mines (Seniors Lost: 10/Current Seniors: 20) – Another CC and another first round exit for the 2nd straight season for tiltwar’s Mines. A couple of tough OOC games and another human to have to face in conference will make getting a better playoff seed a little more difficult this year. The SOS may increase a bit but probably not enough to be in the better half of teams if they have two or more losses. A couple of decent RBs and a very nice O-Line are the highlights of this offense. The defense seems to have a solid player at each position but lacks much after that. They should still have enough talent to take down the rest of the conference and reach the CCG unscathed, as they proved they were certainly the better team than Highlands for the second year in a row. If they go to the playoffs at 12-2, their seed will depend greatly on SOS, which I feel will fail to be good enough to get a top #4 seed but that’s a long ways away. The goal should be to win the conference and hope for a good enough draw for a first round playoff victory. Getting to the 3rd round is probably a little unrealistic unless they can have a very fortuitous draw.
Western New Mexico (Seniors Lost: 9/Current Seniors: 17) – Western New Mexico gets a new coach as well in tokerbob. After a pretty tough OOC schedule, things cool down and WNM will only have one game against a human coach in conference. That game will be a tough one against Colorado-Mines and they’ll most likely be expected to lose but it won’t be out of reach by any means. Don’t quite know the Sim’s strategy in recruiting as the roster carries two junior punters and a sophomore one as well. That’s a little bit of bad luck for tokerbob but not the biggest concern. This team still has some human recruited talent left in their seniors. They’re not top quality talent but they might keep them in some games where they otherwise wouldn’t be. If everything goes as well as it can, almost every game on the schedule is winnable, so there is the potential of high hopes, but I don’t think that that is the most realistic scenario. I think 9-4 or 10-3 is more likely and it’s probably not going to be good enough to make it in unless I’m wrong about the prediction of their SOS. MOV would probably have to be pretty high to make up for this and I don’t necessarily see that against the Sims on the schedule. Playoffs would be nice but just getting to 9 wins would still be considered a success as far as I’m concerned.
New Mexico Highlands (Seniors Lost: 19/Current Seniors: 8) – Mattyice managed to find his way into the playoffs with Highlands last year and even though it was a quick exit in the playoffs, for the first year that was still a success. I don’t think this year will be a repeat playoff appearance as the OOC is considerably difficult and even with that nice boost in SOS, the conference play with mostly Sims should lower the SOS enough to make a five loss team be on the outside looking in. A very nice RB will do his best to bail out an otherwise very lackluster offensive squad. The defense looks a bit more rounded but there is going to be a major depth concern in the secondary, which won’t bode well for the 2nd halves of games. I think in order to make the playoffs, they may have to win the conference outright in the CCG because even if they were to beat Mines during the season, they’ll likely have to face them in the CCG again and if they lost that game, I still think they’d end up falling just short. A good goal would be to beat Mines in one of those two games or to at least have an undefeated record in conference outside of those Mines matchups.
PSAC
Mansfield (Seniors Lost: 11/Current Seniors: 12) – The good news last year for fotman was finally taking down lyonzfan for the conference title. There had been several very close games that he had fallen short and last year he finally got it done. The bad news was an early exit in the 2nd round for what had to have been high hopes and eyes on a potential NC. The loss came at the hands of fellow PSAC member, badaxe, who dominated the first half and made certain that there are four definite, viable NC threats coming out of the PSAC. Stacked everywhere on offense except for a weaker WR crew, this team should be able to move the ball against any and all defenses if they are on. The defense is stout but may have some depth issues when it comes to LB. Overall, a very solid team from top to bottom that will be a NC contender for sure. This has got to be the absolute weakest schedule that Mansfield has seen in quite a while. It seems like every year, Mansfield draws Indiana in cross-division, but not so this season. In fact, all three of those games will be against Sims. To top that off, one less human coach in the PSAC allows for only three games in conference against human coached talent. In OOC, Valdosta State is the toughest matchup and they had a bit of a setback last year (including a pretty bad loss to Mansfield). The two toughest games will likely be against Millersville and ESUP. I do think that Mansfield is definitely the best team in the eastern division but all it takes is one bad performance against a quality coach and they could miss their chance to defend their conference title. I think the goal should be set high and to win the conference again and aim for a run to win the NC. This team really can beat anyone on any given day and I would say they’re probably my runner up to win it all this year.
Millersville (Seniors Lost: 15/Current Seniors: 16) – Mojolad also saw his team lose in the 2nd round last season in a very tough draw while having to face Indiana (PA) after Millersville’s first round victory. This year’s team will have a very good offensive unit like they seem to always do. But the defense is what seems to be slightly improved and will make it tougher for opponents to stay in games unless they can find a way to slow Millersville down. The schedule is set up very nicely at a solid chance to go as far as reaching the CCG. Also not drawing Indiana (PA) (which really seems to end up being a big deal) is very nice and the OOC should be able to be managed without much trouble. If they can hold their own against Mansfield and ESUP (which is certainly a tall order), then they’ll very likely find themselves playing Indiana for a chance at mojo’s first PSAC CC in 11 years. Mojo almost decided to leave the PSAC this season but is sticking around for now. We’ll see how much fight and motivation that gives him this season to try to ruin some conference mates’ hopes. I think the goal at a minimum is to reach the 3rd round of the playoffs and hope for even better. That can be very tough to do given the path that one has to take nowadays in Warner DII but mojo seems to like to dream big.
East Stroudsburg (Seniors Lost: 11/Current Seniors: 11) – It was an odd year for badaxe and ESUP last season. A great OOC finish against some tough teams and then conference play went downhill, including an unexpected loss to California (PA). Then, ESUP just decides to take down Mansfield and UMC in back to back rounds like they were the solid favorite. A blowout loss to Indiana probably didn’t feel too good but a loss nonetheless was expected. A 12-5 record looks odd, but that becomes a lot more possible when having to deal with so many good teams in the PSAC. This ESUP team looks a little depleted compared to last year’s team but it’s only in certain spots and those diminishes aren’t huge. The QB and O-Line have come down a notch and the defense is close to the same and though maybe slightly worse as a whole, the LBs have improved. The yearly rival game against SEO is on day 4 this year. Back to back wins for badaxe will give him some confidence going into that one. Badaxe was the unlucky of the three big dogs from the east to pull both Indiana and California in cross-division play. This will make it exceedingly difficult to end up the winner of the east. Unless an upset against Indiana, it would likely have to come down to tie breakers if ESUP will have any chance at all to reach the CCG. With having to face Indiana and California, it doesn’t really leave any room for mistakes if badaxe wants to secure a playoff spot. That’s the sketchy thing about playing out of the PSAC; you can have a top 10-15 team and still miss the playoffs if everything seems to go against you. I think the goal this year will be to make the playoffs as a solid seed to be able to win a 1st round game and hope for a good enough draw to make a further run than that. Badaxe has proven that he can take down the best of the best, but I wouldn’t count on that in order to extend a playoff run. Things are hard enough for a PSAC team as it is. Except of course, ya know, all the ridiculous amounts of extra playoff cash.
Kutztown (Seniors Lost: 9/Current Seniors: 15) – Jdtilt spent his fifth straight season watching the playoffs from his couch as Kutztown is losing a little bit of grasp on contention within this conference. Kutztown did finish square on the bubble at 7-6, which actually gives hope to the idea that if the bubble is soft enough, it appears that a six loss team may just be able to get a playoff bid. Kutztown shared drawing the **** straw with ESUP as they will have to play both Indiana and California in cross-division. This means that a win against California is likely a must if they want to earn their way back off the couch and into the playoffs. I say California because, though Metcalf has done very well the last couple years, especially with some key upsets, they are still the weakest of the other five teams that Kutztown will be playing in conference. It’s still possible for an upset against ESUP or maybe Millersville, but much less so against teams like Mansfield and Indiana. We may see another 7-6 season from Kutztown with a great SOS but they’d have to rely on a lot of Sim AI success to keep it that high (I’m guessing that not only does the SOS have to be #1 for a six loss team to get in, but that it has to be miles ahead of #2 in percentage points). This Kutztown team is better than last year’s squad and that will give them chances to hang in there against those tougher conference opponents but I’m not sure it will be quite enough. We’ll see. This really would have been a nice year to not have to play Indiana or California (or at least only one of them), as I think that would make the playoffs an actual likelihood, but you can’t choose your draws. I think the goal is to beat either ACU in OOC or to beat California in conference (both would be a nice bonus) and hope that it would be enough to push passed the bubble this year. A 1st round playoff loss would be just fine because it would mean they’re back in the playoffs.
Indiana (PA) (Seniors Lost: 8/Current Seniors: 15) – Lyonzfan destroyed my dreams of my first NC last season by scoring 26 unanswered second half points and winning by a final score of 46-27. It was the third NC for Indiana in the last four seasons and I think that’s what you call a dynasty, or at least the start of one. Indiana’s only loss came at the hands of fotman’s Mansfield and it wasn’t by much. Lyonz cruised to the NC game and made it clear that Indiana was certainly the best team in Warner DII. Somehow, they only seem to get better this season. Two QBs that any team in their right mind would love to have as a starter. Three RBs of the same story. Sounds like made up stuff but seriously, you should check out their roster. A top notch WR, a solid TE and a monstrous O-Line adds some unnecessary punch. The defense is actually not as good. Still one of the best in the league though so no worries there. The most interesting game on the schedule will be the day 5 meeting against Quincy. Last year’s matchup between the two teams was closely fought and Indiana had to pull a few tricks to sneak away with the win. You can bet brygold has his heart set on a little revenge. In conference has games against ESUP and Kutztown, as well as the yearly meeting against California. ESUP certainly has the potential to make it close, but it’s still a very likely victory for Indiana. Quincy will have the best chance to put a blemish on Indiana’s regular season, at least prior to the CCG. The goal this year will be to win it all again and I think I can honestly say that anything less would be a disappointment. Nothing devastating but this team absolutely has all the tools to do it again.
California (PA) (Seniors Lost: 10/Current Seniors: 13) – Four, count ‘em, four straight playoff appearances for Metcalf and California. All first round exits but last season’s was the only real disappointing one. After finding a way to go 12-1 with a pretty tough schedule that included wins against Miles and ESUP, both teams that fared well in the playoffs and had solid talent and coaches. So to not win that first round game was definitely a letdown. The offense has some good talent in spots, mostly led by a very nice O-Line. The defense isn’t bad but no area stands out as great, which you kind of need in this conference in order to give yourself more consistent chances of pulling off a few upsets. Another game against an improved Miles team will be an important OOC match. The ESUP game could be very interesting this year but I think the most important conference game will be to take care of business against Kutztown and solidify California as the solid, fifth ranked team in this conference. They’ll always have it easier being in the less crowded division, but it will certainly help with confidence in the tougher conference games. I think the goal this year will be to get another top #4 playoff seed and at least get to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Even if they end up with a #6 seed, it’ll be pretty huge for Metcalf if he can find his way into the 2nd round.
NSIC
Minnesota-Crookston (Seniors Lost: 4/Current Seniors: 20) – UMC fell at the hands of a red hot ESUP team last year in the 3rd round. It wasn’t a terrible result for them as this is the year they will expect to make a deeper run with NC hopes in mind. UMC has their roster set up for 20 seniors every other season which really gives an edge with experience and formation IQ. This team really shines the most with their line play, as both are near or at the top of the rankings. UMC really needs to rely on their defense in order to consistently beat all these great offenses nowadays. They are definitely a run first ballclub and then benefits them very well if the tone of the game goes their way and they keep the score down but can really backfire if they get down a few scores early on. It can make it difficult to have consistent playoff success, but when their defense is hot and nacorwin’s gameplan is on, this is a very tough team to move the ball against, and this makes it very difficult to win. There are a couple of tough games OOC but I think UMC will be decently favored in both. UMC is a definite NC contender and it should be the top goal to aim for but I think getting to the semifinals or just appearing in the NC game will be a victory itself. Because after a string of very solid years where they appeared in six title games and won three of them, they’ve cooled down the last five seasons, never winning more than 16 games and never advancing passed the 3rd round.
Northern State (Seniors Lost: 9/Current Seniors: 7) – Ranger fought his way into the playoffs last year but made an early exit with a 1st round loss. It wasn’t expected to be much better than that considering he only had 16 upper classmen to work with. That’s tough for any team, guaranteed. But this squad is starting to look a lot better and should some better opportunities for advancement next season, and maybe this season as well. However, the biggest question mark will be the QB for next year, but that’s a topic for next season. There’s already some solid talent on this team and Northern should be able to compete with a good amount of the league. A UMC draw in cross-division is certainly not fortuitous but other than that and the game against GVSU, things look very good. But at 11-2 and then a likely 11-3 after the CCG, that leaves a questionable seeding going into the playoffs. It would be a nice win to get back to the 2nd round of the playoffs, which they’ve been unable to do the last four years. So I would say the main goal is to get to the 2nd round and hope for a nice bracket that would give the hopeful possibility of winning in that 2nd round match.
Charleston (Seniors Lost: 15/Current Seniors: 17) – New coach, wizbang, who’s logged many seasons in GD, is the new coach for a Charleston team that has only had two seasons of human coaches in the last 60+ seasons. They fared well for a Sim last year, barely sneaking into the playoffs and then leaving quickly. If five senior RBs with no others on the roster sounds like a bad idea, it’s because it is. These are the shortcomings new coaches must deal with when taking over a Sim coached team though. This is a very mediocre ballclub but it’s going to run into its biggest problems on the defensive side of the ball. A completely depleted secondary will be carrying two sophomores and five recently recruited freshmen. Yikes. The LBs also look bad, where elsewhere, you’d maybe be able to work with what you got and hide some of the worse depth. Overall, there is not going to be an easy way for this team to stay in games due to just how young and bad the secondary will be. It doesn’t help that the OOC schedule is a complete nightmare. Only one human coach to play against in conference play but by that point, the playoffs will most likely be a fantasy. I think the goal this year is to find ways to beat all the Sims. They have the offense to put points on the board against these Sims but it’ll be tough sailing to come up with ways to limit their opponents’ scoring. If they can walk away with an 8-5 record at season’s end, it’ll by a great victory and a goal well reached.
NE-10
Long Island (Seniors Lost: 15/Current Seniors: 8) – Another nice season for jjohn at Long Island ended in a close game against SDSU. But a win against SEO in the 2nd round to get to that quarterfinal loss was a nice one. This team looks pretty good on offense but is going to run into some depth issues, especially on the line. The defense has some strength and is fairly well rounded. A tough game against NCCU on day 4 may end up being their only loss, although there will be a fight for the division against Bryant on day 13 that they could also lose. Long Island has been able to pretty consistently take care of Bryant in recent years though so I’d give a somewhat solid edge to them there. The game against NCCU will be a very tough one to win but they do have the talent to potentially pull off the upset. The goal this season will be to win the conference again and hopefully take it one step further and try to make the semis, however, getting to the quarterfinals again certainly wouldn’t be a failure. I fear that the SOS won’t be quite good enough to put them in position to make a deep run in the playoffs though. If they end the season with one loss, they may be on the skirts of a #4/#5 seed, which wouldn’t bode well for them come the 2nd round.
Bryant (Seniors Lost: 14/Current Seniors: 9) – After a few down seasons with less than 10 wins, bribigdog has started to get back on track the last two years by going 12-2 and 11-3. There still hasn’t been success in the playoffs, but it’s a start. Last year’s playoff loss in the first round was a tough one. It absolutely had a Bryant win written all over it (against a good Millersville team to boot) and then some questionable game mechanic issues, followed by a decent amount of luck for mojolad and it was all she wrote for bribigdog. It’s a good sign for things to come this year, however. The offensive line is probably taking a bit of a step back and the defense lost some talent and depth in certain areas while gaining it in others, so a trade off of sorts. The schedule looks very beatable and isn’t completely wide open but Bryant should be able to have their chances to win in each and every game, including the most important one versus Long Island on day 13. Nothing like saving the best and most crucial for last. A top end goal would be to win the conference, with maybe a more important goal of advancing to the 2nd round or further of the playoffs. Either would feel good for this Bryant team in order to gain their confidence back to where it was at when they were the team to beat in the NE-10.
Stonehill (Seniors Lost: 11/Current Seniors: 12) – TheGreatJDP had a nice start to his coaching career at Stonehill with a 10-4 regular season and a 1st round playoff win against Carson-Newman. The season ended shortly after against UMC in the 2nd round. The team definitely has the firepower to have at least a similar season. The offense has weapons here and there, even if no one obviously stands out. The defense sports one of the best LBs there is in DII but has a weaker and shallow secondary. The schedule is set up for some very interesting matchups. OOC games against Indianapolis and Valdosta State are both interesting, though the Valdosta game will be more than likely the tougher challenge. A chance to prove a little more worthiness against Bryant will take place again this year on day 8. I think they’ll have a solid edge against Concord to be the team out of the west that reaches the CCG. If Stonehill can manage to have only two losses going into that CCG, I think that will be a notable success. Another 1st round playoff win may not be expected but would certainly be welcomed.
Concord (Seniors Lost: 11/Current Seniors: 11) – Bballc followed up a rough first season with a very successful second season. He finished just outside the bubble but 10-3 is nothing to scoff at when the talent just isn’t there yet. Right now that talent still doesn’t consist of much but it’s on its way. There are some alright areas of the roster, just nothing that will overtake any games as of yet. The schedule was set up to have a better chance at a go of the playoffs this year as there may be only two likely losses. But then it will come down to SOS and MOV like it always does with weaker two loss teams. I like the possibility of being on the right side of that this year but I wouldn’t speak too soon on the matter. I think the goal is to dominate the Sims as much as possible, go 11-2 and hope that the playoff gods call Concord’s name during bid selection.
NCC
South Dakota State (Seniors Lost: 7/Current Seniors: 14) – Jaylien had an impressive playoff turnout last year by upsetting GVSU in the 2nd round and taking down Long Island the next round. It came to an end with their second loss of the year to Saint Joe’s but a wonderful step in the right direction for SDSU, and the uptick in vision is a huge bonus to it all. The offense looks very solid at every position with a couple of nice RBs and a good O-Line. The WRs are decent but nothing special. The defense has a few more issues with the back seven but it won’t automatically keep them out of games, except for maybe against the Indiana’s of the world. A day 3 game against Ferris State may be an interesting one, but I still like SDSU somewhat convincingly. The rest of the schedule doesn’t look like it holds any other real threats and they avoided the regular season game against Humboldt that they’ve had the pleasure of playing the last two years. That will most certainly be the team they face in the CCG though, so let the sparks fly in that one, as both those teams have been great playing each other and having some good back and forth battles. It’s very tough to say what I think will happen in that CCG and which team will come out on top of the NCC. SDSU’s goal will still be to win the conference and make it to at least the 3rd round of the playoffs (if they proved they can do it last year, why not again, right?), but I think that just depends on so many 50/50 types of games that it may be difficult to expect. SDSU is a good team with a good coach but they don’t have the type of talent that every team will fear going up against them. Lots of questions that are just tough to answer.
Humboldt State (Seniors Lost: 10/Current Seniors: 14) – Another solid season for Humboldt and tampafla, who ended with a 13-3 record. A nice win in the 1st round against Valdosta State and then a decent showing against a very good NCCU team in the 2nd round. Though coming up short against NCCU, I think they could have had a chance to win a considerable amount of other 2nd round matchups. It just wasn’t the best bracket draw. This year’s team has some quality younger players on offense who are fairly good right now and will absolutely be great in a couple years, especially as an entire unit. The defense is more experienced right now and doesn’t have any glaring weak spots, while at the same time, nothing is elite. But up and down this squad should be able to threaten a good amount of teams in DII. Tampafla has a pretty perfect schedule to head to the CCG at 13-0. The four teams in OOC will all be underdogs to Humboldt, and yet they will still mostly carry good records at season’s end. There are nothing but Sims in conference play, so MOV should be top notch and Humboldt will most likely have a great seed to play for in the CCG against a presumable SDSU team. I think the goal is to go undefeated and hope for either a #2 or #1 seed (This is probably unlikely just due to the nature of the other teams that carry great talent and will undoubtedly have tougher schedules) and aim for a semifinal appearance in the playoffs. Quarterfinals would probably do but with the right draw, semis aren’t unrealistic.
MIAA
Lock Haven (Seniors Lost: 14/Current Seniors: 17) – Donbrenner’s Lock Haven had an undefeated regular season last year only to follow it up with a 1st round loss against ESUP. Part of the issue was the extremely weak SOS that had them finish with nothing more than a #4 seed. That’s the kind of thing that can happen with building an easy schedule. It helps with win count and vision, I suppose, but the drawback is that it’s much harder to advance in the playoffs. The offense has some all around strength but some major issues at WR depth. One solid senior WR and a good younger one, but the subs coming in will definitely hurt. The D-Line and secondary both look very good but the LB core is a couple steps behind. The SOS will most likely be once again one of the worst in all of DII as the first 11 games of the year are all Sims. So most likely another undefeated season and a CC but possibly the same issue as last season with having to face an equally good team or better in the 1st round. That will all depend on the bracket draw, of course. So, the goal this year should be to win the conference and then hope for a good enough bracket draw to at least win a 1st round game. It would be nice to advance to the 3rd round but that will likely require being in the weakest of brackets, in addition to lucking out with a #3 seed.
Cheyney (Seniors Lost: 12/Current Seniors: 11) – The second year in a row failing to make the playoffs but it probably wasn’t in the cards anyway. One extra win than the previous year is probably enough of a success. Things should start to be able to come together a little bit in order to start more easily handling the Sims on a regular basis. There are still some depth issues at a few positions and no superstars on the team by any means but enough talent to dismantle Sims on the schedule and at least be in games against similarly ranked human opponents. It certainly appeared to be a point in getting a superstar caliber player during recruiting, as there are plenty of average players that probably could have been improved on and one other that stood out by a lot; a recruit who will be a very talented WR. If tmburton is able to handle all of the Sims on the schedule with enough ease, then the worst this team will do is go 9-4. There are, however, a couple winnable games against human coaches that I’d think he will have a good chance of at least splitting the two. I think the goal should be to get to 10 wins, with anything higher being a great plus. I doubt that would be enough to land a playoff spot but you never know. Let those cards fall as they may.
Southwest Baptist (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 8) – A 7-6 finish was definitely a letdown after two straight 10 win seasons with playoff bids. The team just wasn’t there talent-wise for another 10 win season though. I don’t see this year being much different. This is for a couple of reasons. One: the talent is still developing and just not good enough to hang with the majority of human coached teams; Two: the human coached teams on the schedule are mostly well coached and abundant enough to make it very difficult to get to those 10 wins. Even a 9-4 final record would be a success in my book. I think the goal is to try to get to 9 wins and hope that the SOS holds up as being top 20 and maybe they can sneak into the playoffs anyway with that. That’s hoping for a lot but it’s probably the best that can be hoped for. Getting passed the first round doesn’t seem possible but a playoff bid would absolutely be good enough.
LSC
SE Oklahoma-Durant (Seniors Lost: 8/Current Seniors: 9) – Dukers had what could have been a great opportunity last year to make the semifinals or even possibly the NCG. SEO was in a bracket that turned out to be the most open bracket, but instead SEO failed to beat Long Island in the 2nd round and they can now never know what could have been. An absolutely excellent QB this season will be throwing to an outstanding WR and the rest of the offense looks formidable as well. The defense isn’t quite on the same page but they’ll do well enough to hold their own against most. A packed OOC schedule that will have a few interesting matchups, including what’s turning into a yearly rival game against ESUP. SEO has been on the wrong end of that one so far but some of those games have gone down to the wire. SEO also happens to play every other human coached team in the conference and this should give way to a very nice end of season SOS. I like them to sweep in conference play while losing one or two in OOC. A 13-1 record would likely give them at least a #2 seed, or at least I would think so due to the projected caliber of the SOS. I think the goal this year will be to win the conference and hope to advance to the 3rd round of the playoffs and if things go their way, hope to maybe even make the semis.
Northeastern State (Seniors Lost: 8/Current Seniors: 15) – The first two seasons of play for TechPhan have been very mediocre at best, with a combined record of 13-13. Hopefully he can have a more exciting change of pace this season. The first two seasons of recruiting seemed to go decently, considering where the team was at with talent. No recruits that stood out but solid classes for a team of this caliber. This year doesn’t look so good as there is only several hours left of recruiting and Northeastern only has 2 of their 8 open scholarships filled. I suppose it’s possible that rearrangement of the roster is underway but 2 seems like an odd number for that to be happening. This team is a notch up from where they were last year, with no real stars and yet nothing super lopsided on the roster either. OOC only has one team that will be very tough to beat and the rest Sims. This is good because techphan drew both other human coaches in cross-division. There’s a chance they could take two out of the four conference games that are against humans, which leaves a ceiling record of 10-3. That result would be phenomenal. I just don’t know if techphan’s lack of GD experience will get in the way of winning that many games or not. I would say a good goal would to be win somewhere between 8-10 games. That would at least put them ahead of the last two seasons. Even with a record of 10-3, I’m not sure that would be enough to get in to the playoffs. It might be close but I’d bet against it, with the biggest reason being a small MOV.
Central Oklahoma (Seniors Lost: 12/Current Seniors: 5) – It’s only been about 10 seasons since Central Oklahoma has had a human running the show, but since that time, they plummeted all the way down to ranking dead last in the WIS rankings last season. I very much doubt things will be quite that bad this year, but there are bound to be some bumps along the way to start things off. There is not a lot in the way of good players on this roster, but I’ve seen worse. Still, some areas leave a lot to be desired. In particular, the secondary is going to be very tired for all the targets they’ll be facing. The schedule could be a lot worse but I think the maximum amount of wins that scottypup could come away with is about 9. That would be a clean sweep of all the Sims and that’s still not a probable outcome. So, really, anything above .500 for this first year would be a job well done. Other goals will be to follow up this season with as good of a recruiting job as vision will allow.
Abilene Christian (Seniors Lost: 14/Current Seniors: 13) – Gus_McCrae takes over at coach for dhouston, who was at ACU for an astonishing 58 seasons before finally calling it quits. Without checking, I’m betting that that is currently the 2nd most consecutive seasons coached at a school in Warner DII, behind only jdtilt at Kutztown. Not sure at all why dhouston left, but he doesn’t have any current teams anywhere, so I’m guessing either real life got in the way or he was just tired of the game. Best of luck to him, wherever he is. Last year was the fourth season in a row of losing a 2nd round playoff game and I was honestly surprised that they got passed their 1st round matchup against California (PA). California seemed like the better team and absolutely had their best season to date under coach Metcalf. They ran into Quincy in the 2nd round though, and ended up on the wrong side of a beat down. That’s no fault of theirs. Quincy was far too much of a match for them. It’ll be interesting to see what the new coach’s plans are with game planning. Dhouston was a run heavy squad but there is a lot of talent at WR with this team, so there will be options with what to direction to go in. The offense overall is very solid from top to bottom. The defense also has some good talent, but probably not quite on par with what the offense has to bring to the table. The schedule is very wide open except for a game against SEO on day 6, which though may be an unlikely win, it won’t be an impossible one. OOC has Kutztown on day 3 and I think I like this ACU team a good amount better. Coaching will be an important factor in that one and I don’t know enough about Gus to make a prediction based on that at this point. I think a good goal this year will be to have the only two losses be to SEO, once in the regular season and then in the CCG. If they happen to win either of those, that will be above and beyond what is hoped for. When it comes playoff time, the goal would likely be to win a 1st round matchup and not to expect much after that.
West Texas A&M (Seniors Lost: 18/Current Seniors: 5) – Dmac has had some major issues recruiting over the last couple seasons and it shows on the roster. The talent is sparse and there are more than a couple of obvious walk-ons spread around. This is certainly going to pose some major problems and though the final WIS ranking for WTAM was at 42 last year, things would go in a much better direction if the roster started to have some year to year improvements. The focus will have to be against Sims in the mean time, in order to put together enough wins to prevent vision from plummeting and making recruiting that much more difficult. Even games against some of the Sims will likely prove to be difficult, just because of the lack of talent on the roster. A repeat of last year’s 7-6 record would actually be a nice feat, but I’m guessing it won’t end that well this year. Figuring out some more consistent strategies with recruiting will probably be an even more important goal though.
GSC
West Alabama (Seniors Lost: 4/Current Seniors: 17) – Nitros came ahead ridiculously ahead of schedule last season by improving to 12-2 from a 0-13 record the previous year. That’s a nice turnaround to say the least. One of those two losses should have been a win against an inferior team but I’m sure he’ll take the 12-2 finish. For a team that finished with zero wins two seasons ago, the talent on the roster is much better than I expected it to be. I would say formidable to some top 32 teams. That means potential for some playoff hopes this year. And they have the schedule to do it. If they can avoid any losses like the one they had last year that ultimately kept them out of the playoffs, then it looks pretty good to get through this year’s grind with a 12-1 or 13-0 record. They still aren’t really in the running to compete for a CC yet but for a complete rebuild, things are looking up early on. I would say the goal would be to win 12 or 13 games and most importantly, make the playoffs. The SOS is going to be on the weak side again but hopefully MOV will be high enough to make up the difference. The biggest game on the schedule is Glenville on day 2. If they can win that one, nitros should prove to himself that going undefeated the rest of the way (at least until the CCG) should be expected.
Valdosta State (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 10) – It was a disappointing season last year for Valdosta State. They lost the only real losable games during the regular season and then got bounced out of the playoffs in the 1st round at the hands of a rising Humboldt State team. It was most definitely not an embarrassing loss there but one wonders if things had gone better in the regular season if they could have given themselves better chances at an easier 1st round matchup. It is what it is though. It ends up being the second straight 1st round loss for them. That first one was some real bad luck though, with having to go up against an under-seeded Quincy team. The offense is highlighted by a very good O-Line and top notch starting WRs. The defense is well rounded and doesn’t have any major weaknesses. This is a team who could potentially give the best of the best plenty of competition if superv comes in with a good game plan. We’ll see that type of scenario play out on day 5 against Mansfield, who happened to beat down Valdosta pretty good last year. I still like Mansfield in that one but superv will have a chance at some revenge. The rest of the schedule should go smoothly enough and have Valdosta finish with no more than that potential one loss to Mansfield. I think the goal is to win the conference and at least get out of the 1st round of the playoffs. Realistically, this team should be aiming for the 3rd round or higher but at the very minimum, the 2nd round is a must for a team of this caliber.
Delta State (Seniors Lost: 7/Current Seniors: 9) – Delta State has had a string of six straight 1st round playoff appearances and losses. That’s not a bad thing, but I’m sure ftbeaglesfan would like that to change a bit for the better and start advancing a little further. In Delta State’s position, that starts with the trickiness of trying to make a schedule that will allow your team the best chance to both win and to create a SOS that will benefit your team when it comes to seeding. That may be one of the most difficult aspects of the game, in my opinion. With the way Delta’s schedule is set up, they could really end up with anything from a #3-#8 seed. The only way I see a #3 seed happening would be if they were to win against Humboldt State on day 5. I doubt that one would happen. The next best case scenario is for a #4 or #5 seed with only two losses on the schedule. That one is definitely up in the air and will depend greatly on how the SOS and MOV turn out but there’s more hope for that scenario. On top of that, bracket draws can play a big part in just how winnable those #4/#5 matchups are, because we’ve all seen some very under-seeded teams ranked that low due to their own SOS problems. This Delta team is still young and I think that that is there biggest flaw to overcome this year. They do have an outstanding RB, who may have to carry the offense himself most of the time. On the defensive side of the ball, the secondary stands out as the most talented. With so many pass heavy teams nowadays, I’d say this is the best area to excel in. So, all in all, I’d say there will be chances to put Delta in a hopeful situation of finally getting passed that 1st round jinx. That will definitely be the goal this year, to advance to the 2nd round and still be happy if that’s the furthest they get.
Henderson State (Seniors Lost: 8/Current Seniors: 6) – Not a good start for rainman in his first season at Henderson. The 1-12 start was probably in big part to a very young team that had just lost a lot of seniors, so that didn’t help. I know that rainman recruited last season so I’m not sure what happened this year but even though there were two recruits who were interested in Henderson, zero recruits were signed out of the eight open scholarships. That will only make this already young team look younger. Any of the talent from last year’s class won’t really start showing promise until at least next season and that talent is still few and far between. There is not much hope for any success this year and there won’t be in years to come unless rainman can get the most out of each class year after year. Even the Sims on the schedule will likely come in to each game as the favorite to win. The goal for this year will be to win as many games as the talent and lack of talent on the opposition’s side allows. That seems at best somewhere between 3-6 games.
GLIAC
Grand Valley State (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 11) – After dredging through a worrisome OOC schedule that had a couple close calls, realist cruised through conference play easily enough to finish 14-0 with another CC to add to the belt. An easy first round playoff game was immediately followed by a sudden upset, coming at the hands of SDSU’s jaylien. GVSU was up 21-10 at the half and it seemed like everything was going well enough. That gradually turned into trouble and GVSU let it slip away and lost 40-37. Certainly a disappointment for what the expectations were to begin the season but upsets are going to happen now and again. The offense will revolve around the RBs and what will be a killer O-Line. The defense is solid, including an excellent group of LBs. Even though the schedule is once again packed with human coaches to face, they are nearly all teams that will have trouble competing with a team of GVSU’s prestige and raw talent. This schedule is set up for realist to be able to finish 14-0 without many issues. He should be confident in being able to do so. I think that a goal of getting to the 3rd or 4th round of the playoffs and still having NC hopes in his sight aren’t too unrealistic. GVSU is one of the teams that could potentially beat any team they face. They’ll need to play clean and not make mistakes but it’s definitely doable.
Indianapolis (Seniors Lost: 17/Current Seniors: 10) – After a couple of seasons of missing the playoffs, sethstorer jumped up from 8-5 and 7-6 records to go 11-3 after an early playoff exit. That’s a nice improvement. I’d see the best sign actually came in OOC play against NCCU when they barely came short of an upset comeback by losing 31-28. That’s a team they would seem far away from being able to hang with so even though they didn’t walk away with a win, it’s a win in its own right. There are some superstar quality players on this team but they’re a little too spread out and not at any of the skill positions so it’s hard for them to take over the game. It’s still a roster with a good amount of talent and if that NCCU game wasn’t a fluke last year, they’ll be on other teams’ radars as a feisty opponent. There are a couple of interesting OOC games against Stonehill and Kentucky State that could prove to be close games. I think I like Indianapolis with an edge in each game. If they were to lose one of the two, I would guess it would be against Stonehill, but both could come down to the wire. Indianapolis could definitely end up with just one loss and if they had two, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. A one loss season could give them a pretty nice playoff seed, possibly as high as #3. If they’re aiming for the sky, the goal would be to avoid more than a sole loss during the season and win their first round playoff game. With the right draw, maybe even an upset to advance to the 3rd round.
Findlay (Seniors Lost: 10/Current Seniors: 14) – Findlay just failed to make the playoffs last year. A 10-3 finish just didn’t have quite enough quality wins or opponents faced to give that SOS boost that’s necessary for some 10-3 teams. This team has some very solid seniors in spots but is lacking in depth in a lot of areas and I think there were some walk-ons during last year’s recruiting. This year’s recruiting seemed to go much better with all open scholarships accounted for. It would be advantageous maximize the win count this year as the next couple years may be troublesome before this younger talent progresses. It should be possible to get to 10, 11 or maybe even 12 wins if everything goes their way. I think a good goal is to aim for 11 wins and hope they can sneak into the playoffs. This seems like MOV could play a big role in that. So stomping all the Sims may help relieve the anxiety that some 11-2 teams face around bubble time.
Ferris State (Seniors Lost: 8/Current Seniors: 11) – Ferris State had their 2nd straight season with a 1st round playoff exit. The biggest concern, however, is that jmayhew came up completely empty in recruiting. There were only eight scholarships to fill, but all eight turned into walk-ons and that doesn’t bode well for season long participation. Who knows, maybe things just got too hectic to deal with any of recruiting for the time being and things will pipe back up soon enough. That will likely need to be pretty soon though because OOC is filled with nothing but human coached teams. If jmayhew doesn’t change game plans, even the games that he’d be expected to win (which I’d say would probably be 3 out of the 5) could end badly. On top of that, he pulls GVSU in cross-division, which would normally be a loss but one that was never automatic in the past and usually somewhat close, even sometimes a win. Even if the freshmen weren’t walk-ons, this team’s talent is starting to move a little in the wrong direction. It’s not without its merits, but it’s going to be tougher to compete than in years past. It’s really hard to say what this team’s goals should be. That really all depends on if jmayhew will be steering the ship or not. Let’s pretend that he will be. With all things averaging out, I’d say a 10-3 season would be up to par and probably a low playoff seed without much hope of winning that first playoff game. If he’s not behind the wheel, Ferris State has the potential to finish under .500. That would be ugly but what else could you expect.
Northwood (Seniors Lost: 19/Current Seniors: 12) – Another empty recruiting class, but this one will be much more costly with 19 walk-ons. That would end up ruining most rosters fairly quickly. This one is from a brand new GD coach, Debo3550. I honestly don’t quite understand how that works though. If you start playing the game and do the work to change your job and move up to DII after your first season in DIII, why completely stop what you’re doing there and stop playing the game? Unless of course some new players don’t even know how recruiting works or that it even happens. I don’t know. It’s all very confusing to me. Either way, this team hasn’t made the playoffs in 20+ seasons and that won’t change by the end of this season. The roster has a couple of okay players here and there but the 19 terrible freshmen that are coming in are going to make a bad impact right away. Five games against humans this year will all be losses and the games against Sims will likely be very difficult to find ways to win. If Debo has already checked out, then this team could go 0-13. Even if he’s giving his full attention, I doubt that Northwood could get passed 3 or 4 wins.
CIAA
Virginia State (Seniors Lost: 7/Current Seniors: 15) – Pistol lost in the first round against SEO last year. SEO was the better team and a team that was capable of getting a #2 seed, so it was a bit of a tough draw too. Pistol has done a good job so far and I think this season there will be a lot more potential with some players that are growing in talent. The last two seasons had the roster’s talent looking pretty bare and pistol did just fine to make the playoffs. So it will be interesting what he can start to do with players more progressed. The defense is starting to look a bit better and more complete. It’s still not all the way there yet but I imagine they’ll start to give up far less on average, which will help keep them in games against stronger talent. The offense still has a ways to go but there’s more depth and that will go a long way. OOC starts off with a bang and there are three very tough games in the first five. Even walking away with one win in those three games will be a success as far as I’m concerned. So if pistol can start 3-2, it’s a great sign for how the season may end up. Any better than that will be a monumental victory. I think the end goal is to try to win one of those three games early on, then make the playoffs and find a way to win a first round game. A second round win would be a very nice bonus but it might be a bit early to expect that.
Bowie State (Seniors Lost: 13/Current Seniors: 10) – After the first two seasons of going 8-5, it was a rough follow up season record of 6-7. There weren’t many highlights but brbhn hopes to get back on track to a winning record. Besides a solid Junior RB, there’s not a lot to be excited about on this roster. The OOC schedule will not make this one bit easier. There’s nothing wrong with setting up a few easy matches when trying to rebuild a program or grow vision. But brbhn has gone pretty all out in scheduling all five games of OOC against human opponents. Only one of those games is even remotely winnable I’d say. That’s going to be a tough start and it makes for trying to get that winning record back a very difficult feat. Drawing NCCU in cross-division and having to play a rising Virginia State team will make things very tough to getting even 6 wins. Looks like next year will be a better chance at doing so. I think the goal is to do his best to wade through these treacherous waters, then to focus on setting up a more beatable OOC schedule next season.
Elizabeth City (Seniors Lost: 10/Current Seniors: 14) – I don’t know what’s more confusing, spending the last two seasons signing nothing but walk-ons for recruiting, or finding a way to win 7 games last year as one of the bottom five ranked teams in all of DII. They are ranked 2nd to last this year and I honestly don’t know how Paco will find a way to win any games this season. There are a couple players at most positions that will be able to do good football things, but even those aren’t exactly special. The real problem becomes the expanding, atrocious depth that is everywhere. The lone bright spot is that there are 10 Sims to play against on the schedule. Sooner or later, signing nothing but walk-ons year after year will result in 0-13 records. We’ll see how much Paco can do with a couple seasons of doing so. The goal should be to find a way to win 7 games again, I guess.
North Carolina Central (Seniors Lost: 8/Current Seniors: 9) – Kevinbigham went into a quarterfinal playoff game against Indiana assuming he didn’t stand much of a chance. The result was an NCCU loss but it was a tough fight and they lost by the least amount as compared to any other Indiana opponent during their quest to win it all. This NCCU team is still very, very solid. They possess a great combination of skill position players in addition to having a stellar O-Line. The defense isn’t quite so dominant but they’re also not far off. Besides a game against Long Island on day 4 (which I think they’ll handle easily enough), NCCU should be able to cruise right through the regular season and into the CCG without a blemish to their record. Then comes the likely matchup against Virginia State in the CCG. The talent gap is still too far but I wouldn’t be surprised if in a couple/several seasons this rivalry will turn into a close one. I think the goal this year is to find themselves in the playoffs as a #1 or #2 seed, undefeated, and put themselves in the best position to make a run at winning it all. The team absolutely has the talent to do so. It may just be a matter of avoiding Indiana.
St. Augustine’s (Seniors Lost: 14/Current Seniors: 14) – Veejay comes to St. Augustine’s as their new coach but is no stranger at all to GD. He takes over a team that has some bright spots, but they’re mostly few and far between. Nonetheless, it may be enough to do the damage that is necessary to take down most Sim teams and improve upon vision. If he sticks around long enough, he’ll be trying to do what no one has ever done at St. Augustine’s, and that’s winning a conference championship. That’s a ways off in the future though. The schedule is pretty wide open to be able to score up a winning record in veejay’s first season here. No humans in OOC and two very good teams to face in conference, but otherwise nothing but Sims. That’s always a good sign in a coach’s first year at a rebuild. I think the goal will be to try to get to 8, 9 or 10 wins and do the best with what St. Augustine has at their disposal. Playoffs aren’t realistic even with sweeping the Sims because SOS will most definitely be weak and MOV probably wouldn’t be great either.
5/18/2016 12:54 AM (edited)