After a one year hiatus, we're back! The CVAC and Heartland are full and the Peach is up to 11 humans! Recruiting in the southeast has turned into a bloodbath, with several teams looking elsewhere for talent. Meanwhile, out in California there are only 4 human coaches and approximately a billion recruits. How I envy the California coaches!

NFla seems like the class of the Peach, while Lander may be finally ready to appear again on a national stage. Although I stupidly cut a JR who annoyed me (because he had no standout qualities) and because I thought I could get someone to replace him. D1 sim swooped in and dashed my hopes, and now looking at my depth chart......he probably would have started. Not my best move as coach at Lander, that's for sure.

Who ya got?

Ohio Valley in WVIAC will be OK this year, but next year with 2 pulldowns we will be strong. Young team with only 2 seniors. We will see

I know it's a cop-out to go with the top-ranked team, but emy's parkside team looks extremely tough...lots of seniors with very high ath, def, per, and passing in a flex/man scheme. I don't see them dropping a game, even with that schedule.

Heartland has 6 ranked teams, including 3 of the top 9. St Mary's (TX) is the highest ranked of the teams at #3 and has team LP & PER both in the 50s. They'll score and hope the defense (DEF = 44) is good enough. The rest of teams:

Incarnate Word (#7), St Edwards (#9), Rockhurst (#16), Oklahoma Panhandle St (#18), & W Florida (#23) are the rest of the ranked teams. Valdosta St is also receiving votes.

Last year's national champion, Lincoln, had a rough offseason. They filled 3 spots, but ended up taking 4 walkons as they were on the losing end of a lot of battles.

Posted by davefilby on 8/2/2016 12:37:00 PM (view original):
Heartland has 6 ranked teams, including 3 of the top 9. St Mary's (TX) is the highest ranked of the teams at #3 and has team LP & PER both in the 50s. They'll score and hope the defense (DEF = 44) is good enough. The rest of teams:

Incarnate Word (#7), St Edwards (#9), Rockhurst (#16), Oklahoma Panhandle St (#18), & W Florida (#23) are the rest of the ranked teams. Valdosta St is also receiving votes.

Last year's national champion, Lincoln, had a rough offseason. They filled 3 spots, but ended up taking 4 walkons as they were on the losing end of a lot of battles.

Wow, a 461 walk-on with 94 WE...that's not bad as far as walk-ons go.

Getbedarded, I never thanked you for dropping Willard Schloss. Maybe we will meet in the NT and he can get revenge on his old team. The CVAC has 3 standout teams which include Anderson, Pfeiffer, and Longwood. We also have quite a few other teams that are looking to make the NT and help make the CVAC the best conference again.

Posted by carson333 on 8/2/2016 3:10:00 PM (view original):
Getbedarded, I never thanked you for dropping Willard Schloss. Maybe we will meet in the NT and he can get revenge on his old team. The CVAC has 3 standout teams which include Anderson, Pfeiffer, and Longwood. We also have quite a few other teams that are looking to make the NT and help make the CVAC the best conference again.

I have made a few bad cuts in my day. I usually trend pretty high risk/high reward, and Schloss is one of those guys who has a very high floor, but not a high ceiling. Definitely a very useful player, but not a home run. I've been flying out on the warning track a lot lately, so when I realized he wasn't going to be a superstar, I cut bait trying to find someone else. And.........it hasn't worked.

This game, and really, the Iba D2 world, is so tough that to distance yourself from the pack it really requires hitting several homers in a row. Remember, chicks dig the longball ;)

I will know everything I need to know about my team after non-conference play. I play 6 ranked teams in preseason poll including 1, 2, 3, 8, 11, and 12. It helps we're 5th in preseason polls and I think that may be generous.

We have the offensive firepower to contend with anybody. Inside and outside. Decent speed and athleticism too. I like fast big guys and 4 of my bigs are still blue in SPD, so we'll be better later than earlier. Just not sure we have the ability to handle and distribute the ball. M2M teams and maybe press teams could give us fits. I know M2M teams will.

I'm working on that Mount Olive rebuild - it's fun, but it's strange being a bottom-feeder in the CVAC. We'll be competing in a few seasons. The three power conferences have quite a competition going. I think it's Parkside's year as well, but who knows?

Quite the revolving door at the top spot this season, but the top three teams seem to be putting some distance between themselves and the pack. Wisconsin, Parkside, Bloomfield, & Pfeiffer have the inside track to #1 seeds. The fourth #1 seed is anyone's guess at this point.

Posted by davefilby on 8/8/2016 8:48:00 AM (view original):
Quite the revolving door at the top spot this season, but the top three teams seem to be putting some distance between themselves and the pack. Wisconsin, Parkside, Bloomfield, & Pfeiffer have the inside track to #1 seeds. The fourth #1 seed is anyone's guess at this point.

I think you may be selling North Florida short, Dave. They're pretty tough right now (and will be downright scary when Hamblin/Jobe/Deacon get another year under their belts. The other three schools are definitely really tough, but I think NFla will improve quite a bit between now and the end of the season.

Posted by getbedarded on 8/8/2016 7:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by davefilby on 8/8/2016 8:48:00 AM (view original):
Quite the revolving door at the top spot this season, but the top three teams seem to be putting some distance between themselves and the pack. Wisconsin, Parkside, Bloomfield, & Pfeiffer have the inside track to #1 seeds. The fourth #1 seed is anyone's guess at this point.

I think you may be selling North Florida short, Dave. They're pretty tough right now (and will be downright scary when Hamblin/Jobe/Deacon get another year under their belts. The other three schools are definitely really tough, but I think NFla will improve quite a bit between now and the end of the season.

I don't discount N Florida. If I had to pick a 4th team at the time, it probably would have them. Any team with the best player (as a junior!) in D-II deserves consideration. And that was before RPIs came out, which would tell you Concord and Belmont Abbey deserve recognition.

Hamblin should transfer to D-I for his senior year to get some draft consideration. Not sure I've seen anyone like that in D-II as a Junior.

I discount N Florida every season. **Puts on helmet and heads out of the thread**

Posted by cregen7 on 8/10/2016 5:33:00 PM (view original):
I discount N Florida every season. **Puts on helmet and heads out of the thread**

haha! I don't know if everyone will get this, but I found it funny.

Posted by davefilby on 8/9/2016 12:10:00 PM (view original):

Posted by getbedarded on 8/8/2016 7:25:00 PM (view original):

Posted by davefilby on 8/8/2016 8:48:00 AM (view original):
Quite the revolving door at the top spot this season, but the top three teams seem to be putting some distance between themselves and the pack. Wisconsin, Parkside, Bloomfield, & Pfeiffer have the inside track to #1 seeds. The fourth #1 seed is anyone's guess at this point.

I think you may be selling North Florida short, Dave. They're pretty tough right now (and will be downright scary when Hamblin/Jobe/Deacon get another year under their belts. The other three schools are definitely really tough, but I think NFla will improve quite a bit between now and the end of the season.

I don't discount N Florida. If I had to pick a 4th team at the time, it probably would have them. Any team with the best player (as a junior!) in D-II deserves consideration. And that was before RPIs came out, which would tell you Concord and Belmont Abbey deserve recognition.

Hamblin should transfer to D-I for his senior year to get some draft consideration. Not sure I've seen anyone like that in D-II as a Junior.

No kidding. I beat N Florida last season on the road. Hamblin was a baby then. He came to my place this season and dropped 31 on the preseason all-american 1st team SF. Do yourself a favor and click on Ratings History on Hamblin and it will blow your mind. Yes, a recruit with a 487 rating can become a player with a 856 rating in 4 seasons. Good job redshirting him! Kid is an absolute beast and should be shoo-in for D2 POY