Team News - 2012 Second Regional Rankings

The West Chester University Golden Rams continue to be listed in the NCAA Super Regional 1 rankings this season. The NCAA released its second regional rankings of 2012 yesterday and the Golden Rams remain on the list at #10.

Ranking	School	Conference	D2 Record	Overall Record
1.	Shippensburg	PSAC East	9-0	9-0
2.	Winston-Salem	CIAA	9-0	9-0
3.	New Haven	NE10	8-0	8-0
4.	Bloomsburg	PSAC East	8-1	8-1
5.	California	PSAC West	7-2	7-2
6.	Indiana	PSAC West	8-1	8-1
7.	Shepherd	WVIAC	6-2	6-2
8.	American International	NE10	7-1	7-1
9.	Charleston	WVIAC	7-2	7-2
10.	West Chester	PSAC East	6-2	6-3

The top six teams in the final regional rankings qualify for the playoffs. Although the champions of the four conferences in the region - CIAA, NE10, PSAC, and WVIAC - are not guaranteed berths in the playoffs, they are almost assured of it. So how are things progressing since the first regional rankings. Many games went West Chester's way this past Saturday:

1. West Chester defeated Cheyney
2. Shippensburg defeated Bloomsburg
3. Winston-Salem defeated Shaw
4. New Haven defeated Southern Connecticut
5. California lost to Slippery Rock

The Golden Rams almost got some extra help in the NE10, but American International held on against St Anselm (1-8) by a score of 37-34 on Friday night. A complication arose when Charleston lost to Glenville (5-4) by a score of 14-10. Why is that a complication? Because now there's no one obvious team emerging from the WVIAC. Indiana defeated Clarion (4-5) by a score of 45-0 and look to be unstoppable.

How does this affect the cheering interests of the Golden Rams? Some things don't change this week - West Chester to win over Bloomsburg, Shippensburg (uncatchable) to win over Cheyney, Winston-Salem (uncatchable) to win over Fayetteville St, New Haven (uncatchable) to win over American International.

The Rams need things to sort out in the PSAC West and in the WVIAC.

In the PSAC West, at 8-1 and with Gannon (2-7) on tap, Indiana is probably uncatchable by West Chester, but California is. So the change this week is to hope that Mercyhurst beats California on Saturday. This will put Indiana in the PSAC championship game and probably assure them a spot in the postseason, regardless of the outcome against Shippensburg. It will also give California their third loss and hopefully lift West Chester ahead of the Vulcans.

In the WVIAC, despite having one less win, Shepherd remains ahead of Charleston since the Rams defeated the Golden Eagles. West Chester needs at least one of these two teams to go away. Although Charleston has the lower ranking, they have the easier remaining schedule. Take your pick, but hope one of them loses at least one, preferably two, more games.

NCAA Division II Football Rankings