Q - GRFC, Can you provide some insight to the Golden Rams and the playoffs? Coach Zwaan seemed reluctant to discuss the topic on his radio show.
A - Coach Zwaan was right to be reluctant to discuss the topic, although that’s not to say he isn’t thinking about it. His primary goal is to prepare the team to win their next football game regardless of the week or the opponent. But prior to yesterday, it was really too early to evaluate the Golden Rams’ playoffs prospects. Now that eight games have been completed, Golden Rams fans can discuss the playoffs for the first time since 2008. First some background.
Almost every sports fan is familiar with the NCAA’s biggest tournament: Division I basketball. It has several publications and television shows that discuss the selections and seedings both prior to their release as well as afterwards. But forget everything you hear about how teams are selected to that tournament. That is, in Division II football, there is no automatic qualification for winning a team’s conference, and there’s no consideration for such thing as “quality losses”, “wins against top 20 teams” or “bad losses”.
For Division II football, the NCAA selects six teams from each of four geographical regions. West Chester is in Super Region I, which is comprised of four conferences:
- Northeast-10 Conference (NE10)
- Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC)
- Mountain East Conference (MEC)
- Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA)
Rankings are based mainly on each team’s:
- Division II win/loss percentage and total number of Division II wins
- Strength of schedule which is comprised of opponents’ winning percentage and opponents’ opponents’ winning percentage
- Head-to-head competition and record against common opponents
Rankings are performed by a national committee with input from each region’s advisory committee. So although West Chester appears in the AFCA, the D2football.com and the Lambert Meadowlands polls, those lists have NO bearing on the postseason.
As of today, there are three undefeated teams in Super Region I:
- West Chester (8-0) PSAC
- Bloomsburg (8-0) PSAC
- Shepherd (7-0) MEC
There are then three one-loss teams:
- Winston-Salem St (6-1) CIAA
- Slippery Rock (7-1) PSAC
- Virginia St. (7-1) CIAA
Then there are eight teams with two losses. Although there are no automatic qualifications, the selection criteria does include some exceptions to help ensure, but not guarantee, that each conference in a region is represented. So the four NE10 teams with two losses are still in the running.
With West Chester currently sitting at 8-0, let’s evaluate the possibilities for the remainder of the season from best to worst:
- Defeat Cheyney, defeat Bloomsburg, win PSAC Championship game – Golden Rams finish 11-0 and likely top seed in the region and a first-round bye
- Defeat Cheyney, defeat Bloomsburg, lose PSAC Championship game – Golden Rams finish 10-1, qualify for the playoffs, likely #4 seed (if Shepherd remains undefeated, Winston-Salem wins out and PSAC Champion)
- Defeat Cheyney, lose to Bloomsburg, defeat Clarion – Golden Rams finish 10-1, qualify for the playoffs, seed likely no better than #4
- Lose two of last three games – playoffs unlikely, but not impossible
- Lose last three games – no playoffs
The NCAA will release their first official rankings on Tuesday and will be posted here.
As always, if you have any questions, comments or ideas for topics, please e-mail them to GoldenRamFootballClub@comcast.net and be sure to follow us on twitter @GoldenRamFC
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