We’re past the halfway point in the NCAA Division II regular season, which means we’ve got a postseason around the corner to look forward to.

What better way to ring in the occasion than to start up projection season?

• Subscribe To FloFootball To Watch The 2024 College Football Season
• NCAA Division II Week 9 Football Rankings: There Is A New No. 1 Team
• Sul Ross State Earns First D2 Football Win & More Takeaways From Week 8
• Best D2 Football Players In 2024. Here's The Top 100
• NCAA Division II Football In Week 8

Before the NCAA drops their first region rankings of the season soon — which will give us an official look at where the powers that be of D-II stand as the weeks of the regular season tick down — we at FloFootball know a thing or two about the D-II game, being the exclusive home of some of the best conferences in the division all season long.

The field can change a lot over the next month, but as it stands, there are some teams that are in better shape for the bracket than others — and there are varying degrees of comfort and panic for those same teams, too.

Here’s a look ahead at the predictions for the NCAA DII Football Playoffs if the season ended today:

Super Region 1

Kutztown (PSAC)

Winners of 16 regular-season games in a row dating back to last season, the Bears haven’t slowed down from their trip to the national semifinals a season ago and instead look better than ever. Only defending national champion Harding is giving up fewer points per game thus far than Kutztown’s 7.6, while quarterback Judd Novak is completing 66.3% of his passes and has a 5:1 touchdown to interception ratio through seven games.

Slippery Rock (PSAC)

The Rock usually finds a way to play postseason ball somehow, and though a 28-7 defeat to California (Pennsylvania) this past weekend will sting, Slippery Rock should still be OK resume-wise thanks to a pair of strong wins over New Haven and Indiana (Pennsylvania). Former Harlon Hill Trophy finalist Brayden Long (1,572 passing yards, 13 touchdowns thus far) is still about as sure-handed of an arm as it gets in D-II, and with over 60 straight games played as a ranked opponent, this is a group that knows how to get things done.

California (Pennsylvania) (PSAC)

Welcome to the party, Vulcans. Having missed out on a signature win in its season opener at Charleston (West Virginia), Cal got one this past weekend on homecoming against Slippery Rock, giving it a potential one-way ticket to the PSAC West title and a possible showdown with Kutztown at the end of the year for the outright conference championship. The Vulcans must avoid a hangover this weekend against rival Indiana in the Coal Bowl, but they do get the benefit of it and their other two regular season games remaining taking place at home.

East Stroudsburg (PSAC)

The Warriors broke a 14-year playoff drought last season when they made the field. Why not make it two in a row at this point? With its only loss being by six against Kutztown, if ESU can run the table the rest of the way to win 10 games — more than the Warriors had when they made the field a season ago — it’s hard to see them not getting in. Lock Haven star quarterback Jackson Ostrowsky (2,056 passing yards) will test the Warriors on Saturday, but three different players on the roster already have multiple interceptions, too.

Charleston (West Virginia) (Mountain East)

It may be time to build Chavon Wright a statue in Charleston at this point. The Golden Eagles’ All-American running back doesn’t only lead the nation in rushing yards with a staggering 1,299 through just seven games, he leads the next-closest player by over 200 yards. Both he and UC are white-hot, with Wright posting back-to-back five-touchdown games and six (!) straight of at least three as the Golden Eagles are unbeaten with a big win over California and a recent 48-7 whooping of previously-unbeaten Frostburg State last week.

Ashland (Great Midwest)

Starting the season with two tough nonconference games against Indiana and Ferris State has worked wonders for the Eagles, who’ve won five straight (all in G-MAC play). The biggest win of that bunch, however, was unquestionably when they took down then No. 20-ranked Findlay 41-21 on the road on Oct. 12, slaying the defending champion and putting themselves at the head of the table in an often topsy-turvy conference (five different champions in seven seasons). 

New Haven (NE10)

Back-to-back shutout wins over American International and Southern Connecticut State over the past two games indicate that the Chargers are beginning to really hit their stride and be on their way to what could be a fifth trip to the playoffs in six seasons. New Haven would’ve liked to have had a 22-7 loss at Slippery Rock to begin the season back, sure, but so far things are going according to plan for it in the NE10, as they usually do for this year’s unanimous league favorite.

First team out: Frostburg State (Mountain East)

Super Region 2

Valdosta State (Gulf South)

Probably the only team in the country beside Grand Valley State which can lay a claim to being the country’s No. 1-ranked team right now (following Harding’s loss this past weekend), the Blazers are 7-0 and have been rock-steady. Sammy Edwards could be a Harlon Hill Trophy-winning quarterback if he keeps his performances up — throwing 18 touchdowns to no picks so far this year — and while showdowns against Delta State and West Florida still loom, the four-time national champions are right back where they want to be.

BLAZERS MAKING MOVES 👀@valdostastatefb | @GulfSouth | #GSCfb pic.twitter.com/X1P4K69ENh

— FloFootball (@FloFootball) October 19, 2024

West Alabama (Gulf South)

Cruelly robbed of a chance to play Valdosta State (the game, scheduled for Sept. 28, was canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Helene), UWA has soldiered on and built up a solid resume that includes a double-overtime win over then No. 12 West Florida in Pensacola. The Tigers’ postseason standing was dinged a bit with a loss at Delta State last Saturday, but it’ll be awfully hard to keep them out of the field if it ends up being their only defeat in the D-II version of the Southeastern Conference (figuratively and arguably literally).

West Florida (Gulf South)

Faced with a 1-2 start, the former national champion Argonauts weren’t worried. Three straight wins (including a big one over fellow playoff bubble team Delta State) has UWF right back in the bracket mix, with the loss of record-setting quarterback Peewee Jarrett offset by the emergence of Marcus Stokes, a former four-star recruit and one-time Florida commit taking the reins under center as a redshirt freshman. Whether or not the Argos get in may depend on how strongly they perform in their regular-season finale against Valdosta State.

Have a day Marcus Stokes 🔥

📊: 5 TD, 17-21, 326 Passing Yards#GSCFB | @GulfSouth | @UWFFootball pic.twitter.com/FQjfEa2Lvv

— FloFootball (@FloFootball) October 13, 2024

Carson-Newman (South Atlantic)

If you had Carson-Newman being the final remaining unbeaten team in the SAC, you should probably buy a lottery ticket pronto. Picked to finish eighth in the league in the preseason, the Eagles currently lead a wacky SAC Mountain Division in which fellow surprise upstart (and playoff hunter) Emory & Henry, who they play this weekend, is right on their wings. Carson-Newman is 7-0 for the first time in 21 years and on a seven-game win streak for the first time in 12 years, and it hasn’t been against scrubs with the Eagles toppling Wingate, Catawba and Mars Hill so far, among others.

Lenoir-Rhyne (South Atlantic)

National semifinalists last year, the Bears are roaring and ready to go for another potential deep playoff run, and their loss at Emory & Henry is aging well considering that the Wasps are 6-1 as of this writing. The defense is starting to find a groove, allowing just three points in Lenoir-Rhyne’s past two SAC games, and a three-game stretch coming up against Limestone, Wingate and Catawba will be crucial to the Bears’ future seeding — or crucially the reason why they fall out of the playoff picture entirely.

48 YARDS 😲#GOBEARS | #BetweenTheBricks pic.twitter.com/A8uFKvqS89

— Lenoir-Rhyne Football (@LRBearsFootball) October 12, 2024

Johnson C. Smith (CIAA)

The last time the Golden Bulls had this good of a start to a season, Richard Nixon was the president, gas cost around 35 cents a gallon and man landed on the moon. Not since 1969 has J.C. Smith started 7-0, and the HBCU based in Charlotte has already taken down a who’s who of HBCU brethren with wins over Tuskegee, Morehouse and Virginia Union, among others. And if you don’t know the name Brevin Caldwell, get to know it, because the nation’s second-leading receiver (833 yards, eight touchdowns) is a force. 

Miles (SIAC)

With defending champion Benedict falling behind, a power vacuum has opened up at the top of the SIAC standings, but only the Golden Bears have proven worthy thus far of being the top dog. The league’s final unbeaten team in conference play only has a one-point loss to West Alabama and a defeat to FCS Alabama State bringing it down, and a run of 35 unanswered points against the high-octane Clark Atlanta offense (with the nation’s second-leading passer, David Wright III) last weekend showed the rest of Super Region 2 with authority what Miles can do. 

First team out: Delta State (Gulf South)

Super Region 3 

Ouachita Baptist (Great American)

Unbeaten OBU might have been in the field anyway had it lost to defending national champion Harding this past weekend, except the Tigers went out and upset the then No. 1-ranked Bisons in front of over 7,000 fans at Cliff Harris Stadium on Saturday. A nasty defense that has only given up 8.7 points per game, plus an All-American tailback in Kendel Givens, makes OBU a legit national title contender.

Harding (Great American)

Would the Bisons have preferred not to have dropped a Great American Conference game to Ouachita Baptist last week? Of course. Was it a disastrous, season-ending loss? Definitely not, especially when you consider that Harding’s patented flexbone offense had scored at least 57 points in every game before facing the Tigers. The Bisons should be fine, but they can’t have another letdown against a tricky Southern Arkansas squad Saturday.

Grand Valley State (GLIAC)

Thanks to OBU’s win, the Lakers are once again back to being at the top of the AFCA’s Coaches Poll this week as they’ve passed every test thrown their way this season and won 19 straight games in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference entering this weekend. And speaking of this weekend, one of the best rivalries in D-II, the Anchor-Bone Classic against Ferris State (streamed live on FloFootball), looms up next. 

THE NEW *OFFICIAL* NUMBER ONE pic.twitter.com/u41ovEX9ho

— GVSU Football (@gvsufootball) October 21, 2024

Ferris State (GLIAC)

If you were worried that the Bulldogs were losing their mojo after only scoring three points on the road in their nonconference season opener at Pittsburg State, let this be a lesson learned to never doubt Tony Annese. FSU has won six straight since then, obliterating every opponent it's faced since by multiple scores — including dumping a school-record 84 points on American International last month. A win over rival GVSU would only further drive home that the Bulldogs are back.

Ferris State has scored 44 points in 3 quarters! 🤯🏈

Jeremiah Housey adds on six more to the Bulldog's lead with a TD reception late in the third quarter.#GLIACfb | @GLIACsports | @FerrisFootball pic.twitter.com/sBaW5V4uBe

— FloFootball (@FloFootball) October 19, 2024

Central Oklahoma (MIAA)

How about them Bronchos? Picked to finish seventh in the MIAA in preseason after a middling 5-6 campaign in 2023, UCO announced that it had arrived with a 57-40 shootout win over then No. 2-ranked Central Missouri (and reigning Harlon Hill Trophy winner Zach Zebrowski) in its conference opener in September. Coach Adam Dorrel’s crew has won everything else since, with sophomore gunslinger and Houston transfer Jett Huff (2,361 passing yards, 24 touchdowns so far) erupting into one of D-II’s most exciting players.

Pittsburg State (MIAA)

In contrast to UCO’s explosion atop the MIAA, the Gorillas were widely expected to be an elite-level team and have not disappointed. A three-point loss to Emporia State in September stung, but their marquee win over Ferris State to start the season will be what gets them into the playoffs, baring something disastrous over the final weeks of the regular season. Still, the Bronchos and Central Missouri in the next two weeks back-to-back is a dangerous two-fer.

Indianapolis (GLVC)

Helped by the fact that they’ve been road warriors this season with a perfect 4-0 mark away from home, the Greyhounds definitely have the capability of running the table in the GLVC and making a good case for their third straight playoff trip, even with a nonconference loss earlier in the year to Saginaw Valley State. If UIndy gets through Upper Iowa this weekend, it’ll be 5-0 in the GLVC with its final three games being against teams currently with losing records.

 First team out: Emporia State (MIAA)

Super Region 4

Western Colorado (RMAC)

The unbeaten Mountaineers’ playoff hopes will either be in great or shaky shape two weeks from now, as unbeaten WCU gets in-state rivals Colorado Mines and Colorado State Pueblo on consecutive weekends in two massive RMAC title tilts. For now, however, the Mountaineers are the team to beat in the conference, especially with an electric offense that’s scored at least 35 points in all five of its league games so far.

Colorado State Pueblo (RMAC)

The ThunderWolves have a bye this week before their dates against WCU and Mines next month, and though moral victories don’t count for much on the season record, they may help give CSU Pueblo some sway with the selection committee after it fought top-ranked Grand Valley State to a tough 24-21 Lakers win in the ThunderBowl. It needed a game-winning field goal with seven seconds left to sink Black Hills State last week, however, so the ThunderWolves aren’t in the clear yet.

Colorado School of Mines (RMAC)

After back-to-back national championship game appearances, where do the Orediggers stand without program legend and former Harlon Hill Trophy-winning quarterback John Matocha? Actually, on pretty solid footing, even with a loss earlier in the year to Colorado Mesa. Evan Foster, who is already just three passing yards away from 2,000 this season, is doing his best impression of D-II’s all-time touchdowns leader, while Flynn Schiele and Max McLeod still make up maybe the country’s best one-two receiving duo.

Central Washington (Lone Star)

Able to shake off an upset loss to Texas Permian Basin with a 31-0 rout of Texas A&M-Kingsville this past weekend, the Wildcats are still very much in the hunt for the Lone Star Conference title with reigning Cliff Harris Award winner Tanner Volk (41 total tackles so far) still getting it done in the secondary. CWU must be careful, though, with Angelo State and Western Oregon still to go this year and each raring for a potential shocker.

Angelo State (Lone Star)

Bouncing back from an 0-2 start to emerge as the LSC favorite as the clock ticks on the regular season, the Rams have hit another gear over the past month as they’ve only allowed two touchdowns over their last four games combined, all wins. First-year D-II program Sul Ross State visits San Angelo this weekend before ASU gets Central Washington and Western Oregon — which has surprisingly found its way into the postseason conversation — in a couple of “prove it” games to reveal if the Rams are for real.

Cameron Dischler bulldozes his way into the endzone🔥 Angelo State now leads 13-0. @AngeloStateFB | @LoneStarConf | #LSCfb pic.twitter.com/68ptfkYOP2

— FloFootball (@FloFootball) October 20, 2024

Minnesota State (NSIC)

Riding the high of a 3-0 start which included back-to-back wins against then-ranked opposition (Northwest Missouri State, Bemidji State) and arguably its biggest challenger in the NSIC (Wayne State), the Mavericks are in good shape through seven games to the point where a 40-36 defeat at home to Sioux Falls this month didn’t really impact their playoff standing all that much. QB Hayden Ekern has at least one passing touchdown in every game this season on top of eight rushing touchdowns.

Wayne State (Nebraska) (NSIC)

In one of the toughest picks on the entire list, the Wildcats just barely get the nod to sneak in at this time over both Augustana and Sioux Falls, both of which are right on their heels in the NSIC standings. This weekend’s results across the league may shake up the playoff picture dramatically, however; Wayne State hosts Sioux Falls, whereas Augustana goes to Mankato to face Minnesota State.

First team out: Augustana (South Dakota) (NSIC)

Top Ranked Matchups Heading Into Week 9

• Upcoming ranked games between top teams - Now that there are teams in new spots with the new rankings, it leaves for some great games outside of just the Anchor Bone Classic. Those games would include No. 6 Pittsburg State at No. 9 Central Oklahoma, No. 7 Harding vs. No. 22 Southern Arkansas, No. 8 Western Colorado at No. 10 Colorado School of Mines, and No. 13 Minnesota State vs. No. 25 Augustana (S.D.).

AFCA NCAA Division II Football Rankings In Week 9

1. Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (27) - Prev. 2
2. Valdosta St. (Ga.) (3) - Prev. 3
3. Ferris St. (Mich.) - Prev. 4
4. Kutztown (Pa.) - Prev. 5
5. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) - Prev. 9
6. Pittsburg St. (Kan.) - Prev. 7
7. Harding (Ark.) - Prev. 1
8. Western Colorado - Prev. 8
9. Central Oklahoma - Prev. 11
10. Colorado School of Mines - Prev. 12
11. Charleston (W.Va.) - Prev. 13
12. Colorado St.-Pueblo - Prev. 14
13. Minnesota St. - Prev. 15
14. Emporia St. (Kan.) - Prev. 16
15. Slippery Rock (Pa.) - Prev. 6
16. Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) - Prev. 17
17. Carson-Newman (Tenn.) - Prev. 18
18. West Alabama - Prev. 10
19. Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) - Prev. 20
20. Central Washington - Prev. 21
21. Indianapolis (Ind.) - Prev. 19
22. Southern Arkansas - Prev. 24
23. West Florida - Prev. 23
24. Delta St. (Miss.) - Prev. NR
25. Augustana (S.D.) - Prev. NR

Dropped Out: Frostburg St. (Md.) (22), Henderson St. (Ark.) (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Angelo St. (Tex.), 22; Findlay (Ohio), 22; California (Pa.), 21; Virginia Union, 20; Wayne St. (Neb.), 16; Wingate (N.C.), 10; Sioux Falls (S.D.), 8; Colorado Mesa, 7; Indiana (Pa.), 7; New Haven (Conn.), 7; Davenport (Mich.), 6; Frostburg St. (Md.), 6; Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.), 4; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 3; Ashland (Ohio), 2; Emory & Henry (Va.), 1; Western Oregon, 1.

When Is The Anchor Bone Classic

Division II football fans are now less than a month away from one of the biggest rivalry games in the sport. The Lakers will host Ferris State at 3 p.m. ETS on Oct. 26. The game is streaming on FloFootball and the FloSports app.