Looking back: The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference produced three teams that won at least nine games in 2010: Nebraska-Kearney, Colorado School of Mines, and Colorado State-Pueblo. A fourth team, Chadron State, won eight games, but missed the NCAA Division II playoffs.
Colorado Mines won a triple-overtime thriller over Nebraska-Kearney to win the RMAC title, and advance to the D-II playoffs. They won the tiebreak over the Lopers, as both teams finished conference play at 8-1. The Orediggers fell to Grand Valley State, 35-13, in the first round.
Looking ahead: Expect another tight race in the RMAC for 2011. In 2012, Black Hills State University out of Spearfish, South Dakota will join the conference.
Website: http://www.rmacsports.org/
Predicted order of finish (2010 overall record in parentheses)
1. Nebraska-Kearney (9-2): The Lopers will make the move from the RMAC to the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) in 2012. They hope to leave the RMAC on top after the tough season-ending loss to Colorado Mines kept them out of the playoffs. Also, UNK gets a chance at revenge on November 12, when the Lopers play host to CSM in their final RMAC game ever.
2. Colorado Mines (9-3): The Orediggers hope to not only match last year's success, but also make a deeper playoff run this season. But they'll have to do it with just 13 starters (eight on offense, five on defense) returning.
3. Chadron State (8-3): The Eagles ended the 2010 season with five straight wins after starting 3-3. They hope to carry the momentum from that season-ending streak into 2011.
4. Colorado State-Pueblo (9-2): The Thunderwolves will quickly find out how good they are when they open the 2011 season at West Texas A&M on September 1.
5. Adams State (5-6): The Grizzlies won back-to-back games to finish fifth in the RMAC at 4-5 in 2010.
6. Western New Mexico (4-7): The Mustangs have had just four winning seasons since 1986: 5-3 in 1989, 9-2 in 1990, 7-3 in 1993, and 5-4 in 1994.
7. Fort Lewis (3-7): The Skyhawks found themselves on the wrong end of blowouts far too often in 2010, losing six of their seven games by double digits.
8. Colorado Mesa (3-7): Formerly Mesa State College, the Mavericks hope to start over in 2011.
9. Western State (1-10): Wins have been hard to come by for the Mountaineers in recent years, combining for seven of them dating back to the beginning of the 2007 season, when they also finished 1-10.
10. New Mexico Highlands (1-10): The Cowboys look to build from the ground up under new head coach Eric Young.
4 years ago
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