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Last Week: 4-2 (.667)
This Year: 4-2 (.667)
KEY: Projected winners marked in RED.
FBS Group Of Five
Thursday, September 1
Rice at Western Kentucky
Friday, September 2
Army at Temple
Ball State at Georgia State
Toledo at Arkansas State
Saturday, September 3
San Jose State at Tulsa
SMU at North Texas
New Mexico State at UTEP
FCS
Thursday, September 1
Duquesne at Youngstown State
The Citadel at Mercer
Wofford at Tennessee Tech
Western Illinois at Eastern Illinois
Friday, September 2
Lafayette at Central Connecticut State
Saturday, September 4
Alcorn State at Bethune-Cookman
Texas Southern at Prairie View A&M
NCAA Division II/III
Thursday, September 1
Humboldt State at Carson-Newman
Washington and Lee at Johns Hopkins
Ohio Dominican at Ferris State
Central Missouri at Pittsburg State (Kan.)
Northwest Missouri State at Emporia State
Minnesota-Duluth at Southwest Minnesota State
Colorado State-Pueblo at Colorado Mines
Friday, September 2
Adrian at Pacific
Albright at Salisbury
Delaware Valley at Wesley
Saturday, September 3
Catawba at West Georgia
John Carroll at Wisconsin-Oshkosh
St. Scholastica at St. John's (Minn.)
Wabash at Albion
East Texas Baptist at Texas Lutheran
Albany State (Ga.) at Valdosta State
NAIA
Thursday, September 1
Cumberland (Tenn.) at Georgetown (Ky.)
Saturday, September 3
St. Francis (Ill.) at St. Xavier (Ill.)
Tabor at Dakota Wesleyan (0-1)
William Penn (0-1) at Mid-America Nazarene
Southern Oregon at Eastern Oregon
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Editor's Note: This is the first installment of "RFC Top Games", on Real Football Central. Each week during the 2016 season, we'll take a brief look at the top games in FBS (Group Of Five), FCS, and small college football (NCAA Division II, Division III, and NAIA), with predictions!
If you're wondering what the "Group Of Five" is, it consists of the American Athletic Conference, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt Conferences. Oh, and there no games involving any teams in the Power 5 Conferences.
So, without further ado, let's get started!
KEY: Projected winners marked in RED.
Saturday, August 27
FCS
Charleston Southern at North Dakota State
(FCS Kickoff Classic)
NAIA
St. Xavier at Marian
Grand View at Baker
Montana Western at Dickinson State
Point at Reinhardt
Missouri Valley at William Penn
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Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC)
2015 Final Standings (courtesy of iowaconference.com)
Quick Analysis: Yes, they may have lost just one game in 2015.Yet, it was that one loss that cost Wartburg a chance to advance to the NCAA Division III playoffs last fall. Dubuque crushed Wartburg 45-13 en route to the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) championship on October 17. That should make for a huge rematch between the Spartans and Knights, respectively, on October 29. Off the field, the IIAC welcomes its first non-Iowa member in Nebraska Wesleyan for 2016.
Midwest Conference (MWC)
Preseason Press Release (courtesy of midwestconference.org)
Quick Analysis: After splitting into two divisions the last two years, the Midwest Conference (MWC) will revert to just one 10-team group for this year. And the standard bearer for this often underrated D-III circuit is St. Norbert. The Green Knights have 16 MWC titles dating back to 1984, as well as six seasons of having lost at least one league game or less over the last 10 years. Don't be surprised if they win yet another conference crown this fall.
Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC)
2015 Final Standings (courtesy of umacathletics.com)
Quick Analysis: Despite having played football for only eight years, the College of St. Scholastica Saints have quickly established themselves as the team to beat in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), having won or shared the last five league titles, while losing just one conference game during that span. Expect the rest of the UMAC to chase St. Scholastica again in 2016.
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Michigan Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA)
Preseason Press Release
Quick Analysis: Despite falling well short of postseason play in 2015, many of the coaches expect the Adrian College Bulldogs (7-3 overall) to be the "top dogs" in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 2016. But the other "A" team in the conference hopes to mount a serious challenge, as defending champion Albion (9-2 overall, 5-1 in the MIAA) looks to add yet another league title to its trophy case. Don't count out Olivet (9-1, 5-1) either.
North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC)
Preseason Press Release
Quick Analysis: Despite a coaching change in Don Morel at Wabash, the Little Giants were still chosen as the near-unaminous favorite to claim yet another NCAC crown this fall. Morel replaces Erik Raeburn, who stepped down during the offseason to take over a struggling FCS Savannah State program. Meanwhile, it might be a close race for second place in the conference between Wittenberg and DePauw.
College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW)
Preseason Press Release
Quick Analysis: Expect a tight two-team in the CCIW this fall, as Wheaton (11-1 overall) edged out North Central (7-3 overall) for the favorite's tag in that conference. Despite their struggles in non-conference play last fall, the Cardinals still managed to finish CCIW play at 6-1 in 2015. As for the Thunder, they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III playoffs, losing to Wisconsin-Whitewater. Fans of both teams should mark October 15 on their calendars. That's when Wheaton and North Central will square off in the "de-facto" CCIW championship game.
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Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA)
Preseason Press Release
Quick Analysis: Really no surprise that defending NCAA Division II national champion Northwest Missouri State was voted the near-unanimous favorite to win yet another MIAA title. What's an even bigger surprise is that Central Missouri was picked to finished 2nd in the conference, well ahead of perennial power Pittsburg State, as well as Emporia State, whose Hornets pulled off a pair of upsets in last year's playoffs before falling to the Bearcats in the quarterfinals.
Great American Conference (GAC)
Preseason Press Release
Quick Analysis: With a preseason national ranking of No. 9 in the AFCA poll, expect Henderson State to win its fourth conference crown in the last five years...this year.
Lone Star Conference (LSC)
Preseason Press Release
Quick Analysis: The Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions received 19 out of 28 first place votes to repeat as LSC champions in 2016. But it'll be interesting to see if they can make that deep run in the NCAA Division II playoffs, should they get there. Meanwhile, the LSC welcomes Western New Mexico from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), while the University of Texas-Permian Basin takes the field for the first time this fall. That could make for quite an interesting season in the Southwest.
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Editor's Note: We continue our series of abbreviated preseason previews with brief outlooks of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC), the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC), and the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC).
Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC)
2016 Preseason Predictions (oac.org)
2016 Media Guide (oac.org)
Quick Analysis: For most of the last 25-30 years, no program has been as dominant at the NCAA Division III level-or any level for that matter-as the University of Mount Union Purple Raiders. Winners of an astonishing 12 national championships dating back to 1993, expect Mount Union to make another run at winning their 13th national championship, as well as at least their second string of back-to-back titles since 2005, again in 2016.
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC)
2016 Preseason Predictions (wiacsports.net)
Quick Analysis: After losing to Mount Union in last year's national semifinals, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks hope to regain the form that helped them win six of the last nine D-III national championships since 2007. But across the state in the Fox Cities region, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans have built a solid winning tradition under 10th year head coach Pat Cerroni, snapping the Warhawks 36-game winning streak in a 10-7 upset win on October 10, only to lose to UWW in the national quarterfinals of the 2015 D-III playoffs. Don't be surprised if the 2016 contest to be played on October 8 decides this season's WIAC crown.
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC)
2015 Final Standings (miacathletics.com)
Quick Analysis: After riding an undefeated record into last year's Stagg Bowl, losing to Mount Union in the national championship game, the Tommies of the University of St. Thomas (14-1 overall in 2015) hope to make a return trip to this year's finals. But the St. John's University Johnnies (10-2 overall in 2015) hope to have a huge say in the MIAC title discussion, as SJU plays host to UST on September 24.
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Click here for the press release, courtesy of d3football.com and the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference...
2015 Final Standings
Quick Analysis: For the most of the last decade, the Franklin College Grizzlies have been the most dominant program in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC), advancing to the NCAA Division III playoffs eight times in the last 10 years. While it didn't come as a surprise that they're once again the team to beat in the HCAC again this fall, the teams that received first place votes (Rose-Hulman, Mount St. Joseph, & Bluffton) did stun many of the so-called "experts". Still, until another team proves otherwise, expect the Franklin to rise to the top in the HCAC in 2016.
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Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association - NWMSU TOPS FOOTBALL POLLS: KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Defending NCAA Division II National Champion Northwest Missouri received 49 of the total 51 first place votes between the coaches and media polls as both predicted the Bearcats to repeat a league champs. Central Missouri got one first place vote in the coaches poll as are second in each poll heading into the 2016 campaign.
Quick Analysis: The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) is entering its final football season under its current 14-team setup, as six of its schools (Findlay, Hillsdale, Lake Erie, Malone, Ohio Dominican, and Malone) plan to join the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) by 2017.
But before this "six-pack" leaves the GLIAC for the G-MAC at the end of 2016, don't be surprised if the battle for the title in the former league comes down to the final weekend of the regular season. Grand Valley State avenged both of their regular season losses during the NCAA Division II playoffs, upsetting fellow GLIAC foes Ashland and Ferris State, as well as defending national champion Colorado State-Pueblo, before falling to eventual national runner-up Shepherd in the national semifinals, to finish the 2015 season at 12-3 overall. It'll be interesting to see how all three teams will fare on the field this fall.
As for the G-MAC, of the six future members that will eventually leave the GLIAC, only Ohio Dominican (7-3 overall) finished the 2015 campaign with a winning record, with none of the six squads advancing to postseason play. Additionally, of the two current members, Alderson-Broaddus finished the 2015 season at 7-4 overall, while Kentucky Wesleyan finished 4-5.
Finally, expect the usual suspects to contend for supremacy in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC), as Minnesota State-Mankato, whose Mavericks fell to Colorado State-Pueblo in the 2014 NCAA Division II title game, was picked by the coaches to claim yet another overall conference championship, while the likes of Sioux Falls, Minnesota-Duluth, and Augustana (S.D.) hope to mount a serious challenge this season.
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Click here for the full press release (courtesy of the Great Lakes Valley Conference)
Quick Analysis: Once again, the University of Indianapolis Greyhounds have been picked to win the Great Lakes Valley Conference championship on the football field. With one just league loss dating back to 2012, UIndy might be tough to beat this fall.
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As another college football season rolls around, the five-time defending FCS national champion North Dakota State University Bison will enter 2016 as the team to beat in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Which, of course, should come as no surprise to those who've followed the MVFC over the years.
For more information, please click here.
Also...
West Georgia picked to win the NCAA Division II Gulf South Conference...
CLICK HERE...
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