The West Texas A&M football team is fifth in the first NCAA Division II Super Region Four rankings, release d Monday afternoon by the NCAA. The top six teams in the each of the four super region rankings get invited to the NCAA Division II Football Championship which begins Nov. 17 at campus sites. The NCAA Division II Football Selection Show is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 11 at 4 p.m. CT and will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
The Buffaloes are 7-1 on the year following a 44-21 victory at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday in the annual Wagon Wheel Game. WT leads the Lone Star Conference with a 6-0 record. The Buffs lone loss came the first week of the season to the top-ranked team in the initial poll, Colorado State-Pueblo. The 8-0 Thunderwolves handed WT a 44-34 setback on Aug. 30, in Pueblo, Colo.
Ashland University (Ohio) is second in the region rankings with an 8-0 record and a perfect 7-0 record in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) South Division. Chadron State out of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) is third in the rankings with a 6-1 record in Division II games and a 6-2 mark overall. The Eagles’ lone Division II loss was a 45-38 decision at Colorado State-Pueblo and their other loss was a 33-6 setback at Division I and FCS-member Montana State.
University of Indianapolis is fourth in the rankings with a 6-1 record in Division II games and a 6-2 record overall. Like Chadron State, the Greyhounds played a FCS team losing 27-17 at Western Illinois. Their lone D-2 loss was at second-ranked Ashland in the first game of the season. UIndy sits atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference with a 6-0 mark.
The Buffaloes are fifth, followed by Hillsdale (Mich.) who is 6-2 overall and lead the GLIAC North Division with a 6-1 record. The Chargers lone conference loss was at Wayne State (Mich.), 24-21. They dropped the season-opener at California (Pa.), 30-22.
Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) is seventh, followed by Midwestern State, Wayne State (Mich.) and New Mexico Highlands round out the rankings.
The top two teams in the region receive byes on Nov. 17 as the No. 3 team hosts No. 6 and No. 4 hosts No. 5. The winners of the first round games then will travel to the No. 1 and No. 2 teams Nov. 24. The quarterfinals are scheduled for Dec. 1, followed by the semifinals on Dec. 8. The Division II Football National Championship is scheduled for Dec. 15, 2012, at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala.
The 14th-ranked Buffaloes dip of out of conference play this week as they travel to the University of West Georgia for a 7 p.m. CT kick Saturday evening in the Gulf South Conference-Lone Star Conference First and Ten Challenge. The game will be broadcast on TV back to the Amarillo area on KAMR-NBC 4.
SUPER REGION FOUR | | D-2 | Overall | | |
1 | Colorado State-Pueblo | 8-0 | 8-0 | | |
2 | Ashland | 8-0 | 8-0 | | |
3 | Chadron State | 6-1 | 6-2 | | |
4 | Indianapolis | 6-1 | 6-2 | | |
5 | West Texas A&M | 7-1 | 7-1 | | |
6 | Hillsdale | 6-2 | 6-2 | | |
7 | Saginaw Valley State | 6-2 | 6-2 | | |
8 | Midwestern State | 6-1 | 6-1 | | |
9 | Wayne State (Mich.) | 5-2 | 5-2 | | |
10 | New Mexico Highlands | 6-1 | 6-2 | | |
