New AFCA Division II Top 25 poll is out and the Lions have moved up to ninth. Poll below and the teams in bolded italics are Super Region 4 Teams.
| Rank | School (1st votes) | Rec. | Pts. | Prev. |
| 1. | Northwest Missouri St. (34) | 8-0 | 850 | 1 |
| 2. | Shepherd (W.Va.) | 7-0 | 794 | 2 |
| 3. | Minnesota St. | 8-0 | 753 | 4 |
| 4. | Indiana (Pa.) | 8-0 | 749 | 3 |
| 5. | Midwestern St. (Texas) | 6-0 | 697 | 5 |
| 6. | Indianapolis (Ind.) | 8-0 | 687 | 6 |
| 7. | Fort Hays St. (Kan.) | 8-0 | 646 | 8 |
| 8. | Central Washington | 8-0 | 571 | 9 |
| 9. | Texas A&M-Commerce | 6-1 | 539 | 10 |
| 10. | Winona St. (Minn.) | 8-0 | 537 | 11 |
| 11. | Ferris St. (Mich.) | 6-1 | 503 | 12 |
| 12. | Ashland (Ohio) | 7-1 | 475 | 13 |
| Assumption (Mass.) | 7-0 | 475 | 14 | |
| 14. | Sioux Falls (S.D.) | 7-1 | 397 | 15 |
| 15. | Colorado Mesa | 7-1 | 382 | 16 |
| 16. | Wingate (N.C.) | 7-0 | 349 | 20 |
| 17. | Virginia St. | 7-0 | 303 | 21 |
| 18. | Humboldt St. (Calif.) | 6-1 | 250 | 22 |
| 19. | Grand Valley St. (Mich.) | 6-2 | 216 | 7 |
| 20. | Bowie St. (Md.) | 7-1 | 206 | 23 |
| 21. | Eastern New Mexico | 6-1 | 168 | 24 |
| 22. | Findlay (Ohio) | 7-1 | 115 | NR |
| 23. | Central Missouri | 6-2 | 83 | NR |
| 24. | Colorado St.-Pueblo | 6-2 | 82 | NR |
| 25. | West Alabama |
So, only 3 teams are ahead of the Lions that are also in Super Region 4. The LSC is well represented with 3 teams in the top 25 (Eastern New Mexico is a lot better than they played against the Lions) and there are 10 teams in the top 25 that are all in the Region. That is a pretty tight field.
The NCAA came out with their first set of Regional Rankings and here they are.
The Lions are on the outside looking in and I wish I could I cannot believe it, but I do. The regional rankings have almost never been friendly to the Lions either in the start or the end. Now, the loss to Midwestern is really a killer, but there are 3 teams ahead of the Lions that have lost at least one game. But if you look at the SOS metric, which is Strength of Schedule. The Lions have the third highest in this group, but still are only above Eastern New Mexico and a 2 loss Minnesota Duluth Squad. I have no idea how they got these rankings.
The 10th ranked team in the country is the top seeded team in their region, when 4 teams are ahead of them in the national polls.
Huh?
Needless to say, I do not agree with the polls, but I had a good conversation with a program insider last night who told me he felt when it was all said and done, you will see some teams knock each other down the ladder and the Lions should win out.
Now the question of whether or not us rooting against Midwestern would be a good thing or not. First, the chances of getting a 4th straight LSC title that is not shared is essentially none existent. The Mustangs have one game left that they could lose, and that is the season finale when they take on Eastern New Mexico in Portales. They travel to Texas Permian Basin Saturday which should be a blowout, and then they host Tarleton in Wichita Falls. The one loss would give the Lions a share of the title and knock MSU down in the Regional Rankings, so essentially it would be a wash, no harm but nothing all that good done either.
The Lion Wire 