VALDOSTA, Ga. – The nation’s number one ranked Valdosta State University Blazer football team moved to second in the latest NCAA Super Region Two rankings, released Monday by the NCAA.
There will be one more public ranking next Monday prior to the NCAA Division II Football Selection Show Nov. 17, according to VState.com.
The Blazers are 8-0 and 6-0 in Gulf South Conference play, following a victory at North Greenville in the final minute on Oct. 26. Lenoir-Rhyne jumped ahead of the Blazers following its win over Wingate last week and Bowie State remained third in the rankings this week.
Despite the loss to Lenoir-Rhyne, Wingate remained fourth in the rankings, followed by Gulf South Conference member West Florida, who downed North Greenville 17-14 on Saturday. Carson-Newman stayed sixth this week, followed by Virginia State at seventh. Virginia Union moved to eighth this week, followed by Albany State and West Georgia rounds out the top ten, VState.com reported.
VSU has two important games against top ten teams in the region to close out the regular season, starting with No. 20 West Florida on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium in a NCAA Division II Showcase Game, broadcast on ESPN3. The Blazers then close the regular season at West Georgia on Nov. 16. Wins in both games would go a long way in moving VSU back to the top spot when the selections are announced on Nov. 17, as the top seven teams qualify for the postseason.
This year’s bracket has been modified slightly, however, the top-seeded team in each region will still receive a bye the first postseason weekend scheduled for Nov. 23. The NCAA postseason dates are Nov. 23, Nov. 30, Dec. 7, Dec. 14 and the national championship is Dec. 21. Seeds 2-4 from each Super Region are then placed in their appropriate position in the bracket with Nos. 1 and 4 in the upper half of the bracket and Nos. 2 and 3 in the bottom half.
Teams selected Nos. 5-7 in each Super Region will be considered “unseeded” and can be paired with any No. 2-4 seeded team in the first round. Unseeded teams may be placed in any of the four Super Region brackets if doing so reduces the number of flights in the first/second round.
The Blazers, who went 14-0 last season and won their fourth national championship in program history, are 26-12 all-time in the NCAA postseason and went 4-0 last year with a thrilling 49-47 victory in the national championship game in McKinney, Texas, versus Ferris State. The NCAA Division II National Championship Game again will be McKinney, Texas, at McKinney ISD Stadium on Dec. 21, 2019.
If the Blazers earn a berth in the playoffs this season, it will be their 17th trip in program history, while the 26 wins ranks fifth all-time in NCAA Division II history and third among current NCAA Division II members (Northwest Missouri State with 48 and Grand Valley State with 35).
VSU tied the Gulf South Conference consecutive winning streak with its 23rd-straight victory on Oct. 26. The 23-game winning streak by VSU is the longest current streak in Division II and tied for the third-longest in all of the NCAA with Clemson. North Dakota State of Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) leads the NCAA with 30-straight victories, while Clemson (FBS) and Mary-Hardin Baylor (D3) each have 24-straight victories.
Tickets for Saturday’s clash with the Argonauts are available in the VSU Athletic Ticket Office or by calling 229-333-SEAT.
SOURCE: VSTATEBLAZERS.COM
