The NCAA Division II Football Committee has released the first super regional ranking for the 2010 and the Albany State University Golden Rams and the No. 1 team in the Super Regional Two.
The undefeated Golden Rams claimed the top spot after going 9-0 on the season. The Rams defeated Stillman College 44-5 in last week’s gridiron action.
In addition to the SIAC, the Super Regional Two is composed of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) and the South Atlantic Conference (SAC). Two teams from each of the conferences are represented in the top six spots in this week’s Super Regional Two ranking.
Gulf South’s Valdosta State University (7-1) landed the No. 2 spot. Both SAC schools, Catawba College (6-2) is No. 3, and Wingate University (6-2), holds the No. 4 spot. The University of North Alabama (7-2) of the GSC is No. 5 in this week’s ranking, and SIAC’s Morehouse College (7-2) is Nov. 6.
The bottom four of the Super Regional Two includes SIAC’s Fort Valley State University (8-1) at No. 7, and three GSC teams, Delta State University (6-3), Carson-Newman College (6-3) and Henderson State (6-3).
The other top ranked teams, all with 9-0 records, include Shepherd University of the Super Regional One, Augustana College of the Super Regional Three and Abilene Christian College of the Super Regional Four.
The NCAA is only releasing two regional polls this season. NCAA will release another poll on Nov. 8 before announcing the 24-team playoff pairings on Sunday, Nov. 14. The top six teams in each of the final regional polls will earn invitations to the playoffs.
With a 13-12 win over Morehouse College, a top-10 region team, the Golden Rams are in excellent position to earn a seventh consecutive trip to the national playoffs. The Rams just have to get by No. 7 Fort Valley State in the 21st Annual Fountain City Classic game to clinch the SIAC title. If the Golden Rams win and hang on to the top seed in the region, they would earn a first-round bye on Nov. 20 and have home-field advantage for the second-round game on Nov. 27. If they continue to win, Albany State could possibly host the Division II quarterfinals on Dec. 4 and the semifinals on Dec. 11 or 12. The national championship game is set for Saturday, Dec. 18, in Florence, Ala.
In addition to the NCAA ranking, Albany State jumped in several other national polls, including the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll. The Golden Rams moved up one spot from No. 8 to No. 7 in the poll. The Rams also moved up from No. 7 to No. 6 in the D2Football.com poll.
The Golden Rams hold on to their No. 1 spot in the Heritage Sports Radio Network’s Division II football poll, with Fort Valley State at No. 2, Tuskegee University at Nov. 5 and Morehouse at No. 8. The Rams remain at No. 3 in both the Sheridan Broadcasting Network (SBN) Black College Football and Boxtorow.com/Black Athlete.com HBCU Media Top 10 polls.
The Golden Rams will face Fort Valley on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the A.J. McClung Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Ga.
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