A quick look at the D3 football conference standings — teams from the SAA, Old Dominion, Centennial, CCIW and IIAC.
Last week I took a quick look at the Top 5 D3 football conferences, which you can read here. This week, I figured we could go even deeper and take a gander at the next five conferences, because, believe it or not, the end is nigh upon us!
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SOUTHERN ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
BR-76 Berry holds the top dawg spot in the SAA thanks to a 6-0-conference record (7-1 overall) that includes crucial victories over No. 2 BR-80 Hendrix (5-1 conference, 6-2 overall) and No. 3 BR-46 Chicago (5-2, 6-2) over the past month.
Next up for the Vikings? A road match with BR-106 Birmingham-Southern, followed by a critical home bout against No. 4 BR-56 Centre (4-2, 6-2).
Hendrix obviously needs Berry to lose both of its final two contests, but also needs to win out against BR-63 Washington (Mo.) and at BR-168 Sewanee to have a shot at the conference title.
This one might be all wrapped up, folks. But, you never know …
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OLD DOMINION
Like Berry in the SAA, BR-21 Washington & Lee secured important wins over its conference rivals during the last few weeks and set itself up nicely to run away with the crown.
The Generals boast a perfect 5-0-conference record (8-0 overall) and hold a full two game lead over No. 2 and No. 3 seeded BR-28 Guilford and BR-61 Hampden-Sydney, which are 4-1 apiece. With BR-156 Catholic and a road bout against BR-117 Shenandoah remaining on the schedule, it’s highly unlikely the Generals renounce the top spot.
Which means all of the drama stems from the No. 2 position, which is anybody’s game at this point. Guilford holds the narrow lead due to a better overall record than Hampden-Sydney (7-1 vs. 6-2), but that could all change this weekend when these teams face each other on the Quakers home turf.
After dropping a narrow contest to the Generals on Oct. 3, Guilford has put together a nice four-game winning streak and is averaging over 42 points per game in that span. Hampden-Sydney’s last loss also came against Washington & Lee (the other came against BR-14 Wabash way back on opening day). Luckily the Tigers strung together three-straight wins against BR-69 Emory & Henry, BR-117 Shenandoah and BR-111 Bridgewater.
The last time Guilford and Hampden-Sydney squared off, the Tigers emerged victorious with a 35-28 overtime win. Should be a doozy.
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CENTENNIAL
BR-5 Johns Hopkins stands tall in the Centennial Conference. The Blue Jays boast a perfect 7-0-conference record, 8-0 overall, and get fairly easy match-ups with BR-84 Franklin & Marshall (5-2, 6-2) and BR-207 McDaniel (0-7, 0-8) to close out the season.
BR-47 Moravian holds claim to the No. 2 spot with a 6-1-conference record, 7-1 overall, though a road spat with BR-36 Muhlenberg in two weeks could completely shift the final standings. Bear with me here: Moravian defeated Franklin & Marshall, which defeated Muhlenberg. F&M and Muhlenberg have the same record, though F&M holds the tiebreaker since it defeated the Mules.
What will likely happen this weekend: F&M will probably fall on the road to Johns Hopkins. Muhlenberg should beat BR-140 Ursinus. Moravian will likely beat BR-116 Juniata.
With F&M now out of the equation, Muhlenberg and Moravian will square off in the final game of the season for control of the No. 2 seed. Or, at least that’s what I hope happens, since it would be a lot of fun to write about.
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COLLEGE CONFERENCE OF ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN
BR-7 Wheaton is No. 1 in the CCIW with an unblemished 5-0 record (8-0 overall), but must contend with No. 2 BR-18 Illinois Wesleyan (4-1, 7-1) this weekend, in a game that will likely determine the final seeding since neither team faces too tough a challenge in the final week of regular season action — Wheaton tackles BR-94 Carthage at home, Illinois gets last place BR-146 North Park on the road.
Illinois was tied with Wheaton until this last weekend when the Titans suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of BR-11 North Central (4-1, 5-3). Even so, a victory over Wheaton would still give the Titans the No. 1 spot, unless, of course, they lose the final week of the season.
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IOWA INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
Here’s an interesting conundrum: BR-58 Dubuque currently sits atop the IIAC with a 5-0 record, but is 6-2 overall. No. 2 BR-29 Wartburg is 4-1 in conference play, but 7-1 overall. Of course, Dubuque routed Wartburg 45-13 on Oct. 17 … which means, for Wartburg to rise to the top, Dubuque would have to lose its final two game to BR-87 Coe and BR-66 Central. If the two finished with a tie, would Wartburg’s overall record put it atop Dubuque? Or would Dubuque’s victory over Wartburg nullify the overall records? I have no idea.
In any event, this is strictly a two-horse race as Central (3-2, 5-3) and BR-110 Loras (3-2, 4-4) compete for the third spot.
