If the NCAA Division II football playoff started today, the field would feature two HBCUs.
The NCAA Division II Super Region rankings have been published and currently, Benedict College, the defending SIAC champion, is sitting on top of the region. Benedict is currently 9-0 on the season after scoring 21 unanswered points on Saturday to remain perfect. It will face cross-town SIAC foe Allen University on Saturday looking to complete its second-consecutive undefeated regular season.
Defending CIAA champion Fayetteville State University is the other HBCU that would qualify for the D2 playoffs if they started today. FSU has bounced back from opening losses to UNC Pembroke and Lenoir-Rhyne to run off seven consecutive wins in a row. That was enough to clinch the CIAA Southern Division crown for the sixth consecutive season with Saturday’s win over Shaw University. That run has it in the seventh spot, meaning it would play the no. 2 seed for the right to play Benedict in the second round.
Super Region II is composed of two conferences made up of PWIs – South Atlantic Conference and Gulf South Conference – in addition to the CIAA and SIAC. Delta State (MS), Valdosta (GA) State, West Florida, Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill currently make up no. 2-6.
Sitting outside the top seven is West Georgia (6-2) along with Fort Valley State (6-2) out of the SIAC and Virginia Union (8-1) of the CIAA. Both FVSU and VUU are set to take on in-state rivals on Saturday, with championship game implications for both of them.