The way the D2 college season usually shakes out is that some early games a big ... BIG! ... because someone (maybe us) has an idea of which teams could be conference contenders.
Then usually some time in the middle things calm down a little bit—you know who might be pushing for some championships and who might not be, and somehow it usually ends up that we don't have those climactic games in the middie—they wait until the end.
Well we near the end of the middle and we do have a few major matchups, but there is also a sense that some big games are around the corner.
Men D2 College Rankings for Fall 2022 Week 6
We have close to 40 games on the list this week, but only eight are ranked teams vs ranked teams. Villanova vs TCNJ might be the game that ensures Villanova is atop their division.
The New England Wide Conference has two all-ranked matchups, with Vermont at Coast Guard, and UMass-Lowell at New Hampshire. Now, Coast Guard started out well this season and were then humbled with a big loss to Norwich. Well, get in line, everyone seems to be losing to Norwich. Now they get to take on a well-regarded Vermont team that could actually make a big step with win here. Vermont's key rivals, UMass Lowell, plays New Hampshire in a game that has massive NEWCRC playoff implications. New Hampshire is 2-1 and a win here puts UNH in a good position for the playoffs at 3-1.
The SCRC could well be decided with the meeting between Memphis and Auburn. We hit the intense part of the season with that conference right now. Both teams have played just the one game, and suddenly they are playing their biggest rival.
It's kind of the same situation in the Southern Conference, with Furman and UNC Charlotte both 1-0 in-conference. The winner of this game has an inside track to a conference title (of course NC State will have something to say about that).
US Merchant Marine Academy vs Marist. These two have played before and Marist won 20-17. Both have been winning otherwise.
