We're coming into the playoff period for D1A and D1AA and at least in the D1AA the number of games is dropping down.
That's why we're listing the D1AA and D1A games together again and we'll probably finish the season that way. The biggest game is Florida at South Florida. The winner of that game will almost certainly be 2nd in the Florida CC North, and will secure a playoff spot.
Men D1AA Spring 2025 Rankings Week 8
The Big Tour
West Point is touring California, playing Cal on Saturday and then Cal Poly on Wednesday. As we mentioned in our weekly video, Army has sort of quietly gone 9-1, with every single team they've played being ranked in one division or another. Their one loss was 32-5 to Navy in a game that Head Coach Matt Sherman said was just a big letdown. It was a bad day to have a bad day.
Since then, though, "we have been training really well. Obviously there's a bit of luck involved in success in the playoffs—you have to stay health. We're a little banged up but overall we've been getting good performances. We do have to keep watching our penalty count."
For Sherman, this is a big tour because he plays against his former college coach in Jack Clark at Cal. And then they go on to play Cal Poly and the Mustangs' Head Coach, Chris O'Brien, also coached Sherman and was his kicking coach. "Our goal is to play against the best programs with sustained success."
Last year Cal made the trip to West Point and the Black Knights won that game 27-14. The road team will be Army this time around.
Eastern Promises
Navy plays Mount St. Mary's and this is a very important one for the Mount, which has a plan to go deeply into the D1A. They had one game canceled on them so they need this warmup to get all their competitive ducks in a row. Also in the East is Arkansas State, which has been somewhat up and down of late. The Red Wolves have a conference game with McKendree followed by another conference game with Davenport. They could garner some momentum with those.
Who Fits Where?
Central Washington has an excellent chance at a good playoff seeding. Their big issue is number of games, since the D1A rankings system uses, in part, strength of schedule. CWU's schedule is strong, but the list is not long. They need more than close losses. BYU, too, wants to get a win. We could also point to Cal Poly's situation. Home playoff? Pretty tough for them to get that. But what if they beat Army?
California Dreamin'
Cal State Long Beach can secure a .500 season in-conference with a win over Santa Clara. This is an impressive showing for them as they started rough. A bonus-point win and they have an excellent shot at securing 4th in the nine-team conference.
And D1A's Power Rankings are a little different:
