With the #1 team losing we have to have a new #1.
Adrian had a good chance to vault into that place but—as has been the case through a chunk of their season—they had an opponent cancel on them, and #2 Norwich beat a ranked opponent in convincing fashion. So it's logical that Norwich takes the #1 spot.
Where to put Furman? They lost to the #19 team and while you could argue that UNC-Charlotte has dramatically improved (UNC-Charlotte Win Jolts Southern Conference Pecking Order ) but it's tough to say they should rise to, say, #3 or #4. In the end, we nudge them up to #7 and Furman down to #8. It is distinctly possible that any team in the top 14 or so could go on a national championship run. We do think it's pretty tight in this group.
UMass-Lowell, which, like #1 Norwich, is undefeated in the NEWCRC, might well be higher than #9, but, as we have implied, we think that group is almost interchangeable.
The big change in this ranking is Georgia Tech. The thing about Georgia Tech was that they tied Auburn at the beginning of the season. After that, Auburn went on a run to show that they were much improved from two years ago. Tech, however, had forfeit wins and not enough data for us to go on. So we needed something, and an impressive win over MTSU was what did it. We had a list of five or so teams we were waiting on for this week's rankings. Three of those, Georgia Tech, Providence, and Sacred Heart, all come into the Top 40. Providence came into the Top 40 a couple of weeks ago after a close win over Coast Guard, but then they lost to Sacred Heart, and we wondered at their ability to back up a win. The Black Pack's victory over Boston University put paid to that.
With Coast Guard's loss to Norwich, in which they lost 46-0, we can sort of see, now, a hierarchy in the NEWCRC with none of those teams in the Top 20 but still in there. Providence, it seems, is at the top of that second group. Sacred Heart may have beaten Providence, but not those other teams. A win over UNH gets them in at #40.
The other big mover is Pitt State, which beat UMS&T 14-0. Now the talk is that they could have scored more. Whatever, what matters to us is the shutout. Shutouts are tough to accomplish against good teams. S&T drops seven spots and Pitt State moves up 14. Also moving up is Bucknell because they keep beating good teams.
Click the image at the right to see a larger version of the NCR Men's DII playoff bracket.
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| Rank | Prev | Team | Conference | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Norwich (VT) | New England-Wide | Beat Coast Guard (21) |
| 2 | 3 | Adrian (MI) | Great Lakes | Forfeit win |
| 3 | 4 | Marquette (WI) | Great MW | Beat UW-Milwaukee |
| 4 | 5 | UW-Whitewater (WI) | Great MW | Beat Northern Michigan |
| 5 | 6 | Marian (IN) | MCRC | Lost to Lindenwood |
| 6 | 7 | Northern Iowa (IA) | Great MW | Beat Loyola (26) |
| 7 | 19 | UNC-Charlotte (NC) | Southern | Beat Furman (1) |
| 8 | 1 | Furman (SC) | Southern | Lost to UNC-Charlotte (19) |
| 9 | 10 | UMass-Lowell (MA) | New England-Wide | Beat Vermont (11) |
| 10 | 9 | IUP (PA) | Allegheny | Beat Kent State |
| 11 | 8 | Central Michigan (MI) | Great Lakes | Beat Calvin |
| 12 | 11 | Vermont (VT) | New England-Wide | Lost to UMass-Lowell (10) |
| 13 | 12 | Memphis (TN) | SCRC | Beat Ole Miss |
| 14 | 13 | Illinois State (IL) | Great MW | |
| 15 | 16 | Belmont Abbey (NC) | Southern | |
| 16 | 20 | Auburn (AL) | SCRC | Beat Mississippi State |
| 17 | 24 | Bucknell (PA) | MARC | Beat Bloomsburg |
| 18 | Unr | Georgia Tech (GA) | SCRC | Beat MTSU (15) |
| 19 | 33 | Pitt State (KS) | Gateway | Beat UMS&T (14) |
| 20 | 17 | Montana State (MT) | Rocky Mountain | |
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| 21 | 14 | UMS&T (MO) | Gateway | Lost to Pitt State (33) |
| 22 | 23 | UNC-Wilmington (NC) | Southern | Beat Coastal Carolina |
| 23 | 25 | Villanova (PA) | MARC | Beat Drexel (38) |
| 24 | 27 | Principia (IL) | Gateway | |
| 25 | 18 | UW-Platteville (WI) | Great MW | |
| 26 | Unr | Providence (RI) | New England-Wide | Beat Boston University (22) |
| 27 | 21 | Coast Guard (CT) | New England-Wide | Lost to Norwich (2) |
| 28 | 22 | Boston University (MA) | New England-Wide | Lost to Providence |
| 29 | 28 | Marist (NY) | Tri-State | |
| 30 | 29 | USMMA (NY) | Tri-State | |
| 31 | 30 | UNC (NC) | Southern | |
| 32 | 31 | Citadel (SC) | Southern | Beat East Carolina |
| 33 | 34 | Virginia (VA) | Cardinals | Beat Old Dominion |
| 34 | 15 | MTSU (TN) | SCRC | Lost to Georgia Tech |
| 35 | 35 | Grand Valley State (MI) | Great Lakes | Beat Ferris State |
| 36 | 32 | Thomas More (KY) | MCRC | Forfeit win |
| 37 | 36 | Central Missouri (MO) | Gateway | Beat John Brown |
| 38 | 40 | Georgetown (DC) | MARC | Beat Towson |
| 39 | 26 | Loyola-Chicago (IL) | Great MW | Lost to Northern Iowa (7) |
| 40 | Unr | Sacred Heart (CT) | New England-Wide | Beat New Hampshire |
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