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Possible GMW Final Preview as D2 Heats Up

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Possible GMW Final Preview as D2 Heats Up

UWW has a big test this week. Todd Streeter photo.

About 11 conferences take the field in men's D2 college action this week.

It seems like we have a fairly wide open Great Midwest, which remains one of the most robust D2 conferences.

We've got Northern Iowa at Wisconsin-Whirewater this weekend, and that could easily be the conference final when the dust settles.

"Our team is looking very exciting this year," said UWW's Connor Hulme. "We have acquired a lot more freshmen and some upperclassmen. It looks like we will have a lot more numbers this year compared to last year. With the help of some new experienced guys and many returners, I believe we have an opportunity to take back the great Midwest."

It's kind of the same story from UNI, where Head Coach Zeus Ramirez said "the new recruits are getting their feet under them." 

So what this means is a) this is indeed a marquee game for the weekend and b) you might see major changes in these teams later in the fall.

A couple of other team notes: Yes, sorry Virginia, we at GRR have overlooked you a bit. This weekend at D3 Christendom is a big game for them, but they should, in the rankings, get credit for some earlier wins.

Central Michigan at Ferris State is an important Great Lakes game, while, as usual, the NACR is a lot of fun to watch. New Hampshire at Coast Guard is a game of two teams that won big.

Coast Guard beat Maine 41-14 last season. "For the first match of the season, we looked pretty good across the board," said CGA Head Coach Shannon Heap. "We certainly have areas that need to be improved upon. Like every other season and team, we need to stay healthy through the conclusion of the season."

We asked Heap about the conference week; this week is UNH at CGA, UMass Lowell at BU, and Maine at Norwich.

"As far as the conference goes, there are plenty of good teams to contend with and we are focused on a big game up at UNH this Friday and we’ll see how it goes from there. The optimist in me thinks we always have a chance until we are mathematically eliminated," said Heap.

Keep an eye also on Georgetown at Towson in the MARC and UMS&T at SIU in the Gateway.

Check back for scores:

9/20 UW-Milwaukee 10-40 Marquette Great Midwest
9/21 Elon 0-58 Duke SoConn D3
         
9/21 College of Charleston 56-7 Furman SoConn D3
9/21 Appalachian State 17-60 NC State Non-Conference
9/21 UNC-Wilmington 20-7 UNC-Charlotte Non-Conference
9/21 UMass Lowell 50-5 Boston University NACR
9/21 Coast Guard 5-7 New Hampshire NACR
9/21 Maine 7-48 Norwich NACR
9/21 MSU Moorhead 0-36 MSU Mankato N'thn Lights
9/21 SDSU 22-17 Winona State N'thn Lights
9/21 Bucknell 0-28 Scranton MARC D2
9/21 East Stroudsburg 53-14 TCNJ MARC D2
9/21 Lehigh 14-68 Villanova MARC D2
9/21 Georgetown 47-29 Towson MARC D2
9/21 Salisbury 38-5 UMBC MARC D2
9/21 Colo. School Mines 19-26 New Mexico Tech High Peaks
9/21 Denver 45-31 Northern Colorado High Peaks
9/21 Colorado College at Regis High Peaks
9/21 Montana State 71-12 Idaho State High Peaks
9/21 Northern Iowa 78-17 UW-Whitewater Great Midwest
9/21 UIC 14-15 DePaul Great Midwest
9/21 Calvin 10-39 Saginaw Valley Great Lakes East
9/21 Central Michigan 17-7 Ferris State Great Lakes East
9/21 Western Kentucky W-L Eastern Kentucky Great Lakes East
9/21 William & Mary 28-0 Old Dominion Cardinals
9/21 VCU 14-5 George Mason Cardinals
9/21 Virginia 31-25 Christendom Cardinals
9/21 John Carroll 47-0 West Virginia Allegheny
9/21 Robert Morris 15-82 IUP Allegheny
9/21 SUNY Fredonia 6-86 Slippery Rock Allegheny
9/21 Kent State 24-26 Franciscan Allegheny
9/21 Ole Miss at Alabama-Huntsville SCRC D2
9/21 Georgia Tech 12-71 Memphis SCRC D2
9/21 Marist 59-26 RIT Liberty D2
9/21 Oswego 5-68 RPI Liberty D2
9/21 Maryville 5-46 Washington U. Gateway
9/21 UMS&T 6-19 SIU Gateway
9/21 John Brown 0-63 St. Louis U. Gateway
9/22 East Carolina 20-7 UNC-Chapel Hill Non-Conference
9/22 Benedictine 13-27 Loyola Great Midwest