Despite win over Northwood, Hillsdale drops 4 spots in Regional Rankings

Even though they beat Northwood on Saturday, the Hillsdale College Chargers see themselves drop 4 spots in the regional rankings thanks to....math.

The NCAA has a formula that bases the rankings on winning percentage, strength of schedule, and opponent strength of schedule. This is criteria for the regional committee to apply. What D2football.com's Tony Nicolette has done a great job of doing is reminding fans that there is no specific regulation or requirement stating how exactly the math is applied.

Hillsdale played a 2 win football team on Saturday and so that hurt the SOS number. A win over Findlay on this upcoming Saturday will help slightly as the Oilers are 5-4. The big albatross that hangs from the neck of everyone who plays them is winless Tiffin.

Are the playoffs out of the question for Hillsdale this year? Nope, because anything can happen in the final two weeks. As I stated in my post about two wins equals a GLIAC title, all the Chargers can do is take care of their own business. They have to beat Findlay and Tiffin. After that, it's all in the hands of whatever-happens happens.

Do yourself a favor and just simply scratch your heads. No sense in trying to figure this thing out any further.

Rankings courtesy of D2football.com

Hillsdale College Football: Two Wins from a Title

"Control your own destiny" are some of the most beautiful words in football and that is exactly what Hillsdale College does as it strives to reach its team goal of winning the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the first time in 19 years.

The last time the Chargers won a league title was 1992 when Hillsdale shared it with Ferris State, Grand Valley, and Butler. It is likely that the Chargers will probably end up sharing this title too. With two games to play Hillsdale is in a 5 way tie with Wayne State, Saginaw Valley, Ashland, and Indianapolis. All sit with 6-2 records in the conference. Hillsdale is 6-3 overall but its loss to league member Ferris State  was played as a non-conference game because the long-time rivals were not scheduled to meet in league play.

Hillsdale plays at 5-4 Findlay on Saturday and winless Tiffin on November 12.

Here are the schedules for the other top teams:

Saginaw Valley (6-2, 6-2): home vs. Northern Michigan, at Grand Valley State
Wayne State (7-2, 6-2): at Indianapolis, home vs. Findlay
Indianapolis (7-2, 6-2): home vs. Wayne State, at Ohio Dominican
Ashland (6-3, 6-2) : home vs. Ohio Dominican, at Lake Erie

Only one team is guaranteed out of the mix and that is either going to be Wayne State or Indianapolis. They are the two clubs among the tied-5 who have remaining games with any of the others.

Coach Dick Lowry used to preach and Otter still preaches it after having been a Lowry assistant: Worry only about what we can control.

How Hillsdale might fair in terms of the playoffs is completely out of their hands. A thousand scenarios could play out a thousand ways. A new set of regional rankings will be up later this afternoon.

Only one thing is certain. Beat Findlay and Tiffin and be league champs.

Patrick Heckenlively Galleries Now Live for Northwood

Check out official team photographer Patrick Heckenlively's photos from this past Saturday as well as from all past home games this season.

Charger Football Galleries

Photos may be purchased online.

Hillsdale 6th in First Round of NCAA Football Regional Rankings

Hillsdale College finds itself still in the NCAA Division II football playoff mix, despite losing on Saturday to Wayne State. The Chargers' strength of schedule seems to be buoying them in this early round of math. Findlay at 5-3 will help strengthen that but Norhwood and Tiffin's struggles this year will not. Here they are as posted at d2football.com.

Podcast with Sean Baligian

Wayne State week podcast is up...has been up since yesterday. Go to Chargerblue.com and click Podcast.

Saginaw blows out Ashland. A Hillsdale win will mean sole possession of first place

It has been 29 years since a Hillsdale College football team has made it through the regular season unscathed. In 1982, the Chargers reeled off 12 straight before losing to Mesa State 18-9 in the second round of the NAIA playoffs.

You have to pretty much pencil in a loss here or there and it really doesn't matter that much who beats you. If you expect to be a contender for league titles and D2 playoff berths, you can't let it happen much though.

Even after a shocking defeat by Ohio Dominican two weeks ago, Hillsdale finds itself in a position now to take over sole possession of 1st place with a win over Wayne State. Ironically, it was a win over Wayne State that clinched that a share of the 1992 league title.

Hillsdale got some help last week when Ashland knocked off previously unbeaten Wayne State, creating a 3-way tie at the top with Hillsdale, WSU, and Ashland at 5-1 in league play. Last night, Hillsdale and Wayne State got a lot of help from Saginaw Valley (and quite a bit from Ashland's disinterested performance) as the Cardinals blew out the Eagles 27-6 in front of a national television audience.

A win over Wayne would put the Chargers at 6-1 and drops Wayne into the muck of two loss teams hoping the leader somehow stumbles along the way.

Even with a win, no ring is secure, shared or otherwise. Hillsdale still faces Northwood, Findlay, and Tiffin. As we saw in the ODU game, everyone is dangerous. Playing in Findlay is especially dangerous, as it was the Oilers who ended Grand Valley's home winning streak this year, forcing 6 turnover. Five of those came on 5 straight possessions.

Hillsdale will need a great effort this week. When I talked to offensive coordinator Nate Shreffler, he said Wayne is "probably one of the most complete teams we have seen all year."

Game time is 1:30 PM at Muddy Waters Stadium in Hillsdale.

Warrior Daily: Wayne State Head Coach Paul Winters

Wayne State head coach Paul Winters shares his thoughts on last week's loss to Ashland and the task of playing in Hillsdale this week.


video from Wayne State University