Southern Connecticut State dropped games to American International 13-12 (in the third game of the season as opposed to the last game of the season where the two met up again) and Bryant, a rather average Division II squad.
West Chester suffered two of their losses to 2-seed California, once 44-32 in the season opener, and again last week 47-36 in the PSAC Championship game. They also dropped a 48-20 game to 1-AA Delaware.
Based on conference strength and two of West Chester's losses coming to one of the best teams in the country in California (Pa.), I would look for West Chester to advance out of this game.
Super Region 2 (Southeast Region)
Seed 1: (9-1) Delta State
Seed 2: (10-1) North Alabama
Seed 3: (8-2) Valdosta State
Seed 4: (8-3) Tusculum
Seed 5: (7-3) Albany State (Ga.)
Seed 6: (7-3) Carson-Newman
The first round of games pits Carson-Newman at defending national champion Valdosta State, and Albany State at Tusculum.
Carson-Newman at Valdosta State
The defending national champion Valdosta State University takes on Carson-Newman, a team that is trying to get revenge from being left out of the playoff picture last season with a 10-1 record. Valdosta State features wide receiver Cedric Jones, a possible NFL prospect.
Carson-Newman's losses this year were tough ones, as they dropped a 20-13 decision to North Alabama early in the season, and a 27-21 decision to Newberry to start their conference play, and then losing to conference champion Tusculum 45-44 this past Saturday.
Valdosta's losses were even tougher, as they dropped a 27-24 thriller to Delta State, the No. 1 seed in the region, and got a surprising beat down from North Alabama, the two-seed, 41-23 a couple weeks ago. Based on individual talent and playoff experience, you can expect Valdosta State to win what should be the second-best game of the first round.
Albany State (Ga.) at Tusculum
This should be a very close game, but it doesn't feature the star power that the previous game does.
Tusculum had a great season, losing only to Wingate 37-33, a team which began 7-0 but dropped three of their last four games to miss the playoffs, to Catawba 37-35 who is another fringe playoff team, and Division 1-AA team Gardner-Webb 31-12 early in the season.
Tusculum nearly had to forfeit their first two wins of the year due to using an ineligible player, but self-sanctions prevented such an event. The problem was, they lost a great player in the process.
Albany State also had three losses, to Benedict 13-10, Morehouse 24-19, and Tuskegee 33-20, a Division II powerhouse which refuses to compete in the playoff system.
Albany State plays in a much weaker conference, and while this may be a close game, Tusculum should be the favorite in this match-up to advance to take on Delta State.
Super Region 3 (Northwest Region)
Seed 1: (10-0) Grand Valley State
Seed 2: (11-0) Minnesota-Duluth
Seed 3: (10-1) Chadron State
Seed 4: (8-3) Ashland
Seed 5: (9-2) Minnesota State-Mankato
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