Central Oklahoma, Carson-Newman debut in the DII football Power 10

Harding and Grand Valley State continue to go head-to-head in a battle for the top spot in the DII football Power 10 rankings. This week, both pummeled their opponents and remained undefeated on the season, keeping the Bisons locked in at No. 1 and the Lakers right behind at No. 2.

However, it is a pair of other undefeated teams — the Central Oklahoma Bronchos and Carson-Newman Eagles — making their first-ever appearance in a DII football Power 10 ranking. The Bronchos jump to No. 9 after their convincing win over Northwest Missouri State and the Eagles debut at 10 after a thrilling come-from-behind 28-27 victory. The big 14-13 upset of UT Permian Basin over then No. 8 Central Washington late Saturday night opened the door for both.

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The Power 10 are my rankings. There is no committee or voting body coming up with these teams, just my spreadsheets, notes from coaches and a lot of deep diving into rosters and stats. I try to blend selection committee metrics — like strength of schedule, in-region record and PI — along with what I am seeing for an overall look at the landscape of DII football’s top teams. 

The DII football Power 10: Week 6

No. 1 Harding | Previous: 1: The Harding Bisons are a video game. This week, they won 62-0 — their third shutout of the season, all three of which were won by at least 59 points. They have outscored their opponents 366-13. That's 61 points per game. When Pittsburg State set the DII record of 837 points in a season in 2004, they scored 55.8 points per game. So, to wrap your head around how absurd this run is, last year the Bisons absolutely crushed the NCAA college football rushing record and this year, they are on pace to break the single-season DII scoring record.

Oh yeah... the Bisons are averaging 51 more yards rushing per game than they did last year when they ran for the record 6,160 yards, so that record may not last very long. By the way, this week, the Bisons defense allowed 32 total yards, three first downs (one by penalty) and scored on two pick-sixes. It's seriously like Harding has a bunch of Madden 99s running amok on the football field. 

No. 2 Grand Valley State | Previous: 2: It took less than two minutes for the Lakers to put this one out of reach. An opening kickoff return for a touchdown, a quick fumble recovery by the Lakers' defense and an Avery Moore 29-yard scramble later and the Lakers are 6-0 (5-0 against DII). There's not much that needs to be said that hasn't been: This team drops nearly 35 points a game with one of the best scoring defenses in DII. They have a huge matchup against Saginaw Valley State this week. 

No. 3 Valdosta State | Previous: 3: Kudos to North Greenville. The Trailblazers had the Blazers down 21-9, but Sammy Edwards led Valdosta State back for a 32-24 win. Surprisingly, the Blazers have trailed at the half in all three of its all-time wins at North Greenville. It was really the first blip on Valdosta State's schedule as the Blazers have been dominant thus far. The Blazers still have the top offense and defense in the Gulf South. 

No. 4 Slippery Rock | Previous: 5: The Rock had a dominating victory over Gannon and are now 6-0. They scored on their first five possessions to put this out of the way early. Brayden Long threw for three scores and rushed for another. The Rock has a huge matchup against Cal (PA) next week, and should they come away victorious, it will just about lock up a spot in the all-important PSAC championship game. This team checks all the metrics boxes the selection committee looks for and a win against Cal only strengthens the case for No. 1 in Super Region One. 

No. 5 Pittsburg State | Previous: 6: The Gorillas win yet another MIAA contest, keeping them in the hunt for their third-straight conference title. The number that stands out for me is that the Gorillas, as they have the previous two seasons, lead the MIAA in scoring defense allowing 17.5 points per game. That's rather impressive considering all but one team in the conference scores more than 20 points per game (and the one team that doesn't averages 19.4). This is the main reason the Gorillas jump this week.

No. 6 Ferris State | Previous: 4: The Bulldogs were still in action at the time of press as weather pushed its Week 6 game to Sunday for completion. Still, they had a 10-0 lead on Wayne State (MI) when the postponement occurred. So why did the Bulldogs fall this week? We are halfway through the season and metrics now matter: Slippery Rock and Pittsburg State are superior in the big metrics like strength of schedule and KPI. So, why does Ferris State stay at No. 6 and not drop further? Because even though the Bulldogs have played a bit of an "easier" schedule, they have absolutely dominated it. The Bulldogs' final stretch here is brutal, so we will see, but the way this team is performing, it feels like they can hang with anyone in DII football.

No. 7 Minnesota State | Previous: 9: As expected in the weekly preview on Wednesday, MSU Moorhead gave the Mavericks a tough matchup, but in the end Minnesota State prevailed. The Mavs have a top-10 KPI per  and are the unquestioned No. 1 in Super Region Four. The Mavericks add to their impressive SOS with a matchup against nationally ranked Augustana (SD) this week. 

No. 8 Kutztown | Previous: 7: The Golden Bears are now 6-0 after posting their second shutout of the season. They have the top scoring defense in the PSAC and the 8.5 points allowed per game is top-5 in DII football. The defense caused a season-high five turnovers and Judd Novak added three more touchdowns, now leading the PSAC in touchdown passes. 

No. 9 Central Oklahoma | Previous: First five out: The Bronchos have beaten Central Missouri by 17, Nebraska-Kearney by 15, Fort Hays State by 25, and Northwest Missouri State by 28. All four of those teams were either ranked or receiving votes among the top 40 in DII at the time the Bronchos beat them. This team is on an unreal tear and have one of the best quarterbacks in DII (Jett Huff), running backs in DII (Jaylen Cottrell) and maybe the best wide receiver in DII (Terrill Davis). 

No. 10 Carson-Newman| Previous: First five out: The Eagles got to 6-0 in one of the craziest two-minute runs of the season. Trailing 27-14 with less than two minutes remaining in the game, the Eagles scored twice for the 28-27 win. Those kinds of wins show the mettle a team needs to compete in November. The Eagles have played the fifth toughest schedule in DII and according to Faktor, have the second-best KPI in DII. This is a well-deserved promotion.

First five (ish) out (in alphabetical order)

It was too close to call this week, so there is one extra team.

• Central Washington: I still think this is the team to beat in the Lone Star Conference and that defense makes it a frontrunner in Super Region Four. Despite being a couple of missed kicks away from victory, that was still a tough loss to UTPB, and the Wildcats will have to rebound against a tough Texas A&M-Kingsville team next week.
• Charleston (WV): Chavon Wright is going to run the Golden Eagles back to the postseason. He had 170 yards and five rushing touchdowns this weekend, and now has 1,074 yards and 19 touchdowns with five games left before the postseason.
• Colorado School of Mines: The Orediggers got a big bounce-back victory, as Evan Foster went off for 319 yards and four touchdown passes. The RMAC is pretty tough this year, so there is time for the Orediggers to climb back into the top 10 should they win over Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo. 
• Ouachita Baptist: The Tigers are 6-0 and have outscored their opponents 237-48 thus far. We'll find out what they are made of next weekend against Harding. 
• Western Colorado: The Mountaineers did nothing wrong to fall out of the top 10, winning this week by 21 points. When it comes to strength of schedule and other metrics, they simply lag behind Central Oklahoma. However, they have Colorado School of Mines, CSU Pueblo and Colorado Mesa remaining which can improve their selection metrics with wins. 
• West Alabama: It's a shame we don't get Valdosta State vs. the Tigers to see who the top of the GSC is. But despite that game being canceled due to the hurricane, UWA has played a tough schedule and has answered the call, being undefeated with signature wins against Limestone and West Florida.

DII football 5 stars: Stats that stood out

It was another week of huge stats. Augustana (SD)'s Jarod Epperson, for example, had a monster day, rushing for 151 yards while adding 64 receiving yards, but his lack of touchdowns keeps him off the list. That's just how big the performances were this week.

Take a look at this week's "5 stars" at each of the big three offensive positions.