Week 11 preview

There are some conference deciding games going on out there Saturday that need to be noticed.

Southern Conference has a great match up that has Wofford hosting Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern wins and they are the SoCon champs alone. Wofford wins and they have clinched a share of the title and with a win next week would have it. However a win this week for Wofford and an upset loss to UTC (who has a bye week) then the title could be shared four ways between Wofford, Georgia Southern, App. St, and Furman.

Ivy League usually only gets attention when it is Havard vs. Yale, but this week's Harvard vs. Penn game will actually decide the conference title. A Harvard victory would all but seal the deal for Harvard as they would have a tie breaker against Brown, who also has only one conference loss. A Penn victory makes a messy three way tie a top the standings between Harvard, Penn, and Brown.

Montana and Montana St each have the week off to prepare for one another. But Eastern Washington will have an interesting game with Cal Poly. The title will be decided next week.

Stony Brook is in control of the Big South. They travel to Gardner Webb. They should win easy.

CAA is always a hot bed of action, but this year it is the teams you usually don't hear about. New Hampshire at Towson is the one to watch. The winner will not have the title outright, but will do serious damage to the other teams chances of sniffing a share of the CAA title. Maine also has only one conference loss and they are hosting UMass. Sad to say that Towson needs to win as they are the lowest ranked team and without a share of the CAA title, they may have trouble finding a spot in the field that will surely take both Maine and New Hampshire and probably a two loss Old Dominion over Towson. ODU tries to win the state of Virginia outright as they go to William and Mary.

Norfolk State looks to take the MEAC. They ought to win this week against Morgan State.

The Missouri Valley ought to send two teams (at least) to the playoffs. North Dakota State just has to avoid a slip up at home against Youngstown State to win the title. They have the tie break over Northern Iowa, who plays Southern Utah out of conference. Southern Utah has had some big wins, so this is one to keep an eye on.

Albany looks to win the NEC as they have the tie breaker against Duquesne. Both are 5-1 in conference and both ought to win this weekend. Duquesne has the better over all record at 7-2 compared to 6-3, but will be on the outside looking in at the title.

The Ohio Valley Conference has been an absolute disaster this year with no one dominating. With all that said, little quite Eastern Kentucky can win it outright with a home victory against Tenn Tech this week and Tenn-Martin next week. They control their own destiny. A loss would make it ugly as Tenn Tech, E Kentucky, Tenn-Martin, and Jacksonville St would all have two losses in conference. A three way tie would seem assured. That would favor Jacksonville St for a playoff birth. This conference might pull two anyway, but Eastern Kentucky needs these last two wins to get in (in my opinion).

Patriot League title is up for grabs with Georgetown taking on Leigh. Georgetown has one conference loss and Leigh has zero, but would lose the tie breaker to Georgetown. Leigh is ranked in everyone's top 10. A win gives them the title outright. Both could make it to the playoffs, but Georgetown is not assured one, especially with a loss.

Pioneer League will probably be a split title. If Drake beats Dayton they are in the club house at 7-1 in conference after last weeks big win over Jacksonville. However, Drake has a loss to San Diego who if they win this week against Marist and next week verses Jacksonville will have the same conference record and the tie breaker. Jacksonville plays Butler, but needs Drake to lose in order to overcome last weeks loss. Campbell sits with two losses and is hoping everyone loses this week.

Southland winner is Sam Houston State if they win this week over Northwestern St. But they are playing for home field for as long as they can in the playoffs. A two seed is within their grasp.

The SWAC is interesting. If Alabama State wins against Southern, then they are done with one loss and will spend the rest of the year cheering against Alabama A&M. Alabama A&M has their biggest challenge Saturday against Jackson St. who has two losses in conference. A&M has one loss, but has the tie breaker against Alabama St. Jackson State ought to put up a good game and it will be one to watch.