Lenoir-Rhyne and Fayetteville State improved their standing in the final Division II regional rankings, which were released on Monday afternoon, while Mars Hill dropped four spots.
The rankings are an indication of which teams are best in line to receive D2 playoff berths when the field is announced this Sunday. They do not guarantee a spot in the final brackets. There are still games to be played this weekend.
Lenoir-Rhyne (9-1) moved up one spot to fourth in Super Region 2, while Fayetteville State (8-2) also moved up one place into sixth in the same region. Mars Hill (7-2), which had been sixth last week, fell to 10th in Super Region 2 following its double overtime loss to Tusculum on Saturday.
Super Region 2 includes 46 schools from these four conferences: CIAA (Fayetteville State), SAC (Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars Hill), GSC and SIAC.
The NCAA Division II playoffs work like this, according to D2Football.com:
* 28 teams will make the playoff field
* Seven teams are selected from each of the four super regions.
* There are no automatic bids for conference champions. Instead, each school is chosen on an at-large basis using criteria such as winning percentage against D2 competition, head-to-head results, W-L records against teams with .500 records and more.
* The top seed in each of the four regions receives a first-round bye. The No. 2, 3 and 4 seeds will host first-round games.
* The final four will feature one champion from each of the four regions. Those four squads will be reseeded, with the No. 1 and 2 seeds hosting semifinal games.
* The D2 national championship will be held Saturday, Dec. 16 in McKinney, Texas.
Lenoir-Rhyne will play in the SAC title game this Saturday at Tusculum. Fayetteville State will face Virginia Union in the CIAA championship game on Saturday. Virginia Union is ranked seventh this week.
Super Region 2 – Final Rankings
| SR2 | Team | D2 | Region |
| 1 | Benedict | 10-0 | 10-0 |
| 2 | Delta State | 7-1 | 6-1 |
| 3 | Valdosta State | 7-1 | 7-1 |
| 4 | Lenoir-Rhyne | 9-1 | 9-1 |
| 5 | West Florida | 7-2 | 6-2 |
| 6 | Fayetteville State | 8-2 | 8-2 |
| 7 | Virginia Union | 9-1 | 9-1 |
| 8 | Limestone | 7-3 | 7-3 |
| 9 | Miles | 6-2 | 6-2 |
| 10 | Mars Hill | 7-2 | 7-2 |
