The second round of the Division II playoffs will take place this weekend.
If the first round was any indication, there's plenty of excitement in store this weekend.
Here's a snapshot of what to look forward to, #Nuggets style.
Six undefeated teams remain: The four top seeds that enjoyed first round byes (Notre Dame College, Valdosta State, Ouachita Baptist, and Minnesota State), along with 2-seeds Ferris State and Tarleton State are the only undefeated teams that remain. Minnesota-Duluth and LIU-Post were the other undefeated teams in the bracket, but both lost in first-round action last weekend.
First round full of upsets: A number of higher seeds fell in the opening round of action last weekend, carrying over the trend from last season where a 5-seed and 6-seed met in the national title game. Among the upsets were; 5-seed Hillsdale advancing against 4-seed Kutztown, undefeated 2-seed LIU Post falling to 7-seed Slippery Rock, 6-seed Northwest Missouri taking out 3-seed GVSU on the road, defending national champ and 6-seed Texas A&M Commerce taking out undefeated 3-seed Minnesota-Duluth, 7-seed Wingate taking out 2-seed West Georgia, and 5-seed CSU-Pueblo beating 4-seed Colorado Mines.
Biggest first round blowout: Tarleton State beat Azusa Pacific in their first home playoff game in school history, putting on a show for the home crowd to the tune of 58-0. The win sets up a match up between Tarleton State (a 2-seed) and the defending national champs Texas A&M Commerce (a 6-seed), which a lot of folks will have their eyes on.
Underdog to root for: Northwest Missouri State is a 6-seed in the playoff, but just traveled to Michigan last weekend to knock off 3-seed Grand Valley State 42-17 while rushing for 356 yards. They make a return trip to the Great Lakes State this weekend to take on 2-seed Ferris State, a team they met in the national semis back in 2016 where they beat the Bulldogs 35-20. Northwest Missouri State captured in the national title in 2009, 2013, 2015 and 2016 after originally coming up short four straight times from 2005-2008. Earlier this season, Ferris State used a trick play on fourth down with little time remaining to beat their rival Grand Valley.
Most intriguing match ups: A lot of the country that follows D-II football will have their eyes on the Lone Star conference rematch of Tarleton State and Texas A&M Commerce. Tarleton State won the regular season match up decisively with a 47-21 win, but it's incredibly tough to beat a team twice. The other match up that deserves a lot of attention is Northwest Missouri State and Ferris State. Ferris is looking to break through after some deep playoff runs the past few seasons and five straight playoff appearances, and NW Missouri State is looking to get back to the national title game after being a mainstay in the game dating back to 2008.
Coach of the Year?: The three coaches we pointed out back in our first D-II playoff snapshot that could get a coach of the year nod all have their programs still playing - Ferris State's Tony Annese, Notre Dame College's Mike Jacobs, and New Haven's Chris Pincince.
New location for the national title game: Remember, the D-II title game has a new location this year - December 15th at McKinney Stadium ISD, TX.