2021 Season

[CarolinaLax Dad]

Who will be at the top of the rankings in the spring? I have noticed more than several transfers from D2 to D1. Who has seniors coming back for the 5th year?

The 2020 season was shaping up to be a good one. Will it be Tampa's year? I think most of their kids are back. What happens to Limestone and Lemoyne? Belmont Abbey and Lenior Rhyne looked really strong. Eric Dickinson is coming back for a 5th year at LR and Moffat will be 100% this year.

[laxmarmot]

Hopefully we have a season, even if is 2020 lite. Fewer games, limited travel, 5th year players vs those that moved on the their chosen careers, making room for unseasoned players. Way to many balls in the air to really make a pick.
But one thing for sure, schedules and critical game placements will matter even more this season than in the past. Your not going to have those games when the key players get a little more rest and you ask the 2nd line players to carry the fight. Every game is necessarily a must win, and will reflect
toward rankings and the tournament tickets. So we'll see how HC's prep their teams thru-out the short season and how week to week the teams near the top hold it together.
Might it be a underdog team get in, due in part to schedules, and top teams trying to phone one in ? Could a 2nd tier team play their best game and get past a top tier team, maybe !!
However it shakes out, every games is extra important this season. The potential for some great games and potential upsets is higher than usual.

[CarolinaLax Dad]

Great point about every game counting in a shorter season. Also, conference tournaments will be important. I wonder if more weight will go to conference tournament winners than in the past? Strength of conference is going to make it tough (IMO) for teams from a weak conference to make the playoffs unless they can play top teams out of conference. Some teams will definitely benefit from their geographic location.

I hadn't thought about game and player management. Maybe, the second line plays more than usual against the weaker teams - some coaches limit the play of second and third lines even against weaker teams. Only putting in the 3rd line when it's a blow out. If by chance your schedule had you playing let's say, 5 games in two weeks - you would want to make sure your best guys were fresh and healthy. It will benefit teams with depth on the roster.

[CarolinaLax Dad]

Great point about every game counting in a shorter season. Also, conference tournaments will be important. I wonder if more weight will go to conference tournament winners than in the past? Strength of conference is going to make it tough (IMO) for teams from a weak conference to make the playoffs unless they can play top teams out of conference. Some teams will definitely benefit from their geographic location.

I hadn't thought about game and player management. Maybe, the second line plays more than usual against the weaker teams - some coaches limit the play of second and third lines even against weaker teams. Only putting in the 3rd line when it's a blow out. If by chance your schedule had you playing let's say, 5 games in two weeks - you would want to make sure your best guys were fresh and healthy. It will benefit teams with depth on the roster.

[StuckinD2]

With the NCAA Reducing maximums to 13 games and Mins down by 33% I bet you’re going to see a lot of teams play a full conference schedule, with maybe a few out of conference games. This may hurt conferences with lower numbers (ECC) ADs may push to play minimums over Max’s creating a much harder case for post season opportunities then conferences with larger number of schools creating more opportunities (NE10). One thing is for sure in-region games became very important for selection purposes. I doubt we will see northern schools playing many southern schools if any. Rumor has it GMAC had decided to replay 2020 conference schedule giving keeping home and always the same. It’ll be interesting to see how Coaches handle fallball. Especially with increased rosters, early fall semester starts, as well as a longer winter break, and increased health screenings and checks. Programs that have a strong core or returning players could be more prepared then programs that are younger or need fallball to implement Schemes and systems. There’s a lot of underlying factors that could in-fact give a new face a chance to breakthrough!

[bmorelax]

agree with Stuck...

Only one GMAC game was played in 20, so it makes sense to keep the same Home/Away schedule for 21

I doubt any Northern teams will make the journey to Florida for a couple of Spring break games.
Those good N/S rivalries may be gone also. LImestone vs Seton Hill has been a great rivalry the last 5 years with games decided by a goal or 2
May also see some neutral field games to cut down on hotel stays.

Canadians will have to come back to school two weeks early to self quarantine.

Fall scrimmages are 90 days away....but with some schools (D3 - RPI) already canceling football, it doesn't look good.

[RedFromMI]

agree with Stuck...

Only one GMAC game was played in 20, so it makes sense to keep the same Home/Away schedule for 21

I doubt any Northern teams will make the journey to Florida for a couple of Spring break games.
Those good N/S rivalries may be gone also. LImestone vs Seton Hill has been a great rivalry the last 5 years with games decided by a goal or 2
May also see some neutral field games to cut down on hotel stays.

Canadians will have to come back to school two weeks early to self quarantine.

Fall scrimmages are 90 days away....but with some schools (D3 - RPI) already canceling football, it doesn't look good.

So far the SE US DII conferences still have football scheduled. And each team in the SAC has ten games scheduled.

[Gorilla Fan]

No fall ball at the very least:

https://www.northeast10.org/general/202 ... 0716lpyq48

[StuckinD2]

From my understanding teams will still be allowed to practice and use their Non-Championship segmented CARA hours during the fall. These rulings from Conferences just limits outside competition. The ECC just announced the suspension of Fall today as well. With fall sports moved back this is going to create a very unique Spring semester to say the least!

[cuseman4133]

Perhaps the hardest hit news for any college comes from New York Tech: All NCAA participation suspended for at least the next 2 years. https://nyitbears.com/news/2020/8/20/ge ... grams.aspx

[Matnum PI]

NCAA TO DOWNSIZE DIVISION II NATIONAL TOURNAMENTS; DIVISION III COULD FOLLOW

[D2fan]

So who are going to be the 10 teams competing for spots?

My guess (In no particular order)

NORTH
Le Moyne (NE10)
Adelphi (NE10)
Pace (NE10)
Mercyhurst (GMAC)
Seton Hill (GMAC)
Mercy (ECC)
Frostburg (ECC)
Chestnut Hill (CACC)

SOUTH
Tampa (SS)
Belmont Abbey (CC)
Mt Olive (CC)
Limestone (SAC)
Lenoir Rhyne (SAC)
Wingate (SAC)
Queens (SAC)
Lindenwood (GLVC)
UINDY (GLVC)
Colorado Mesa (RMAC)

[StuckinD2]

So who are going to be the 10 teams competing for spots?

My guess (In no particular order)

NORTH
Le Moyne (NE10)
Adelphi (NE10)
Pace (NE10)
Mercyhurst (GMAC)
Seton Hill (GMAC)
Mercy (ECC)
Frostburg (ECC)
Chestnut Hill (CACC)

SOUTH
Tampa (SS)
Belmont Abbey (CC)
Mt Olive (CC)
Limestone (SAC)
Lenoir Rhyne (SAC)
Wingate (SAC)
Queens (SAC)
Lindenwood (GLVC)
UINDY (GLVC)
Colorado Mesa (RMAC)

I like your list except Frostburg can’t compete in the NCAA’s for until spring of ‘23 they’re in their probationary period for transitioning from D3 to D2. I think it’ll be interesting to see especially with the GLVC going conference only. The Minimum number of games played to be eligible for the tournament is 7 or 8 for D2 while it’s only 5 for D1. Teams will have to be pretty selective with who they play and it makes every game count that much more!
SAC will be a really tough conference with limestone now!

[WhiteCarrera]

The GLVC's double round robin may hurt them. Lindenwood, Indy and Rockhurst are the three in discussion, with Maryville on it's way but probably still a year away (sorry Coach). Unless someone runs the table or wins the conf tournament with only one other loss, the committee will look past this bunch. When six of your games are wins over Quincy, Davenport and Lewis, your other six games better be really impressive!

[Laxguy22]

Seton Hill Schedule is out.

https://athletics.setonhill.edu/sports/ ... e/schedule

[Gorilla Fan]

NE10 plans on playing:

https://www.northeast10.org/general/202 ... 0113osh5yu

[laxrat55]

Watch out for the boys out at Lindenwood. 5-0 start to the 2020 season that was cut short. 2021 looks like they could run the table with their schedule playing mostly midwest teams. D1 level facilities.

[laxrat55]

Watch out for the boys out at Lindenwood. 5-0 start to the 2020 season that was cut short. 2021 looks like they could run the table with their schedule playing mostly midwest teams. D1 level facilities.

[Laxwarrior]

Watch out for the boys out at Lindenwood. 5-0 start to the 2020 season that was cut short. 2021 looks like they could run the table with their schedule playing mostly midwest teams. D1 level facilities.

nice stadium but D1 usually don't play on a field with football lines?

[laxrat55]

Watch out for the boys out at Lindenwood. 5-0 start to the 2020 season that was cut short. 2021 looks like they could run the table with their schedule playing mostly midwest teams. D1 level facilities.

nice stadium but D1 usually don't play on a field with football lines?

Syracuse, OSU, UPENN, Maryland, Navy, Towson, Cornell..........