All Things 2025 College Football D2 and D3 Thread

[IceBoxGopher]

The Northern Sun Conference put out its preseason polls and players to watch so I figure it's a good time to get this thread going for the season. Here are the expectations for how the NSIC will shake out, Minnesota teams in Bold:

1. Minnesota State-Mankato - 167
2. Augustana - 153
3. Minnesota Duluth - 139
4. Bemidji State - 130
5. Sioux Falls - 129
6. Wayne State - 106
7. Minnesota State-Moorhead - 96
8. Northern State - 84
9. Winona State - 77
10. Minot State - 67
11. Concordia-St. Paul - 50
12. U of Mary - 35
13. SW Minnesota State - 27
14. U of Jamestown - 14

North Division:

1. Bemidji State (4 First Place Votes) - 33
2. Minnesota Duluth (3 First Place Votes) - 33
3. Minnesota State-Moorhead - 26
4. Northern State - 20
5. Minot State - 18
6. U of Mary - 10
7. U of Jamestown - 7

South Division:

1. Minnesota State-Mankato - 36
2. Augustana - 30
3. Sioux Falls - 26
4. Wayne State - 22
5. Winona State - 15
6. Concordia-St. Paul - 12
7. SW Minnesota State - 6

North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

• Sr. QB Jack Strand, Minnesota State-Moorhead

South Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

• Jr. QB Gunnar Hensley, Augustana

North Division Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

• Jr. LB Jake Adams, Northern State

South Division Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

• Jr. DE Carter Sitzman, Wayne State

 

[disco]

Is this Jamestown's first football season in the conference?

 

[IceBoxGopher]

Is this Jamestown's first football season in the conference?

Yep, they just moved up from the NAIA. This is their first season at D2.

 

[swede2]

The Northern Sun Conference put out its preseason polls and players to watch so I figure it's a good time to get this thread going for the season. Here are the expectations for how the NSIC will shake out, Minnesota teams in Bold:

1. Minnesota State-Mankato - 167
2. Augustana - 153
3. Minnesota Duluth - 139
4. Bemidji State - 130
5. Sioux Falls - 129
6. Wayne State - 106
7. Minnesota State-Moorhead - 96
8. Northern State - 84
9. Winona State - 77
10. Minot State - 67
11. Concordia-St. Paul - 50
12. U of Mary - 35
13. SW Minnesota State - 27
14. U of Jamestown - 14

North Division:

1. Bemidji State (4 First Place Votes) - 33
2. Minnesota Duluth (3 First Place Votes) - 33
3. Minnesota State-Moorhead - 26
4. Northern State - 20
5. Minot State - 18
6. U of Mary - 10
7. U of Jamestown - 7

South Division:

1. Minnesota State-Mankato - 36
2. Augustana - 30
3. Sioux Falls - 26
4. Wayne State - 22
5. Winona State - 15
6. Concordia-St. Paul - 12
7. SW Minnesota State - 6

North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

• Sr. QB Jack Strand, Minnesota State-Moorhead

South Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

• Jr. QB Gunnar Hensley, Augustana

North Division Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

• Jr. LB Jake Adams, Northern State

South Division Preseason Defensive Player of the Year

• Jr. DE Carter Sitzman, Wayne State

Someone has to start the thread drift - I was at a non-football event at Mankato State a few weeks back and man, Blakeslee Stadium is an even bigger trash heap than I remember. There certainly isn't any bonding money for capital projects these days, particularly for athletics, so the state won't pay to replace it, but its a shame that with the size of that school that it can't find donors (how about an increase in student fees?) to fund a football facility commensurate with the size of the school and its other top notch athletic facilities, and its on-field success. Southwest State, Sioux Falls, Augustana and Northern State, perhaps among others, all have very nice, functional football facilities built in the last two decades that weren't very expensive but are leaps and bounds better than MSU's crumbling eastern block dump.