The 2018 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level, began on August 30, 2018, and ended with the Division II championship on December 15, 2018, at the McKinney Independent School District Stadium in McKinney, Texas, hosted by the Lone Star Conference. The game was originally scheduled for Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, on the last year of a five-year contract, but that contract was terminated in September 2018 to allow off-season renovation of the field for its primary tenant, professional soccer club Sporting KC.
Valdosta State beat Ferris State, 49–47, for the championship.
Headlines October 3 – Long Island University announced that it would merge its two current athletic programs—the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, full but non-football members of the Division I FCS Northeast Conference (NEC), and LIU Post Pioneers, full members of the Division II non-football East Coast Conference and football members of the Northeast-10 Conference—effective with the 2019–20 school year. The new program will compete under the LIU name with a new nickname, inheriting the Division I and NEC memberships of LIU Brooklyn. Following the athletic merger, the former Post football team will become the LIU football team, competing in the NEC as an FCS member.
Division II team wins over FCS teams September 1: Morehouse 34, Arkansas–Pine Bluff 30 September 22: Truman State 34, Valparaiso 20
Conference changes and new programs Membership changes School Former conference New conference Cheyney Wolves PSAC Dropped program North Alabama Lions Gulf South Independent (FCS) North Greenville Crusaders Independent Gulf South Tiffin Dragons GLIAC G-MAC
Conference standings
Super Region 1
Super Region 2
Super Region 3
Super Region 4
Postseason
The 2018 NCAA Division II Football Championship was the 46th edition of the Division II playoffs. The playoffs began on November 17 and concluded with the championship game on December 15.
The field consisted of 28 teams, seven from each of the four super regions. The participants in each region were determined by the regional rankings; if a conference's highest-ranked team was ranked in the top nine, that team qualified via the "earned access" provision, and all other participants were selected directly from the rankings. The top seed in each region received a first-round bye. After the quarterfinals, the regional winners were reseeded one through four, with No. 1 meeting No. 4 in the semifinals and No. 2 meeting No. 3.
Participating teams School Conference RegularSeasonRecord Region Seed Azusa Pacific Great Northwest Athletic Conference 8–3 4 7 Bowie State Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association 9–2 2 4 Colorado Mines Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 10–1 4 4 CSU Pueblo Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 10–1 4 5 Ferris State Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 11–0 3 2 Florida Tech Gulf South Conference 8–3 2 6 Fort Hays State Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association 9–2 3 5 Grand Valley State Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 10–1 3 3 Harding Great American Conference 9–2 3 7 Hillsdale Great Midwest Athletic Conference 9–2 1 5 Indianapolis Great Lakes Valley Conference 9–1 3 4 Kutztown Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 9–1 1 4 Lenoir–Rhyne South Atlantic Conference 10–1 2 3 LIU Post Northeast-10 Conference 10–0 1 2 Minnesota State Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference 11–0 4 1 Minnesota–Duluth Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference 11–0 4 3 New Haven Northeast-10 Conference 8–2 1 6 Northwest Missouri State Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association 9–2 3 6 Notre Dame (OH) Mountain East Conference 11–0 1 1 Ouachita Baptist Great American Conference 11–0 3 1 Slippery Rock Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 9–2 1 7 Tarleton State Lone Star Conference 10–0 4 2 Texas A&M–Commerce Lone Star Conference 9–2 4 6 Valdosta State Gulf South Conference 10–0 2 1 West Alabama Gulf South Conference 8–3 2 5 West Chester Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 10–0 1 3 West Georgia Gulf South Conference 10–1 2 2 Wingate South Atlantic Conference 8–3 2 7
Bids by conference
Conference Total Schools SuperRegion Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association 1 Bowie State 2 Great American Conference 2 HardingOuachita Baptist 3 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference 2 Ferris StateGrand Valley State 3 Great Lakes Valley Conference 1 Indianapolis 3 Great Midwest Athletic Conference 1 Hillsdale 1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference 1 Azusa Pacific 4 Gulf South Conference 4 Florida TechValdosta StateWest AlabamaWest Georgia 2 Lone Star Conference 2 Tarleton StateTexas A&M–Commerce 4 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association 2 Fort Hays StateNorthwest Missouri State 3 Mountain East Conference 1 Notre Dame (OH) 1 Northeast-10 Conference 2 LIU PostNew Haven 1 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference 2 Minnesota StateMinnesota–Duluth 4 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference 3 KutztownSlippery RockWest Chester 1 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference 2 Colorado MinesCSU Pueblo 4 South Atlantic Conference 2 Lenoir–RhyneWingate 2
Bracket
See also 2018 NCAA Division II football rankings 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season 2018 NCAA Division III football season 2018 NAIA football season
References