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D2YEARBOOK on sale soon!

After more than a year of planning, changing our mind, moving forward and procrastinating, we have decided to introduce the first publication of D2SportsTalk.

Our site is dedicated to highlighting and celebrating each sport in NCAA Division II, while spotlighting each national champion. This magazine does just that.

Within days we will be announcing specifics on how to order the hard-copy publication and possibly an e-zine version.

This Week in D2 - POLLS

FOOTBALL

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Grand Valley St. (24) 6-0 624 1
2 Abilene Christian 6-0 593 2
3 North Ala. (1) 6-0 577 3
4 Central Wash. 6-0 532 5
5 Bloomsburg 6-0 519 4
6 Northwest Mo. St. 5-1 501 6
7 Minn. St. Mankato 6-0 469 7
8 Minn. Duluth 5-1 453 8
9 Tex. A&M-Kingsville 6-0 438 9
10 Albany St. (Ga.) 5-0 391 10

FULL RANKINGS
REGIONAL RANKINGS

MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Rank School Points Prev
1 Adams St. 25 1
2 Western St. 24 2
3 Cal St. Chico 23 4
4 Grand Valley St. 22 3
5 Queens (N.C.) 21 5
6 Abilene Christian 20 6
7 Colorado Mines 19 7
8 Western Wash. 18 8
9 Stonehill 17 9
10 Southern Ind. 16 11

FULL RANKINGS

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY

Rank School Points Prev
1 Cal St. Chico 25 3
2 Grand Valley St. 24 2
3 Mo. Southern St. 23 7
4 Adams St. 22 1
5 Alas. Anchorage 21 5
6 Shippensburg 20 4
7 Western Wash. 19 8
8 Tampa 18 9
9 Augustana (S.D.) 17 10
10 Mesa St. 16 15

FULL RANKINGS

FIELD HOCKEY

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Bloomsburg (14) 11-1 148 2
2 Shippensburg (1) 12-1 131 1
3 East Stroudsburg 11-2 106 3
4 Stonehill 10-2 99 6
5 Mass.-Lowell 10-2 83 4
6 Kutztown 7-5 71 5
7 Bentley 8-3 48 8
8 Mercyhurst 6-3 43 7
9 Merrimack 8-5 29 9
10 Millersville 6-6 21 10

REGIONAL RANKINGS

MEN'S SOCCER

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Cal St. L.A. 11-0-1 25 2
2 Lees-McRae 9-0-0 24 3
3 Tampa 6-0-1 23 4
4 Millersville 9-1-0 22 5
5 Southern N.H. 10-1-1 21 6
6 Drury 11-0-0 20 8
7 Sonoma St. 10-0-2 19 7
8 Fort Lewis 9-1-0 18 9
9 Truman 9-1-1 17 10
10 Slippery Rock 10-1-0 16 12

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/m-soccer/division_ii1.html
REGIONAL RANKINGS

WOMEN'S SOCCER

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 West Fla. 11-0-0 25 2
2 St. Rose 11-0-0 24 3
3 Columbus St. 10-0-1 23 5
4 Grand Valley St. 10-0-2 22 4
5 Seattle Pacific 10-1-0 21 1
6 Metro St. 11-1-0 20 6
7 Carson-Newman 11-0-0 19 7
8 Rollins 8-1-1 18 8
9 West Chester 9-1-1 17 9
10 Midwestern St. 8-0-2 16 10

FULL RANKINGS
REGIONAL RANKINGS


WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

1 Concordia-St. Paul (32) 19-0 800 1
2 Cal St. San B'dino 16-0 768 2
3 UC San Diego 16-1 721 3
4 Central Mo. 19-3 692 5
5 Neb.-Kearney 18-1 638 8
6 West Tex. A&M 18-3 615 6
7 Washburn 19-2 594 9
8 Emporia St. 17-2 579 6
9 Tampa 14-2 564 4
10 Minn. Duluth 14-3 506 10

FULL RANKINGS

NCAA President Brand Dies

NCAA President Myles Brand, the first university president to serve as the Association's chief executive, died Wednesday from pancreatic cancer. He was 67.

Brand, who began his tenure in January 2003 after having served as president at Indiana and Oregon, died at his Indianapolis home. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2008 and announced his condition to the NCAA Executive Committee, the national office staff and the leadership at NCAA member schools in January, saying the long-term prognosis for his condition was "not good."

Brand remained committed to leading the Association even through his illness, guiding the national office staff and communicating with presidential leadership up until the final days. He attended the Men's Final Four in Detroit, was at the table for the Association's spring governance meetings and worked at his office into September.

Brand was named president-elect of the Association in October 2002 after a national search to replace Cedric W. Dempsey, who had announced he was retiring at the end of that year after having led the Association since 1994.

Robert Lawless, who as president of Tulsa chaired the Executive Committee at the time of Brand's hire and chaired the search committee, called Brand a pre-eminent "educational leader.

Brand's contract originally was to run through December 31, 2007, but the NCAA Executive Committee voted in 2005 to extend Brand's contract by two years and then annually for the indefinite future. The contract extension was scheduled to run through December 31, 2009.

Before assuming the NCAA's top leadership position, Brand was president at Indiana from 1994 through 2002, and at Oregon from 1989 to 1994.

Born May 17, 1942, Brand earned his bachelor of science degree in philosophy from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1964 and his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Rochester in 1967.

He is survived by his wife, Peg, and one son, Joshua.

FULL STORY

--Courtesy NCAA.org

Economy claims 2009 Bowl Game

In a year which has seen many individuals, businesses, and organizations fall to a slumping and weak economy, a 23-year southern Utah tradition has fallen prey to the poor economic conditions. The announcement was made today at the regular weekly meeting of the Rotary Club of St. George that the Dixie Rotary Bowl would not be held in 2009, a direct result of an inability to raise enough sponsorship dollars to support bowl operations.

The Dixie Rotary Bowl was sanctioned in 1986 as the first post-season college bowl game in Utah. It was created through the efforts of members of the Rotary Club of St. George led by Thomas D. McArthur, then president of the club, and Randy Wilkinson who served as chairman of the organizing committee. Their purpose was to create an event that would bring exposure to the community, fund community service projects and provide a platform to share the Rotary message.

From 1986 through 2005, the Dixie Rotary Bowl was known as the “Biggest Junior College Bowl Game in the Nation” with teams from across the country vying to participate. In those years, Dixie State was a perennial top-contender in the NJCAA and played in all but one of the 20 JUCO bowl contests as the host school.

In 2006, Dixie State made the jump to NCAA Division II and after consideration, the Board of Trustees for the Dixie Rotary Bowl made the decision to pursue becoming a NCAA DII bowl game, realizing that without a local school participating, attendance would decline dramatically for a JUCO bowl game. After a transition game in 2006, featuring Dixie State and top-non-playoff contender Fort Lewis from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, the bowl finalized an agreement to feature top teams from the RMAC and the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

The increased expense of hosting a NCAA Division II bowl during these challenging economic times has proved to be insurmountable and led to this year’s decision to suspend the game. The Board of Trustees for the bowl continue to look at options for the future, seeking to continue a tradition of pride and success that began in 1986 with the vision of a handful of Rotarians from St. George.

--Courtesy Dixie State Athletics

Defending Champs Atop Pre-Season Poll

Concordia University, St. Paul debuts the 2009 volleyball season as the nation's top squad, according to the AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll, released Thursday afternoon by the AVCA. The Golden Bears earned a unanimous 32 first-place votes and 800 total points after coming away with a 37-1 record and capturing a second consecutive national championship in 2008.

A familiar foe follows Concordia University at second place in the poll: the Coyotes of Cal State San Bernardino. Last year's runner-up, CSUSB returns four starters and nine letterwinners as they aim to make another run to the title match. Fellow Northern Sun opponents receiving nods in the first poll of the year are Minnesota Duluth at 7th, Southwest Minnesota State at 8th, Augustana College at 22nd and Wayne State at 25th. With five teams ranked in the nation's top 25, the NSIC will continue to be one of the most competitve leagues in Division II.

Concordia returns five of their seven starters to the 2009 campaign, headlined by the 2008 AVCA Division II Player of the Year, Maggie McNamara. McNamara has quarterbacked the Golden Bears to a 109-7 record during her first three seasons and has led the nation in assists each season. In addition to leading the CU offense, McNamara also works to secure the Golden Bear defense. In her career, she has 5,800 total assists and 1,034 digs. She is a three-time AVCA All-American with two NSIC Player of the Year honors and three All-Region accolades. McNamara is one of three returning All-Americans from the 2008 squad (Mary Slinger, Emily Palkert).

--Courtesy CSP Athletics

Preseason Bison/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll
(As of 08/20/2009)

Rank School W-L Points Prev
1 Concordia-St. Paul (32) 37-1 800 1
2 Cal St. San B'dino 30-4 760 2
3 Emporia St. 34-4 710 5
4 Grand Valley St. 33-4 692 3
5 West Tex. A&M 34-5 671 7
6 Neb.-Kearney 32-4 655 6
7 Minn. Duluth 26-9 572 9
8 Southwest Minn. St. 27-6 549 8
9 Truman 33-8 530 4
10 Tampa 27-5 511 10
11 Washburn 30-6 468 13
12 Central Mo. 29-10 442 11
13 UC San Diego 21-7 411 17
14 California (Pa.) 41-2 392 12
15 West Fla. 25-7 346 15
16 Fla. Southern 25-9 293 19
17 Pittsburg St. 28-8 269 16
18 Cal Poly Pomona 20-8 247 14
19 Nova Southeastern 24-12 213 20
20 Cal St. L.A. 21-8 187 18
21 Lewis 31-8 150 NR
22 Augustana (S.D.) 23-11 126 22
23 Western Wash. 21-3 106 21
24 Western Ore. 22-3 73 23
25 Wayne St. (Neb.) 23-10 56 25

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Minnesota State 39; Saginaw Valley State 25; Northern Kentucky 13; Dowling 11; Indianapolis 11; Sonoma State 10; Chico State 9; Wingate 9; Armstrong Atlantic State 6; Northern Michigan 2.
DROPPED OUT: No. 24 Saginaw Valley State.

GVSU atop AFCA Pre-Season Poll

Grand Valley State will open the 2009 season as the No. 1 ranked team in the American Football Coaches Association DII coaches' poll that was released Monday. This is the sixth time since the AFCA Division II coaches' poll started in 2000 that the Lakers have begun the season ranked No. 1 (2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009). GVSU has won the NCAA DII National Championship four times since 2002 (2002, 2003, 2005, 2006) and three times when opening the season ranked No. 1 (2002, 2003, 2006).

The Lakers received 12 first place votes and 601 points, while No. 2 Northwest Missouri State received four first place votes and 575 points. Minnesota-Duluth, the defending DII National Champion is No. 3 with eight first place votes and 552 points. Delta State (Miss.) and Abilene Christian (Texas) round out the top five. Grand Valley State's season-opening opponent, West Texas A&M, is ranked No. 11 in the poll.

The Lakers have been ranked number one in the country 74 times (out of 97 polls) since the preseason poll in 2002. In the 110 polls that have been released since the 2001 season GVSU has been ranked in the top five 94 times, top 10 99 times, top 15 105 times and top 20 109 times.

2009 Preseason AFCA Division II Coaches Top 25

1. Grand Valley State (12) (11-1)
2. Northwest Missouri State (4) (12-2)
3. Minnesota-Duluth (8) (15-0)
4. Delta State (10-2)
5. Abilene Christian (1) (11-1)
6. North Alabama (12-2)
7. Pittsburg State (11-2)
8. California (PA) (12-2)
9. Carson-Newman (7-4)
10. Chadron State (11-2)
11. West Texas A&M (11-2)
12. Valdosta State (9-3)
13. Bloomsburg (11-2)
14. Central Washington (10-2)
15. Ashland (9-4)
16. Central Oklahoma (7-4)
17. Minnesota State-Mankato (9-3)
18. Tuskegee (10-1)
19. Albany State (7-4)
20. West Chester (9-4)
21. Edinboro (9-2)
22. Glenville State (8-3)
23. Tusculum (9-4)
24. Fayetteville State (8-2)
25. Central Missouri (7-4)

Others Receiving Votes:
Catawba, Southern Connecticut State, Michigan Tech, Wayne State (NE), Texas A&M-Commerce, Tarleton State, Indiana (PA), Texas A&M-Kingsville, Augustana, Colorado School of Mines, Nebraska-Omaha, Washburn, Wayne State (MI), Nebraska-Kearney, Missouri S&T, Arkansas-Monticello, St. Cloud State, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Wingate, North Carolina-Pembroke, Missouri Western State, Seton Hill, Charleston, American International, Arkansas Tech, East Stroudsburg, Midwestern State, Western Oregon

--Courtesy GVSU Sports Information and AFCA.com