When The University of Texas Permian (UTPB) football team kicked off the season on September 2 against Texas College, no one believed that the Falcons would go on a historic run – where they would be ranked 22nd in American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coaches Poll, 19th in D2Football.com Top 25 poll, and be under consideration in first "Super Region Four" Regional Rankings.
Even though the players and head coach Kris McCullough told the media at their first fall camp practice that this team was special.
"This is a new era. This is a new generation of players on this team that are really, really phenomenal, really talented," said McCullough. "This is the most talent the team has ever had in its eight-year program. Come out and see for yourself, September 2nd, I promise you won't be disappointed."
Just like McCullough told media at their first fall camp practice, no one was disappointed on September 2nd, as the historic season kicked off with a bang. The Falcons put up a school record 96-points against Texas College, which upset people due to the fact they looked at the score – thinking McCullough had no sportsmanship - and didn't bother to watch the game and see that in the second half, third and fourth string players played the entire time.
The following week, UTPB suffered their lone loss (27-35) of the season to current #9 Western Colorado University – resulting in people coming out and mocking the Falcons. That criticism and bitter taste UTPB had in their mouth on the plane ride back to Texas, unknowingly to many would spark a fire.
The fire that was sparked, resulted in the Falcons winning their next six games – taking down, Southwest Baptist (86-7), West Texas A&M (41-40), Texas A&M-Kingsville (29-17), Midwestern State (21-13), Eastern New Mexico (52-29) and Angelo State (28-23).
The six-game winning streak UTPB is currently on is a first in program history and has come with the Falcons defeating two formally ranked teams Texas A&M-Kingsville and Angelo State, which is also a historical accomplishment.
On top of that UTPB has beaten every NCAA Division II Texas team in the Lone Star Conference, which has never been done before.
"The Lone Star Conference is known for the powerhouse Texas programs, so to win the state of Texas in the LSC in year 8 of a program is amazing," said McCullough. "No one thought we would do what we are doing, but we aren't satisfied, we still have all of our goals within reach!"
Additionally, so far this season the Falcons have had four players – Kenny Hrncir (recognized twice), Sergio Landeros, Hayden Kelly, and Nemier Herod - be recognized as players of the week, another first in program history.
Job not done yet
Currently UTPB is 7-1 overall, 6-0 in the Lone Star Conference, and will need to keep things going, as they have three games left in their season.
"It feels awesome to be in the position we are in," said McCullough. "We are in the driver's seat, and we control our destiny one week at a time. We just have to go 1 & 0 every moment of every day."
On Saturday (Oct. 28), the Falcons will take the field against Western Oregon (6 p.m.) in Astound Broadband Stadium for Homecoming. Then they will hit the road one last time to face Western New Mexico (Nov. 4, 1 p.m. MT) and will wrap the season up hosting Central Washington (Nov. 11) at 2 p.m. in Astound Broadband Stadium.
How DII Playoffs work
In NCAA Division II football there are four Super Regions. Every team in the four Super Regions that is DII eligible can qualify for the tournament. The NCAA DII football national committee provides three Super Regional rankings over the final three weeks of the season, showing the top 10 teams from each region. Though it isn't an exact measure of who will make up the final bracket, it helps to shine a light on those in contention.
The DII football championship tournament has three first-round games in each Super Region, normally played at the higher-seeded school's home field. The top seed in each Super Region gets a bye to the second round. The national quarterfinals, or what essentially comes down to the Super Region championship, is next before the seeding takes place in the semifinals.
Once the teams reach the national semifinals, the four teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 4.
|
Super Region Four (Under Consideration) – Alphabetically |
Overall DII Record |
In-Region Record |
|
Angelo State (LSC) |
4-3 |
3-3 |
|
Augustana (NSIC) |
8-0 |
8-0 |
|
Bemidji State (NSIC) |
6-1 |
6-1 |
|
Central Washington (LSC) |
6-0 |
6-0 |
|
Colorado School of Mines (RMAC) |
8-0 |
7-0 |
|
Minnesota Duluth (NSIC) |
7-1 |
7-1 |
|
Minnesota State Mankato (NSIC) |
7-1 |
7-1 |
|
Texas A&M-Kingsville (LSC) |
5-2 |
4-2 |
|
UTPB (LSC) |
7-1 |
5-1 |
|
Western Colorado (RMAC) |
8-0 |
8-0 |
Super Region Four Conferences: Lone Star Conference (LSC), Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC), Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).
