COLUMBIA, S.C. – The NCAA has released its third NPI rankings for Division II football, and for the third week in a row, the Benedict College Tigers remain third in Super Region 2.
 
Kentucky State remains at No. 1 in the region with 61.834 NPI points despite not playing this past week. Central State, Benedict's next opponent, climbed from fifth to second with 61.116 points.
 
Benedict is third with 60.965 points as the SIAC conference continues to have a lock on the top three spots.
 
Carson-Newman, out of the South Atlantic Conference, remains fourth. Edward Waters fell from second to fifth after losing to Central State, giving the SIAC four of the top five spots in the region.
 
North Greenville, from Conference Carolinas, remained in sixth. Valdosta State, from the Gulf South Conference, made a big jump from 11^th last week to seventh after a 28-24 victory over West Alabama, the ninth-ranked team last week. Newberry from the SAC held firm to eighth. UNC Pembroke from Conference Carolinas climbed into the top 10 at No. 9. Tuskegee stayed in the 10^th spot.
 
On Sunday, Nov. 15, the NCAA will select 32 total teams, with eight teams from Super Region 2, to advance to the NCAA Division 2 national championship tournament. The conference champions from the SIAC, SAC, Conference Carolinas, and Gulf South Conference will earn automatic bids, with four more at-large invitations.
 
First-round games will be played Saturday, Nov. 21 at on-campus sites.
 
The NCAA Division II championship game will be Dec. 19 in McKinney, Texas.