Earlier this week, we previewed the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs by looking at the matchup between two teams - MSU-Mankato and Tarleton State - whose conferences we’d already reviewed in previous, regular-season editions of the feature.
Today, we’re going to meet a couple of new faces to this: Lenoir-Rhyne and Valdosta State.
Valdosta State is as close as there is to a blue-blood program left in this year’s playoffs; of the remaining teams, the Blazers are the only one to claim previous national titles, having won in 2004, 2007 and 2012. They entered this year’s playoffs as a #1 seed, and lived up to their billing in their first game, cruising to a 66-16 victory over Bowie State.