INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – If the season ended today, not only would Carson-Newman football be playoff bound, it would host a first round game at Burke-Tarr Stadium.

Carson-Newman jumped three spots to fourth in this week's region rankings, the final ranking before playoff seeds are set Sunday, after beating then No. 4 North Greenville 48-45 Saturday. 

West Georgia remains the top seed in the region in spite of falling to Florida Tech 28-26 over the weekend.  The Panthers moved up to six with the win. 

North Alabama also held steady in second while conference-mate Catawba moved up to third (a two-spot rise) thanks to losses by Tuskegee to Miles and NGU's aforementioned loss to the Eagles.

Carson-Newman follows in fourth, and, if the season ended today, would play host to Tuskegee in a first round game after the Tigers fell to five. 

Florida Tech leap-frogged Valdosta State and is six, a spot in front of the Blazers in seven.  Those two teams square off in the regular season finale this week in what is essentially a play-in game. 

Newberry, North Greenville and West Alabama round out the top 10. 

The first place team in the region receives a first round bye in the playoffs, which begin Nov. 21.  The two-seed hosts the seven, the three-seed the six, and the four-seed the five. 

There had been questions about NGU's eligibility for the playoffs; however, the Crusaders fixed that by scheduling a game against Clark Atlanta for the final week of the regular season in place of non-countable foe Virginia Lynchburg.  That gets the Crusaders to the necessary 10 games overall and eight against Division II competition. 

The last time Carson-Newman made the playoffs (2013), the Eagles debuted at seventh in the poll, dropped a spot to eighth and then vaulted to fourth with wins over Newberry and Wingate for the final iteration of the poll. 

The following schedules were prepared by D2Football.com poster TU Patpaw:

Gulf South:

West Georgia (Gulf South: 5-1, NCAA DII: 9-1, overall: 9-1)
vs Shorter (overall: 2-7)
North Alabama (Gulf South: 5-1, NCAA DII: 7-2, overall: 7-2)
vs West Alabama (overall: 7-3)
Florida Tech (Gulf South: 5-1, NCAA DII: 6-2, overall: 7-3)
@ Valdosta State (overall: 7-2)
Valdosta State (Gulf South: 4-2, NCAA DII: 6-2, overall: 7-2)
vs Florida Tech (overall: 7-3)
West Alabama (Gulf South: 3-3, NCAA DII: 6-3, overall: 7-3)
@ North Alabama (overall: 7-2)

South Atlantic:

Catawba (South Atlantic: 5-1, NCAA DII: 7-2, overall: 8-2)
vs Lenoir-Rhyne (overall: 5-4)
Carson-Newman (South Atlantic: 4-2, NCAA DII: 7-2, overall: 8-2)
vs Tusculum (overall: 4-6)
Mars Hill (South Atlantic: 4-2, NCAA DII: 5-3, overall: 5-5)
@ Brevard (overall: 0-10)
Newberry (South Atlantic: 3-3, NCAA DII: 6-3, overall: 6-4)
@ Wingate (overall: 6-4)

SIAC:

Tuskegee (Southern Intercollegiate: 4-1, NCAA DII: 8-2, overall: 8-2)

Championship:

Albany State (Southern Intercollegiate: 4-0, NCAA DII: 6-3, overall: 6-3)
vs Miles (Southern Intercollegiate: 5-0, NCAA DII: 6-4, overall: 6-4)

Independent:

North Greenville University (NCAA DII: 5-2, overall: 7-3)
vs Clark Atlanta (overall: 1-8) in lieu of Virginia-Lynchburg