The D2 football season is slowly creeping up as we enter the dog days of summer. No doubt most players are working on their strength and conditioning ahead of camp in early August.
Programs are allowed to begin practicing 24 days before their first game, which puts us about five to six weeks out from fall camp kicking off.
- Sign Up For FloCollege To Watch D2 Football All Season Long
- The Next Trinidad Chambliss? Top 2026 D2 Football Transfers To FBS
- Way-Too-Early D2 Football Rankings For 2026 Season
At that point, we will be inundated with a deluge of transfers that we didn't know about until rosters are posted, or until coaches tell the media, positional changes, and all that goes with it.
But before then, let's delve into some of the changes that happened during the offseason that will no doubt affect the 2026 regular season and playoffs.
Here's what to know.
West Florida Leaving D2 Football
For my money, West Florida leaving Division II football is the single most consequential change from the 2025 season.
The Argos are set to begin reclassification to Division I/FCS by joining the United Athletic Conference in 2026. They will be able to compete for conference championships, but will be barred from the FCS playoffs for three years.
Let’s frame this up, because West Florida is not a program that has been around for 50 years or anything like that, but their impact has been immense. The UWF football program was only born in 2016, but over the course of nine seasons, they had only one losing campaign, their first. By 2017, they ended the season ranked No. 2 by AFCA and were runners-up at the D2 National Championship, losing to Texas A&M-Commerce.
By 2019, they secured their first and only D2 national title, defeating Minnesota State. They were ranked in the final Top 25 in six of their nine seasons.
Losing a perennial contender is a massive loss for D2, and while it makes room for others to fill the space, West Florida's loss has a cascade of consequences.
Gulf South Loses Its Automatic Bid
In 2022, the Gulf South Conference had eight teams, but one by one they peeled off, either moving to the FCS or changing conferences. GSC lost West Georgia, Shorter, North Greenville, Chowan, Erskine, and Mississippi College from 2022 to 2025.
By last season they were down to four, West Florida, Delta State, Valdosta State, and West Alabama, but they didn't lack for competition. Each one of those programs was ranked in our Top 25 at some point throughout the season, all had winning records, and two made the D2 playoffs.
Down to three teams, the GSC now loses its D2 football playoff automatic qualifier. They will have to rely on at-large bids.
Super Region 2 Playoff Math Changes
Another domino falls from West Florida decamping to Division I. Because the GSC loses its automatic qualifier, Super Region 2 will now have only three automatic bids, from the SAC, SIAC and Conference Carolinas.
That means the remaining spots will be filled by five at-large bids.
To put this in perspective, Valdosta State had the run of a lifetime last season, winning four straight games to end the regular season. That secured the GSC title and the automatic qualifier, even with a 6-4 record.
If the AQ didn't exist last year, that spot likely would have gone to one of three teams, UNC Pembroke, Delta State, or Emory & Henry.
But it's important to make this clear, the Gulf South is not guaranteed a single spot in the playoffs.
NPI Arrives In D2 Football Selection
The NCAA Power Index will be incorporated into Division II team sports beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, which means it will debut for the upcoming D2 football season.
The NPI replaces the previous selection and ranking process, which relied heavily on regional advisory committees.
The NPI is a formula-driven system that evaluates winning percentage, strength of schedule, opponent quality, and game location. Road wins are weighted more favorably than home wins, and quality victories carry additional value.
D2 Football Enters The Transfer Window Era
In April, the Division II Executive Board adopted emergency legislation that will create a D2 football transfer window beginning with the 2026 season. Effectively, D2 football didn’t have a transfer window before this, so the most important takeaway is that this creates a bit more organization.
Before this rule:
- A player could tell his school “I want to transfer” any day of the year.
- Once he did, the school had up to seven days to enter him into the portal.
After this rule:
- Players can no longer request a transfer at any time during the year.
- They are generally limited to a window between January 2–16, unless they qualify for a Division I exception.
- Schools must now enter them into the portal within two business days, not seven calendar days.
This creates just a bit more organized chaos, but it also puts a little bit more power in the hands of the player. Schools previously had up to seven days to submit a player’s transfer request. Now that window is much shorter.
Way-Too-Early D2 Football Rankings for 2026 Season
- Ferris State
- Harding
- Kutztown
- CSU Pueblo
- Central Washington
- Indianapolis
- Virginia Union
- Findlay
- Minnesota State
- Pittsburg State
- Minnesota Duluth
- Northwest Missouri State
- Albany State
- Western Colorado
- Augustana (SD)
- UT Permian Basin
- Johnson C. Smith
- Western Oregon
- Ashland
- Grand Valley State
- Newberry
- Chadron State
- Northwood
- Frostburg State
- Wingate
Archived Footage On FloCollege
Video footage from all games will be archived and stored in a video library for FloCollege subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.
Watch The 2026 College Football Season On FloCollege
FloCollege is the home of the best FCS, Division II and Division III football action all season long.
Don't miss the latest college football action by bookmarking the FloCollege schedule page for the latest games.
Join The College Football Conversation
- Follow us on Twitter @FloCollegeFB
- Follow us on Instagram @FloCollegeFootball
- Follow us on TikTok @FloCollegeFootball
- Watch us on YouTube
- Like us on Facebook