DII CONFERENCE · 2026 SEASON

CIAA

#38 overall#13 in DIIRR50 −4.6Upper strength −0.811 teamsTop 25 teams 0

The weekly grind · 2026

Bowie State's Era

The CIAA is the oldest HBCU athletic conference in the country, founded in 1912, and the one with the deepest football tradition in the Mid-Atlantic. Virginia State, Fayetteville State, Bowie State, and Winston-Salem State have all won DII national championships or appeared in Super Region finals.

Division II11 teamsRace: Super RegionLeader: Virginia State

CIAA · 2026 season

Three things to watch

The Rival

Virginia State's Historical Claim

Virginia State in Petersburg, Virginia has won multiple CIAA titles and national championships in the pre-playoff DII era. Their program draws from central Virginia and the Richmond corridor — a pipeline that produces defensive players who make the CIAA's physical style possible. They are Bowie State's most consistent challenger and the program with the deepest historical claim to conference supremacy.

Conference standings · CIAA · 2026

Standings

#	Team	Conf	Overall	Pwr
1	Virginia Union	7-0	8-1	+0.7
2	Virginia State	6-1	7-2	+1.6
3	Johnson C. Smith	6-1	7-2	+0.6
4	Fayetteville State	5-2	6-3	-1.4
5	Bowie State	4-3	4-5	-3.4
6	Elizabeth City State	3-4	3-6	-6.0
7	Livingstone	2-5	3-6	-7.7
8	Winston-Salem State	2-5	2-7	-7.2
9	Shaw	2-6	4-6	-8.7
10	Lincoln (PA)	1-6	1-8	-10.6
11	Bluefield State	1-6	1-8	-11.5

Conference record determines Super Region seeding. Power = neutral-field pts vs. all-level average.

Projected standings · CIAA · 2026

Win projection

Odds of winning at least N conference games from current power ratings — full slate played out, not locked to results. Avg = expected wins; W-L = most-likely record.

#	Team	W-L	Pwr	Avg	≥8	≥7	≥6	≥5	≥4	≥3	≥2	≥1
Favorites
1	Virginia State	5-3	+6.4	5.2	3	17	43	72	90	98	✓	✓
2	Virginia Union	5-3	+5.6	5.2	2	15	41	70	90	98	✓	✓
Challengers
3	Johnson C. Smith	5-3	+5.4	5.2	3	16	42	71	90	98	✓	✓
4	Fayetteville State	5-3	+3.5	4.7	1	9	29	58	82	95	99	✓
5	Bowie State	4-4	+1.5	4.1		4	15	38	66	88	97	✓
6	Elizabeth City State	4-4	−1.1	3.8		2	11	31	59	83	96	✓
The field
7	Winston-Salem State	4-4	−2.4	3.6		1	8	25	51	78	94	99
8	Livingstone	3-5	−2.8	3.4		1	6	20	45	73	92	99
9	Shaw	3-5	−3.9	3.2		1	4	15	39	69	90	99
Rebuilding
10	Lincoln (PA)	3-5	−5.7	2.9			3	11	31	60	85	98
11	Bluefield State	3-5	−6.7	2.8			3	11	30	59	84	97

Conference power · Division II

Where we stand

#	Conference	Avg power	Record	Top team
1	GLIAC	-2.6	—	Ferris State
2	South Atlantic	-3.0	0-3	Carson Newman
3	Mid America	-3.1	—	Northwest Missouri State
4	Northern Sun	-3.3	—	Minnesota State
5	Great Midwest Athletic	-3.4	—	Findlay
6	Rocky Mountain	-3.6	—	Western Colorado
7	Great American	-3.9	—	Harding
8	Pennsylvania State Athletic	-4.0	0-1	Slippery Rock
9	Lone Star	-4.1	—	Central Washington
10	SIAC	-4.3	1-3	Benedict
11	CIAAYou are here	-4.6	—	Virginia State
12	Great Lakes	-4.6	—	Truman State
13	Northeast 10	-4.8	—	Franklin Pierce
14	Mountain East	-5.0	0-1	Frostburg State
15	Carolinas	-5.4	5-0	UNC Pembroke

Round-robin power = strength of schedule-adjusted conference average, points vs. all-level average team. Record = CIAA's record vs. that conference across all games this season.

Conference Snapshot

RR50−4.6

Upper Strength−0.8

Median Power−5.4

Resume Pulse39.0

Avg ATS--

Wins vs Market+0.00

Top-to-Middle Gap7.5

Combined Record46-54

League Drivers

Power leader Virginia State #271 overall | +1.6 pts vs avg Resume leader Virginia State #271 overall | 79 / 100 resume

CIAA Team Board

The league stack, sorted by predictive strength. Power is shown as neutral-field points versus the all-level average team, while resume is shown on a 0-100 season score.

Rank	Team	Record	Power	Resume	ATS	Wins vs Market	Recent Form
#271	Virginia State	7-2	+1.6	79	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W5 W6 W7 L9)
#281	Virginia Union	8-1	+0.7	77	--	+0.00	4-0 over the last 4 (W5 W7 W8 W9)
#285	Johnson C. Smith	7-2	+0.6	66	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W6 W7 L8 W9)
#309	Fayetteville State	6-3	−1.4	46	--	+0.00	4-0 over the last 4 (W5 W7 W8 W9)
#340	Bowie State	4-5	−3.4	45	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (W6 L7 W8 L9)
#384	Elizabeth City State	3-6	−6.0	27	--	+0.00	3-1 over the last 4 (W6 L7 W8 W9)
#405	Winston-Salem State	2-7	−7.2	14	--	+0.00	2-2 over the last 4 (L6 W7 W8 L9)
#412	Livingstone	3-6	−7.7	24	--	+0.00	0-4 over the last 4 (L4 L5 L6 L8)
#419	Shaw	4-6	−8.7	24	--	+0.00	0-4 over the last 4 (L6 L7 L8 L9)
#447	Lincoln (PA)	1-8	−10.6	22	--	+0.00	0-4 over the last 4 (L6 L7 L8 L9)
#473	Bluefield State	1-8	−11.5	6	--	+0.00	1-3 over the last 4 (L5 L7 L8 W9)