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D2 Football Predictions: Five Thoughts Going Into The 2025 Season

D2 Football Predictions: Five Thoughts Going Into The 2025 Season

Here’s a look ahead at five potential storylines to watch out for this D2 football season as kickoff looms several weeks away.

Jul 23, 2025 by Briar Napier
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The landscape of NCAA Division II football has the potential to look a lot different this fall.

Thousands of transfers in and out of the division, conference realignment, and more all mean that some chaos could be brewing up ahead of the season, and as programs adjust to new weapons and prep for their first games, things could get hectic in the leadup to it all.

Still, the top programs — and upstart ones — are looking to wade through the winds of change and continue to find ways to win league titles, postseason games and more, making the world of D-II football bound for some potential pandemonium as the weeks go by.

If that sounds like something you’re interested in, there’s nowhere you can access more D-II football this season than by streaming it through FloCollege, which has upgraded its lineup for 2025 and will be the exclusive home of some of the biggest teams, games and conferences.

Here’s a look ahead at five potential storylines to watch out for this D-II football season as kickoff looms several weeks away:

D-I Dropdowns Will Light Up The Statsheet

It’s part of the landscape of college football these days that most D-II teams are going to have to deal with a lot of roster turnover this season. 

Over 10,000 D-I and D-II players in total entered the transfer portal in the offseason, with many of the most talented D-II names available opting to move up and sign with FBS/FCS programs. However, that doesn’t mean talented ex-D-I names didn’t do the reverse of that, either, and if recent history is any indication — the winner of the last two Harlon Hill Trophys, Zach Zebrowski, was first with FCS Southern Illinois before dominating at Central Missouri — many will be bound to thrive this fall and turn into elite, game-breaking playmakers. 

There’s tailback L.J. Turner, who ran for 1,224 yards at Catawba last year and spent the spring at West Virginia before moving back down to D-II, committing to another South Atlantic Conference team in Lenoir-Rhyne. There’s wideout Dae’Vonn Hall, a Nebraska commit out of high school as a top in-state target who is now remaining close to home with Nebraska-Kearney. And then there’s tight end Arik Gilbert, one of the most decorated D-II transfers ever; a national Gatorade Player of the Year in high school, Gilbert — formerly at LSU, Georgia, and Nebraska — will attempt to jumpstart his college career this fall at Savannah State and remind people of his NFL-caliber talent. 

Those three names are just a few examples, and regarding the other D-I dropdowns that haven’t garnered headlines this offseason, there’s bound to be an award winner (or a few) in the mix.

Central Oklahoma Erupts On a Run

One of D-II’s breakout squads of the 2024 season, Central Oklahoma, went from an under-.500 team in 2023 to an 11-win program last fall, making the playoffs for the first time since 2003 — and winning a game along the way — before losing in the second round to eventual national champion Ferris State. 

The explosion under center of quarterback Jett Huff, a Houston transfer who threw for a Bronchos-record 3,586 yards and 34 touchdowns, was a major reason why UCO catapulted itself into the national spotlight with the country’s third-most-potent offense (44.4 points per game). And while a returning Huff loses his top weapon in Terrill Davis (who transferred to Oklahoma State after leading all NCAA divisions with 1,609 receiving yards), sophomore Ashton Schumann (62 receptions, 749 yards, seven touchdowns in 2024) should slide in nicely as the Bronchos’ new WR1 while All-American tailback Jaylen Cottrell (1,284 yards, 13 touchdowns on the ground) adds in additional experienced, returning firepower. 

Defense is the obvious question mark for a shootout-loving UCO after it allowed 464.3 yards of total offense per game last season, but the aerial and ground assaults that the Bronchos can generate on offense may be enough to carry them over the line toward a historic year.


A New Contender Will Rise

Beyond the usual D-II blue-bloods like Grand Valley State, Valdosta State, and Harding, the past few seasons have seen several programs rise through the cracks and make noise on a national stage. 

As previously mentioned, Central Oklahoma came out of nowhere last season to make its first trip to the playoffs in 21 years, while the year before that saw Texas-Permian Basin out of the Lone Star Conference make its first playoff appearance ever and be seeded third in Super Region 4. 

Loads of roster turnover and conference shakeups going into the season have the potential to dramatically change the playing field; Conference Carolinas, for instance, will crown a football champion for the first time in 51 years, being part of a revamped Super Region 2 which also features a Gulf South Conference lineup down to just four teams. 

Meanwhile in Super Region 1, two-time reigning NE10 Conference champion New Haven has moved up to FCS, opening the door for a chaotic title race that could see a new player emerge out east to tussle with the other top teams in the region. 

Keep your eyes peeled in the first few weeks for some surprise teams across the country as programs adjust to new personnel and/or surroundings. You might be looking at the next dark-horse national title threat.

West Florida’s Stokes Breaks Out

West Florida was thrown into the fire a season ago with a fresh-faced team compared to the one that made the playoffs in 2023, and still finished 7-3 with losses to two powerhouses (Valdosta State and Grand Valley State) on the road and a double-overtime defeat to a ranked West Alabama. 

Those growing pains could go a long way toward the Argonauts making some serious noise in 2025 — with serious breakout potential in tow from their gunslinger, Marcus Stokes. 

A four-star recruit out of high school who originally signed with Florida, Stokes took a redshirt with UWF in 2023 before earning the starting job last season, holding his own in the onslaught of the Gulf South Conference with 1,540 yards and 14 touchdowns in an Argos offense that shared the wealth. 

And entering the fall, Stokes along with UWF’s top two rushers (TJ Lane, Jay Sharp) and top two receivers (Corey Scott, Javon Swinton) are all back to give the Argos the rare benefit of significant returning production; throw in Wayne State (Nebraska) transfer Kendrick Watkins-Hogue (107 catches, 1,408 yards, 15 touchdowns the past two seasons) into the receiving room to add some additional experience, and the stage is set on offense for UWF to return to national title contention and for Stokes to emerge as one of the nation’s top signal-callers.


Harding Returns To The Top

Though it’s foolish to doubt either of last year’s national finalists — Ferris State and Valdosta State — from competing for a title yet again despite big losses in personnel, D-II football’s most sure thing heading into the fall has got to be Harding, which fell in the quarterfinals last fall to FSU. 

Beyond the fact that the Bisons’ patented and record-setting flexbone, triple-option offense is almost impossible to stop, proven players who know how to get the best out of coach Paul Simmons’ system are back in the fold to try and win Harding its second title in three years. The Bisons’ run game was once again devastating a season ago as they had the most rushing yards in the country (5,795) by over 1,800 yards, and both of Harding’s 1,000-yard rushers from 2024 (Braden Jay and Andrew Miller) have returned to punish defenses and turn games into track meets. 

The nation’s second-best scoring defense (11.79 points allowed per game) also gets back arguably the nation’s top linebacker in Clark Griffin (110 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks last season), one of 19 players on the Bisons’ roster who has at least two years of college football experience. 

Punishing football is the name of the game at Harding, and with weapons all around the field that know what it’s like to hold a national championship, the Bisons should be a surefire favorite to return to the top of the totem pole.


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