As the regular season winds down on college hoops, one of the deepest basketball leagues in Division II will put its automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament up for grabs starting when the Gulf South Conference Tournament tips off Feb. 28.

The last two Div. II national championship-winning programs will meet on Saturday with an opportunity to play for another title at stake.

West Florida carries the Gulf South Conference banner from here on out in the NCAA Playoffs after the Argonauts took down league foe Delta State in the 2nd Round.

The opening round of the Div. II Playoffs featured little drama, with just three of the 12 games in the opening round decided by single-digit-point margins – and the three competitive contests were all in the same Regional.

A season for the ages at Limestone now progresses into a postseason for the record books.

The 2022 football season might be considered a down year by the lofty standards of the Gulf South Conference.

It was a wild final week of conference games last week in the Gulf South - one that saw the league leaders sit less than 10 minutes from an outright conference title, before a furious rally that may have kept another team's playoff hopes alive.

The 2022 Gulf South Conference season has been full of surprises, and Week 7 was no exception. While league-leading Delta State’s undefeated run has been a shock, a team sitting just one game back of the Statesmen might be even more surprising.

We’re two weeks into the Gulf South portion of the schedule, and just like we all predicted, Delta State is the lone undefeated team left in the league with wins over each of the preseason poll favorites.

Delta State helped flip the Gulf South on its head early into the conference season last week, outlasting one of the preseason favorites – West Florida – in a double-overtime classic.

The Gulf South's league slate kicked off last week with North Greenville bouncing back from an 0-2 start to earn a road win over Mississippi College by a 41-19 score and temporarily move to the top of the league standings.

The Gulf South opened the 2022 campaign in impressive fashion, continuing its recent run of dominant Week 1s with a 6-2 collective mark. The league’s only losses came against a Top 25 opponent (Mississippi College at Albany State) and a solid FCS program (North Greenville at Furman).

A linebacker's role in a defense has evolved with the times in college football, but the position's importance has never changed. Linebackers often function as the eyes of a defense and are often tasked with stuffing the run, but they double as vital pass-rushers and, with the proliferation of pass-heavy offenses, can even function as hybrid defensive backs.

Championship football starts up front; look no further than Ferris State.

With a variety of the top offenses in the country, including two of the very best in Valdosta State and West Florida, it’s safe to say that the Gulf South Conference is an offensive league. But with so many standouts on offense, that does create opportunities for defensive players to make a name for themselves. Here’s a look at some of the top returning talent returning to the Gulf South Conference ahead of the 2022 season — on both sides of the ball.