A way-too early look at the 2024 DII football preseason Power 10

Welcome to the annual absurdly early DII football preseason predictions. There are still freshmen figuring out roles, players on the move and new coaches settling in, so it seems like there is no way to predict how things will look in August.

But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.

The “way-too-early” preseason Power 10 rankings come out in early January and are mostly an exercise in fun. I haven’t emailed coaches; I don’t do in-depth research. I look at rosters and see who is expected to be back, look at programs that have systems that withstand the test of time and make educated guesses as to where teams will finish. 

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Believe it or not, it has turned out pretty well in the past. Last year, seven of the way-too-early top-10 reached the playoffs and finished in the national top 25. The 2022 way-too-early predictions fared even better, with eight teams reaching the playoffs — including all four national semifinalists — and finishing in the national top 25.

So, while these are mainly fun since so much change can (and will) still occur before Week 1, there has been some success and reality to them. Who cracks the top 10 for 2024?

The 2024 DII football way-too-early Power 10 rankings

No. 1 Harding. Since I’ve started covering DII football in 2015, there are two things we know about Harding. The Bisons are going to rush for a lot of yards and the defense is going to make sure its opponents don’t score. This team is annually one of the top-scoring offenses and defenses, so head coach Paul Simmons obviously does a great job of finding the right pieces to replace outgoing stars. Should quarterback Cole Keylon and running backs Blake Delacruz (who set the championship game record with 212 yards rushing) and Braden Jay return, this team is in prime shape for a repeat run. The three ran for 3,260 of Harding’s record 6,161 yards and combined for 48 rushing touchdowns. 

No. 2 Pittsburg State. While I think there is a good…