Division II sports is a no-man's land. D1 or DIII. You know where you are following teams in those categories. DII is like, "WTF?"
D3 is mostly small "rich kid" schools, the vast majority not really worth watching. PLU went downhill w/ coaching changes.
Linfield is an exception.
Not categorically. The top small private colleges are so loaded with endowment money that they are need blind, or close to it, meaning they can fund 100% of the COA of a kid they want. The NESCAC, the Ivy League of small colleges, gets kids who are on the boarder of D1 talent (and in many sports, kids who have D1 options). You're right in that, at least in football, it's a big jump down athletically. But it's not just a rich kid thing at those schools. Poor kids who are smart enough to clear admissions can go to those places and you see them there.
It is said, accurately in my experience, that Ivy League recruits are very good athletes and good students and elite academis DIII recruits are very good students and good athletes. That about captures it.
D2 is just another animal altogether.