Thirteen Teams Still Undefeated in AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll
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WACO, TEX.-- There are still 13 teams with unblemished records in the American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches' Poll, with near unanimous No. 1 Valdosta State sitting at 4-0 after a 33-14 win over West Alabama. The Blazers received 21 first-place votes and have been ranked No. 1 for all six polls this year.
No. 2 Grand Valley State built a 45-0 halftime lead against Michigan Tech and rolled to a 52-6 win, as did No. 3 North Alabama, who was ahead 49-0 at halftime against Harding and shutout the Bison 52-0. No. 4 Abilene Christian is 4-0 after dominating Eastern New Mexico, 56-11. West Texas A&M moves up a spot to No. 5 and is 5-0 after outlasting Texas A&M-Kingsville, 55-35.
Pittsburg State is also 5-0 and moved up one position to No. 6 after the Gorillas handed then-No. 19 Central Missouri a 49-28 loss. Northwest Missouri State traveled to then-No. 5 Nebraska-Omaha and left town with a 42-0 shutout, jumping the Bearcats in the poll from No. 8 to No. 7. No. 8 Bloomsburg is 5-0 after beating C.W. Post, 13-6. California (Pa.) upset then-No. 12 Indiana (Pa.), 21-19, and moved up five spots to No. 9, as did Minnesota-Duluth, who jumped from No. 15 to No. 10 this week after a 44-7 win over Mary.
No. 11 Tuskegee is 4-0 on the year after the Golden Tigers outlasted Fort Valley State, 20-16. Central Washington fell three spots to No. 12 after its loss to FCS member Montana, 38-35, while Tarleton State moved up three to No. 13 after a 24-21 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State. Delta State and Chadron State also jumped three spots in the poll this week. No. 14 Delta State beat Ouachita Baptist, 35-17, while No. 15 Chadron State handed Nebraska-Kearney a 17-14 loss.
Nebraska-Omaha fell 11 spots to No. 16 after its loss to Northwest Missouri State, while Midwestern State jumped up four to No. 17 after a 17-3 victory over Angelo State. No. 18 Wingate is 5-0 on the year after beating Tusculum, 37-33. Indiana (Pa.) dropped seven places to No. 19 after its loss to California (Pa.). Catawba rounds out the Top 20 after the Indians moved its record to 3-1 after a 24-7 win over Mars Hill.
Edinboro blanked Lock Haven, 31-0, and jumped three spots to No. 21, while Central Missouri dropped three spots to No. 22 after its loss to Pittsburg State. Carson-Newman lost an overtime decision to Newberry, 27-21, and fell from No. 11 to No. 23. No. 24 West Virginia State was idle this past week, but moves up a spot. Ferris State jumps back into the Coaches' Poll at No. 25 after a week layoff. The Bulldogs are 4-1 after a 31-24 victory over Northern Michigan.
Conference Breakdown: Lone Star-4 (Abilene Christian, West Texas A&M, Tarleton St., Midwestern St.); MIAA-4 (Nebraska-Omaha, Pittsburg St., Northwest Missouri St., Central Missouri); Pennsylvania State Athletic-4 (Bloomsburg, California (Pa.), Indiana (Pa.), Edinboro); Gulf South-3 (Valdosta St., North Alabama, Delta St.); South Atlantic-3 (Wingate, Catawba, Carson-Newman); Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic-2 (Grand Valley St., Ferris St.); Great Northwest Athletic-1 (Central Washington); Northern Sun Intercollegiate-1 (Minnesota-Duluth); Rocky Mountain Athletic-1 (Chadron St.); Southern Intercollegiate Athletic-1 (Tuskegee); West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic-1 (West Virginia St.).
Head-to-Head
Three games featuring teams ranked in the AFCA Division II
Coaches' Poll highlight this weekend's action. The first Top 25
match-up has No. 1 Valdosta State hosting No. 14 Delta State. Both
teams are undefeated in Gulf South Conference play with identical
2-0 records. These two squads have split their last 10 meetings,
5-5. The second match-up has No. 17 Midwestern State traveling to
No. 5 West Texas A&M. The Buffs have won the last three
meetings, and own the series lead over Midwestern State, 12-9. In
the third Top 25 match-up, No. 6 Pittsburg State and No. 7
Northwest Missouri State will meet in The Fall Classic at Arrowhead
VII with first-place on the line in the MIAA standings. Northwest
has won four of the six games in Kansas City, including a 37-34
overtime victory this past season.
Poll Points
With its 52-0 blanking of Harding this past Saturday and a shutout
over West Georgia last week, North Alabama has back-to-back
shutouts for the first time since 1995 ... Northwest Missouri
State's 42-0 shutout of Nebraska-Omaha became the largest margin of
victory for the Bearcats against a ranked team in program history.
With its 49-0 blanking of Truman State last week, Northwest has
posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1984 ... West
Texas A&M quarterback Keith Null recorded his first 500-plus
passing yards outing of his career, completing 35-of-49 for 545
yards and four TDs in the Buffs' 55-35 win over Texas
A&M-Kingsville.