Posted: Aug 15, 2016
WACO, TEX. – Three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) football programs are ranked inside the Top 25 of the 2016 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Preseason Division II Coaches' Poll. Grand Valley State enters the new season as the No. 3 team in the country after making a run to the national semifinal last year, while Ashland is close behind in the No. 6 position. Ferris State is the final GLIAC squad inside the rankings at No. 12. Three other conference teams (Michigan Tech, Saginaw Valley, Ohio Dominican) received votes in the preseason balloting.
2016 American Football Coaches Association Preseason Division II Coaches' Poll – August 15, 2016 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | School (1st votes) | 2015 Rec. | Pts. | 2015 Rank* | Season Opener | Head Coach |
1. | NW Missouri St. (29) | 15-0 | 749 | 1 | Sept. 1 at No. 24 Emporia St. (Kan.) | Adam Dorrel |
2. | West Georgia (1) | 12-2 | 676 | 3 | Sept. 3 vs. No. 22 Catawba (N.C.) | Will Hall |
3. | Grand Valley State | 12-3 | 658 | 4 | Sept. 1 vs. Tiffin (Ohio) | Matt Mitchell |
4. | Shepherd (W.Va.) | 13-1 | 638 | 2 | Sept. 3 vs. West Virginia Wesleyan | Monte Cater |
5. | Colorado St.-Pueblo | 12-2 | 581 | 5 | Sept. 1 at No. 18 Colorado Mines | John Wristen |
6. | Ashland (Ohio) | 10-1 | 523 | 10 | Sept. 1 vs. Mercyhurst (Pa.) | Lee Owens |
7. | Minnesota St. | 10-2 | 466 | 13 | Sept. 1 at Minot St. (N.D.) | Todd Hoffner |
8. | Indiana (Pa.) | 9-3 | 364 | 19 | Sept. 10 at East Stroudsburg (Pa.) | Curt Cignetti |
9t. | Henderson St. (Ark.) | 11-2 | 363 | 12 | Sept. 1 vs. SE Oklahoma St. | Scott Maxfield |
9t. | Texas A&M-Commerce | 8-4 | 363 | 23 | Sept. 1 vs. Faith (Fla.) | Colby Carthel |
11. | Slippery Rock (Pa.) | 12-2 | 360 | 7 | Sept. 3 vs. New Haven (Conn.) | Shawn Lutz |
12. | Ferris State | 11-1 | 359 | 6 | Sept. 1 vs. Ohio Dominican | Tony Annese |
13. | Humboldt St. (Calif.) | 10-2 | 353 | 16 | Sept. 1 at Carson-Newman (Tenn.) | Rob Smith |
14. | Midwestern St. (Texas) | 10-2 | 344 | 9 | Sept. 3 at Truman St. (Mo.) | Bill Maskill |
15. | North Alabama | 9-3 | 330 | 15 | Sept. 1 at Jacksonville St. (Ala.) | Bobby Wallace |
16. | Indianapolis (Ind.) | 10-2 | 276 | 18 | Sept. 3 at Hillsdale (Mich.) | Bob Bartolomeo |
17. | Tuskegee (Ala.) | 10-3 | 241 | 11 | Sept. 3 at Clark Atlanta (Ga.) | Willie Slater |
18. | Colorado School of Mines | 8-3 | 228 | NR | Sept. 1 vs. No. 5 Colorado St.-Pueblo | Gregg Brandon |
19. | Minnesota-Duluth | 9-3 | 196 | NR | Sept. 1 at Southwest Minnesota St. | Curt Wiese |
20. | Central Missouri | 8-3 | 184 | NR | Sept. 1 at Pittsburg St. (Kan.) | Jim Svoboda |
21. | Assumption (Mass.) | 11-2 | 144 | 17 | Sept. 3 vs. Kutztown (Pa.) | Bob Chesney |
22. | Catawba (N.C.) | 9-3 | 140 | 25 | Sept. 3 at No. 2 West Georgia | Curtis Walker |
23. | Sioux Falls (S.D.) | 9-3 | 125 | 21t | Sept. 1 at St. Cloud State (Minn.) | Jed Stugart |
24. | Emporia St. (Kan.) | 11-3 | 124 | 8 | Sept. 1 vs. No. 1 NW Missouri St. | Garin Higgins |
25. | Augustana (S.D.) | 9-3 | 119 | 24 | Sept. 3 vs. Northern St. (S.D.) | Jerry Olszewski |
*– Ranking in final AFCA Division II Poll of 2015
Others Receiving Votes: Florida Tech, 107; Valdosta St. (Ga.), 99; Pittsburg St. (Kan.), 88; West Chester (Pa.), 82; Winston-Salem St. (N.C.), 74; Charleston (W.Va.), 60; Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 53; Colorado Mesa, 50; Harding (Ark.), 40; Albany St. (Ga.), 34; Virginia Union, 29; California (Pa.), 25; Angelo St. (Texas), 19; Azusa Pacific (Calif.), 13; Miles (Ala.), 11; Michigan Tech, 9; Delta St. (Miss.), 9; Western Oregon, 9; West Texas A&M, 8; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 6; Bowie St. (Md.), 4; Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.), 4; Central Oklahoma, 3; Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), 3; Ohio Dominican, 2; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 2; Bemidji St. (Minn.), 1; McKendree (Ill.), 1; Newberry (S.C.), 1.
For more information on the AFCA and its programs, visit www.afca.com or follow us on Twitter @WeAreAFCA.