Virgina State Breaks into the Division II National Rankings

HAMPTON, Va. — After receiving votes for three consecutive weeks, Virginia State finally broke into the AFCA Division II Coaches’ Top 25 Poll for the first time in the program’s history at No. 25.

The Trojans are 8-1 this season after beating Chowan 28-0 and claimed the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association North Division title. CIAA Southern Division leader Winston-Salem State climbed to #11 in this week’s poll.

Minnesota State-Mankato still holds the top spot with 22 first-place votes, but lost two first-place votes to No. 2 Northwest Missouri State, which has nine this week, and one first-place vote to No. 3 Colorado State-Pueblo.

Henderson State and Minnesota-Duluth round out the top five. Six top 25 teams lost this past weekend, causing a shakeup in the poll from No. 5 down. West Texas A&M and West Alabama dropped out this week, allowing three new teams to enter. Tuskegee and North Alabama come in at No. 23 and No. 24, respectively, along with Virginia State.

In the NCAA Super Region 1 rankings, WSSU moved up one spot to No. 3, as did VSU who climbed from No. 6 to No. 5.

The NCAA Super Region 1 rankings are used to decide the six teams from the region, that will qualify for the 2013 NCAA Division II Football Championships. The top two teams in each region receive a bye into the quarterfinals while Nos. 3 and 4 seeds host Nos. 5 and 6 seeds, respectively. The winners of the first round games then advance to play at Nos. 1 and 2 seeds in the region on Nov. 30 in the quarterfinals.