ACU ranked No. 7 by AFCA
8/9/2010 5:09:02 PM | Football
WACO – For the third straight season the ACU Wildcats will open their season against a top-10 opponent after Monday's release of the 2010 NCAA DivisionII American Football Coaches' Association pre-season poll revealed both ACU and Washburn among the nation's top 10 teams.
ACU, which finished 9-4 last year and reached the second round of the playoffs, is ranked No. 7 in the country, according to the AFCA. Washburn, meanwhile, is No. 10 in the nation after posting an 8-3 mark in 2009.
Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State opens the season as the top-ranked team in the country, followed by national runner-up Grand Valley State. North Alabama checks in at No. 3, followed by 2008 national champion Minnesota-Duluth at No. 4 and Central Washington at No. 5.
California (Pa.) is No. 6 in the poll, followed by ACU at No. 7, West Liberty (W.Va.) at No. 8, Carson-Newman (Tenn.) at No. 9, and Washburn at No. 10.
ACU will get its season started at 6 p.m. on Sept. 4 when the Wildcats play Washburn in Topeka, Kan., at 6 p.m. In 2008, the eighth-ranked Wildcats went to Maryville, Mo., rallied from a 21-7 deficit against No. 3 Northwest Missouri State and beat the Bearcats, 44-27. Last year at Shotwell Stadium, the fifth-ranked Wildcats knocked off the No. 2 Bearcats, 19-14, in a game broadcast live on CBS College Sports.
The first two weeks of the NCAA Division II football season will see several matchups between top-20 teams, including the ACU-Washburn tilt.
Other marquee games on the schedule include the game on Aug. 28 wen No. 5 Central Washington hosts No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth. On Sept. 2, No. 11 West Texas A&M travels to Allendale, Mich., to take on No. 2 Grand Valley State in a nationally televised game, and also that night No. 1 Northwest Missouri State hosts No. 16 Texas A&M-Kingsville.
On Sept. 4, ACU will take on Washburn, No. 6 California (Pa.) will play at No. 14 Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) and No. 15 Nebraska-Omaha will host No. 13 Nebraska-Kearney.
ACU, West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Kingsville were the only three Lone Star Conference teams to make the AFCA Top 25. Other LSC schools receiving votes were Texas A&M-Commerce (top non-top-25 team with 73 points), Tarleton State (32 points), Angelo State (nine points), and Southeastern Oklahoma State (four points).
