January 7, 2009

Sea Gulls land at No. 24 in final D3football.com media poll

MINNEAPOLIS - The final D3football.com media poll has Salisbury University ranked No. 24 in the last poll of the season. The poll was released for the first time in five weeks due to the NCAA Division III football playoffs.

Mount Union, who won its 10th NCAA Division III national championship, was ranked No. 1 in the final poll with 625 points and all 25 first-place votes. The Purple Raiders held the top spot for the entire season. Mount Union's opponent in Stagg Bowl XXXVI was Wisconsin-Whitewater, who collected 600 points and jumped up two spots to No. 2. Mary Hardin-Baylor (563 points) and Willamette (508 points) each moved up two spots in the poll to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively. Wheaton (Ill.) saw its first time in the top five this season, as it moved up 20 spots to No. 5.

The Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC) had one other member in the polls in Wesley (9-2) who fell six spots to No. 13 in the final ranking.

Salisbury (9-2) dropped out the final American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) coaches poll. It was the first time SU was not ranked in the AFCA poll, a span of 16 weeks.

The D3football.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country and is published weekly.

D3football.com Top 25 Polls