Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team held on to the #9 spot in the nation in the final regular season American Football Coaches Association’s Top 25 Poll of the season. UMHB totaled 680 points in this week’s poll and the Cru is the highest-ranked one-loss team in the nation. Defending national champion Mount Union received 39 first-place votes and 999 total points to hold down the top spot again this week. Wisconsin-Whitewater is second with the other first-place vote and 960 total points. Central (IA) College, UMHB’s first-round opponent in the NCAA Division III National Championships, is ranked fifth this week with 807 total points.
UMHB is 9-1 overall this season and went 7-1 in American Southwest Conference play. The Cru shared the ASC title with Mississippi College to claim at least a share of the ASC Championship for the fifth straight year. UMHB will also advance to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the sixth straight season and the eighth time in the last nine years.
The Cru also held steady at #7 in the country in this week’s D3football.com Top 25 Poll. UMHB totaled 472 points in that poll. Central College is ranked sixth in the nation in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll.
“We are just thrilled to be in the playoffs,” Cru head coach Pete Fredenburg said. “It doesn’t matter to us who we play or where we play, we are just glad to still be playing.”
The Cru will travel to Pella, Iowa to face Central College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III National Championships this Saturday. That game will kick off at 12:00 PM. The Dutch is 10-0 on the season and won the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship to advance to the NCAA Division III National Championships for the 20th time in the history of the program.