Belton, TX – The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team finished the year ranked in the top ten in the country in both major national polls. UMHB was ranked in the top seven in the country by both the American Football Coaches Association and D3football.com.
The Cru finished the year ranked sixth in the country in the AFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. UMHB totaled 719 points in balloting of 40 head coaches from across the country to move up three spots from the AFCA's final regular season poll. National champion Wisconsin-Whitewater was a unanimous pick for the top spot with 40 first-place votes and 1000 total points. National runner-up Mount Union finished second with 960 points and Linfield College, the team that eliminated UMHB from the playoff claimed the #3 spot in the AFCA Top 25 Poll with 900 total points. The Cru also finished behind 4th-place Wesley College and #5 St. Thomas in the AFCA Top 25 Poll. Mississippi College joined UMHB to give the American Southwest Conference two top 25 teams, as the Choctaws totaled 235 points for the #21 spot in the country.
The Cru was ranked seventh in the country in the D3football.com Top 25 Poll. UMHB totaled 465 points in that poll and matched its finals regular season ranking. The D3football.com Top 25 Poll has the same teams in the same order in the top five and Wittenberg is #6, 14 points ahead of the Cru with 479 total points. Mississippi College finished the season ranked 20th by D3football.com.
UMHB finished the 2009 season with a 10-2 overall record and the Cru went 7-1 in ASC play to share the ASC title with Mississippi College. UMHB advanced to the NCAA Division III National Championships before falling to Linfield College 53-21 in the Second Round. The Cru joins Mount Union as the only two programs in the country to have advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA Division III National Championships in each of the last six seasons.
