WACO, Texas – The Slippery Rock University football team fell 11 spots to No. 20 in the final regular season Division II national rankings released Monday by the American Football Coaches Association.
 
The AFCA poll is widely regarded as the official national ranking used by the NCAA throughout the regular season. This week's rankings will be the only rankings used throughout the postseason before the AFCA unveils a final 2022 ranking after the National Championship next month.
 
Slippery Rock is one of just 12 total teams in Division II to be ranked in the preseason poll and all 11 regular season polls throughout the year and is one of just two teams from Super Region One to accomplish that, joining Shepherd. The other teams that appeared in all 12 national polls this year are Grand Valley State, Ferris State, Northwest Missouri State, Angelo State, West Florida, Harding, West Georgia, Colorado School of Mines, Newberry and Ouachita Baptist.  
 
Slippery Rock opened the season ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll, which marked the eighth straight season The Rock were ranked in the top 25 to begin the year. SRU reached a season-high ranking of No. 8 after the fourth week of the season, but slipped to No. 20 after a week five loss at Indiana (Pa.). After that, SRU climbed 11 spots up the rankings to No. 9 last week before dropping back to No. 20.
 
The drop in the rankings comes after The Rock lost a 23-21 decision to Kutztown last Saturday. SRU was hampered by a slew of injuries on the offensive side of the ball and played without starting QB Noah Grover, its top two running backs in Chris D'Or and Chris Wells and its leading receiver in Kyle Sheets. The loss was just the second of the year as SRU dropped to 9-2 overall with the two losses coming by a combined total of 10 points to two teams that finished the regular season listed in the national poll.
 
Slippery Rock remains one of just three PSAC teams to be ranked in the final regular season poll. Shepherd dropped eight spots from No. 3 to No. 11 after losing 24-21 at IUP in the PSAC title game last week. IUP, despite that win, only moved up four places to No. 15 this week. Kutztown is the only other PSAC team to be mentioned in the poll as the Golden Bears finished in the "others receiving votes" section.
 
Super Region One enters the playoffs with five teams ranked in the top 25 with Ashland of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference at No. 12 and Notre Dame (Ohio) of the Mountain East Conference listed in a tie for No. 24, in addition to the three ranked PSAC teams.  
 
SRU's first round playoff opponent, Assumption from Northeast 10 Conference, leads a group of four Super Region One teams in the "others receiving votes" section of the poll. The Greyhounds are joined by playoff qualifier New Haven (NE10), as well as Concord (MEC) and Kutztown (PSAC) in picking up votes in the final regular season poll.
 
Slippery Rock will open its fourth straight NCAA Playoff appearance with a noon kickoff Saturday at Assumption in Worcester, Massachusetts.
 
AFCA DIVISION II NATIONAL POLL
Nov. 14, 2022 – Final Regular Season Poll

Rank	Team (1st Votes)	W0L	Pts.	Prev.
1.	Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (27)	11-0	747	1
2.	Angelo St. (Tex.) (3)	11-0	719	2
3.	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	11-0	683	4
4.	Pittsburg St. (Kan.)	11-0	666	5
5.	Ferris St. (Mich.)	9-1	621	6
6.	West Florida	9-1	584	7
7.	Benedict (S.C.)	11-0	566	8
8.	Northwest Missouri St.	9-2	491	10
9.	Delta St. (Miss.)	10-1	484	12
10.	Colorado School of Mines	9-2	480	11
11.	Shepherd (W.Va.) ^	10-1	449	3
12.	Ashland (Ohio) ^	9-1	415	13
13.	Indianapolis (Ind.)	9-1	384	14
14.	Virginia Union	9-1	366	15
15.	Indiana (Pa.) *^	9-1	335	19
16.	West Georgia	8-2	310	16
17.	Harding (Ark.)	9-2	298	17
18.	Newberry (S.C.)	9-2	208	21
19.	Minnesota St.	9-2	203	23
20.	SLIPPERY ROCK ^	9-2	189	9
21.	Davenport (Mich.)	8-2	123	18
22.	Wingate (N.C.)	9-2	88	NR
23.	Truman St. (Mo.)	8-2	66	20
24t.	Emporia St. (Kan.)	8-3	40	22
24t.	Notre Dame (Ohio) ^	9-2	40	NR

 
Dropped Out: Henderson St. (Ark.) (24), Winona St. (Minn.) (25)
 
Others Receiving Votes: Wayne St. (Neb.), 38; Henderson St. (Ark.), 37; Colorado St.-Pueblo, 31; Assumption (Mass.), 30*^; Bemidji St. (Minn.), 20; Fayetteville St. (N.C.), 11; Fort Valley St. (Ga.), 9; New Haven (Conn.), 6^; Winona St. (Minn.), 5; Nebraska-Kearney, 4; Concord (W.Va.), 1^; Kutztown (Pa.), 1*^; Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.), 1; Washburn (Kan.), 1.

* SRU Opponents in 2022
^ Super Region One Schools




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