WACO, Texas – The Slippery Rock University football team moved up three places to No. 7 in this week's NCAA Division II national rankings when the American Football Coaches Association poll was unveiled Monday.
 
The AFCA poll is widely regarded as the official Division II national ranking recognized by the NCAA throughout the season. The shakeup at the top happened this week after three teams in the top 10 lost during the seventh week of the season.
 
Slippery Rock has climbed eight total spots this fall since opening the year ranked No. 15 in the preseason national poll. The latest jump in the rankings comes after SRU posted a 49-24 win on the road at Gannon University Saturday to improve to 7-0 on the season, becoming one of just 15 teams in Division II to remain undefeated entering week eight.
 
This week's Homecoming game against California (Pa.) will mark the 47th consecutive game SRU will play as a ranked team. The Rock have appeared in every top 25 poll since the final rankings of the 2018 season were released Dec. 17, 2018.
 
The single-digit ranking marks the fourth consecutive year that SRU has reached a single-digit ranking and the seventh time in the last eight seasons in which The Rock were ranked with a single-digit ranking. The No. 7 ranking is the highest for the program since week six of the 2021 season when SRU was ranked No. 6.
 
This week's poll has a new No. 1 for the first time in two years as two-time defending national champion Ferris State slipped eight spots to No. 9 following a 49-28 loss at Grand Valley State last week. Colorado School of Mines moved up to the No. 1 spot this week, followed by No. 2 Pittsburg State, No. 3 Minnesota State, No. 4 Grand Valley State and No. 5 Delta State rounding out the top five.
 
Slippery Rock remains the highest ranked team from Super Region One at No. 7 and is the only team from the region ranked in the top 20 for the fourth week in a row. Assumption from the Northeast 10 Conference held steady at No. 21 and PSAC East preseason favorite Shepherd moved up one spot to No. 22 this week. Tiffin from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference jumped into the rankings for the first time at No. 23 to round out the four teams from Super Region One in this week's top 25.
 
An additional one team from Super Region One is listed in the "Others Receiving Votes" section this week with Charleston from the Mountain East Conference picking up votes.
 
Slippery Rock will shift focus to its toughest test to date with California (Pa.) set to visit Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Homecoming. The Vulcans are 5-1 overall with a lone loss to nationally ranked Shepherd back on Sept. 16 and are tied with The Rock atop the PSAC West standings with perfect 4-0 divisional records.
 
A look at the updated AFCA national poll can be found below.
 
2023 AFCA DIVISION II NATIONAL POLL – OCT. 16

Rank	School (1st votes)	W-L	Pts.	Prev.
1	Colorado School of Mines (28)	7-0	723	2
2	Pittsburg St. (Kan.)	7-0	691	3
3	Minnesota St.	7-0	655	4
4	Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	5-1	618	7
5	Delta St. (Miss.)	7-0	597	8
6	Harding (Ark.)	7-0	577	9
7	SLIPPERY ROCK *	7-0	519	10
8	Benedict (S.C.)	7-0	497	11
9	Ferris St. (Mich.)	4-2	486	1
10	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	7-0	451	12
11	Indianapolis (Ind.)	6-0	427	13
12	Western Colorado	7-0	396	14
13	Davenport (Mich.)	6-0	338	16
14	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	6-1	329	5
15	Bemidji St. (Minn.)	5-1	325	15
16	Central Missouri	6-1	298	17
17	Augustana (S.D.)	7-0	222	22
18	West Florida	5-2	221	6
19	Angelo St. (Tex.)	4-2	182	20
20	Virginia St. (1)	7-0	173	24
21	Assumption (Mass.) *	5-1	151	21
22	Shepherd (W.Va.) *	6-1	131	23
23	Tiffin (Ohio) *	7-0	97	NR
24	Emporia St. (Kan.)	5-2	70	25
25	Truman St. (Mo.)	6-1	62	19

 
Dropped Out: Henderson St. (Ark.) (18)
 
Others Receiving Votes: Virginia Union, 45; Valdosta St. (Ga.), 42; Texas-Permian Basin, 27; Charleston (W.Va.), 21*; Minnesota-Duluth, 15; Henderson St. (Ark.), 13; Southern Arkansas, 12; Missouri Western St., 10; Central Washington, 4.

* NCAA Super Region One teams




To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).