SRU Season Preview / Notes
 
WACO, Texas – The Slippery Rock University football team will enter the 2024 season ranked 11th in the NCAA Division II national rankings according to the American Football Coaches Association preseason poll that was announced Monday.
 
The AFCA poll is widely regarded as the official Division II national ranking recognized by the NCAA throughout the season. The preseason poll will stand as the week one rankings heading into the 2024 season with the first official weekly poll set to be announced after the opening weekend of action.
 
This marks the 10th straight year that Slippery Rock has been included in the preseason national poll. The Rock were one of just 12 teams in Division II to be ranked in every poll during the 2023 season and finished the year at No. 10 in the final rankings. SRU has been ranked in every AFCA national poll since the final poll of the 2018 season.
 
Defending national champion Harding is the preseason No. 1, followed by Central Missouri, Ferris State, Grand Valley State and Colorado School of Mines rounding out the top five.
 
A total of three teams from Super Region One, including two teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, are listed in the preseason top 25. Kutztown leads the way at No. 10, followed by Slippery Rock at No. 11 and Charleston (W.Va.) of the Mountain East Conference at No. 23.
 
In addition to the three Super Region One teams listed in the top 25, another eight teams from the region are included in the "Others Receiving Votes" section of the poll. Those teams include Tiffin, Ashland,  and Findlay from the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, New Haven from the Northeast 10 Conference and California (Pa.), Shepherd, East Stroudsburg and Indiana (Pa.) from the PSAC.
 
Slippery Rock's 2024 schedule includes four games against teams mentioned in the preseason poll, including three in the first five weeks of the season. The Rock will open the year at home against New Haven Sept. 7 before traveling to Shepherd Sept. 14. SRU is also scheduled to play road games at Indiana (Pa.) Oct. 5 and at California (Pa.) Oct. 19.
 
The Rock are coming off a 12-2 season that included a fifth straight PSAC West title and a fifth straight trip to the NCAA Playoffs. SRU enters the year tied for the second-longest active playoff streak in Division II and will be aiming to make the national playoff field for the sixth straight year and the ninth time in the last 11 seasons.
 
Single-game and season ticket and parking information for the 2024 season is available HERE.
 
2024 AFCA DIVISION II PRESEASON NATIONAL POLL – AUG. 12

Rank	School (1st votes)	2023 W-L	Pts.	2023 Rank
1	Harding (Ark.) (25)	15-0	672	1
2	Central Missouri	11-2	620	6
3	Ferris St. (Mich.) (1)	8-3	590	9
4	Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (1)	11-2	566	3
5	Colorado School of Mines	14-1	564	2
6	Pittsburg St. (Kan.)	11-2	540	5
7	Valdosta St. (Ga.)	12-2	516	8
8	Central Washington	9-4	418	17
9	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	13-2	416	4
10	Kutztown (Pa.) *	12-3	413	7
11	SLIPPERY ROCK *	12-2	384	10
12	West Florida	8-4	330	23
13	Minnesota St.	9-3	232	21
14	Augustana (S.D.)	11-2	231	13
15	Western Colorado	10-2	230	15
16	Indianapolis (Ind.)	9-2	216	22
17	Minnesota-Duluth	9-2	214	25
18	Delta St. (Miss.)	10-2	212	11
19	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	9-2	209	NR
20	Virginia Union	10-2	183	20
21	Texas-Permian Basin	10-2	169	18
22	Northwest Missouri St.	7-4	167	NR
23	Charleston (W.Va.) *	10-2	102	19
24	Angelo St. (Tex.)	7-3	89	NR
25	Bemidji St. (Minn.)	9-3	70	16

 
Others Receiving Votes: Benedict (S.C.), 64; Henderson St. (Ark.), 56; Virginia St., 54; Tiffin (Ohio), 34*; Southern Arkansas, 24; Ashland (Ohio), 21*; Davenport (Mich.), 21; Wingate (N.C.), 20; Emporia St. (Kan.), 18; Colorado St.-Pueblo, 17; Albany St. (Ga.), 15; Findlay (Ohio), 14*; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 12; California (Pa.), 11*^; Oklahoma Baptist, 11; Shepherd (W.Va.), 8*^; New Haven (Conn.), 7*^; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 6; Wayne St. (Neb.), 3; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 2; Truman St. (Mo.), 2; Fort Valley St. (Ga.), 1; Indiana (Pa.), 1*^.

* Super Region One Schools
^ SRU Opponents in 2024




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