WACO, Texas – The Slippery Rock University football team moved up one spot to No. 6 in this week's NCAA Division II national rankings when the American Football Coaches Association released its updated national poll Monday.
The Rock began the year outside the top 25 but jumped into the rankings after a season-opening win over then 12th ranked Minnesota Duluth. SRU climbed into the top 10 one month into the season and rose to No. 7 for the last three weeks before climbing to No. 6 this week.
SRU has been ranked or at least listed in the receiving votes category of every AFCA Division II national poll since Oct. 8, 2018. The Rock have been ranked in the top 10 for at least one week in each of the last seven straight seasons and in 10 of the last 11 seasons.
The AFCA poll is widely regarded as the "official" national ranking used throughout the regular season. The Rock also moved up one place to No. 7 in the D2football.com media poll that was announced Monday (available
HERE). SRU was listed at No. 2 when the NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings came out Sunday (more info
HERE).
The top 10 spots in the AFCA poll saw their first shakeup in weeks with three unbeaten teams losing games last week. Ferris State continues to lead the way at No. 1 with 29 first place votes and Harding continues to be No. 2. Colorado State Pueblo moved up to No. 3, Minnesota Duluth climbed to No. 4 and Western Colorado rose to No. 5.
Slippery Rock moved up to No. 6 and got one first place vote. The rest of the top 10 is rounded out by Northwood, Northwest Missouri State, Central Washington and Findlay.
The Rock lead all teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and Super Region One with a No. 6 ranking. Kutztown is the next highest ranked team from the region at No. 11. SRU and Kutztown are joined by East Stroudsburg at No. 18 to give the PSAC three teams in the top 25 this week.
Virginia Union held steady at No. 19 to give the region four teams ranked in the top 25. Virginia State and West Liberty were both ranked last week, but fell out of the poll this week. They are both listed in the "others receiving votes" section this week, along with Johnson C. Smith, Indiana (Pa.) and Assumption.
Slippery Rock's opening opponent Minnesota Duluth dropped one spot this week to No. 21.
The Rock have already locked up the PSAC West title and will host the conference championship game Nov. 14 against East Stroudsburg. SRU will look to complete an unbeaten regular season with 4 p.m. home game Saturday against Edinboro.
A look at the updated AFCA national poll can be found below. This week's D2football.com poll is available
HERE.
AFCA DIVISION II NATIONAL RANKINGS
Nov. 2, 2026
| Rank |
Team (1st votes) |
W-L |
Pts. |
Prev. |
| 1 |
Ferris St. (29) |
9-0 |
749 |
1 |
| 2 |
Harding |
9-0 |
719 |
2 |
| 3 |
CSU Pueblo |
9-0 |
676 |
4 |
| 4 |
Minnesota St. |
9-0 |
663 |
5 |
| 5 |
Western Colorado |
9-0 |
612 |
6 |
| 6 |
SLIPPERY ROCK (1) * |
9-0 |
599 |
7 |
| 7 |
Northwood |
9-0 |
548 |
10 |
| 8 |
Northwest Missouri St. |
7-1 |
538 |
11 |
| 9 |
Central Washington |
7-2 |
481 |
12 |
| 10 |
Findlay |
8-1 |
434 |
13 |
| 11 |
Kutztown * |
8-1 |
427 |
3 |
| 12 |
Davenport |
8-1 |
396 |
9 |
| 13 |
Carson-Newman |
8-1 |
393 |
14 |
| 14 |
Michigan Tech |
7-2 |
344 |
15 |
| 15 |
Emporia St. |
8-1 |
340 |
8 |
| 16 |
North Greenville |
8-1 |
301 |
16 |
| 17 |
Valdosta St. |
6-1 |
277 |
17 |
| 18 |
East Stroudsburg *^ |
8-1 |
255 |
24 |
| 19 |
Virginia Union * |
8-1 |
235 |
19 |
| 20 |
Benedict |
8-1 |
201 |
21 |
| 21 |
Minnesota-Duluth ^ |
7-2 |
188 |
20 |
| 22 |
Augustana (S.D.) |
7-2 |
79 |
NR |
| 23 |
Grand Valley St. |
6-3 |
74 |
25 |
| 24 |
Midwestern St. |
7-2 |
51 |
NR |
| 25 |
Wayne St. (Neb.) |
7-2 |
40 |
NR |
Dropped Out: Henderson St. (18), Virginia St. (22)*, West Liberty (23)*
Others Receiving Votes: Henderson St., 31; Ouachita Baptist, 26; Colorado Mines, 14; Central Missouri, 9; Johnson C. Smith, 9*; Virginia St., 9*; Northeastern St., 8; Washburn, 6; Indiana (Pa.), 5*^; UNC Pembroke, 4; West Liberty, 4*; Assumption, 2*; Southeastern Oklahoma, 2; Kentucky St., 1.
* NCAA Super Region One school
^ SRU opponent in 2026
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