WACO, Texas – The Slippery Rock University football team moved up one spot to No. 10 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 have soared all the way up to No. 10 after four weeks. SRU jumped into the poll at No. 18 after opening the season with an upset win over then 12th ranked Minnesota Duluth in week zero before leaping five spots to No. 13 after an idle week. SRU then jumped two more places to No. 11 after a road win at East Stroudsburg and slides up one more place to crack the top 10 this week after a win at Millersville.
 
SRU has been ranked or at least listed in the receiving votes category of every AFCA Division II national poll since Oct. 8, 2018. This marks the seventh straight season SRU has been ranked in the top 10 and the 10^th season in the last 11 years where SRU has earned a top 10 ranking.
 
The AFCA poll is widely regarded as the "official" national ranking used throughout the regular season. The Rock also moved up three spots to No. 11 in the D2football.com media poll that was also announced Monday (available HERE).
 
None of the top nine spots changed hands this week with defending national champion Ferris State earning all 31 first place votes to stay at No. 1. Harding, Kutztown, Minnesota State and Colorado State Pueblo round out the top five, followed by Grand Valley State, Northwest Missouri State, Western Colorado, Findlay and Slippery Rock.
 
Kutztown leads all teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and Super Region One with a No. 3 ranking. Slippery Rock is the next highest ranked team from the region at No. 10. Fellow PSAC West rival Indiana (Pa.) jumped one spot to No. 11 this week to round out the only three Super Region One teams in the top 25 this week.
 
Shepherd from the PSAC East and Virginia Union of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association are the only other teams from Super Region One mentioned in the poll this week with both of those teams listed in the "others receiving votes" list.

Slippery Rock's opening opponent Minnesota Duluth has bounced back from the double overtime loss at The Rock with three straight wins and has climbed up to No. 13 in this week's poll.
 
The Rock will hit the road this week for the third of three straight away games in September with a visit to California (Pa.) Saturday to open PSAC West action at noon. It will mark the first time since 1995 that SRU played three straight regular season games on the road.
 
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
Sept. 21, 2026

Rank	Team (1st votes)	W-L	Pts.	Prev.
1	Ferris St. (31)	3-0	775	1
2	Harding	3-0	744	2
3	Kutztown *	3-0	702	3
4	Minnesota St.	4-0	668	4
5	CSU Pueblo	4-0	652	5
6	Grand Valley St.	4-0	611	6
7	Northwest Missouri St.	3-0	594	7
8	Western Colorado	4-0	544	8
9	Findlay	3-0	520	9
10	SLIPPERY ROCK *	3-0	468	11
11	Indiana (Pa.) *^	3-0	425	12
12	Emporia St.	4-0	385	17
13	Minnesota-Duluth ^	3-1	373	14
14	Central Washington	1-2	347	16
15	Benedict	3-0	260	19
16	Carson-Newman	4-0	255	22
17	Western Oregon	2-1	253	10
18	Davenport	4-0	223	24
19	Northeastern St.	3-1	202	15
20	Augustana (S.D.)	3-1	194	20
21	Newberry	2-1	178	21
22	Valdosta St.	3-1	125	13
23	Northwood	3-0	114	25t
24	Michigan Tech	3-1	94	25t
25	North Greenville	3-0	93	NR

 
Dropped Out: West Alabama (18), Frostburg St. (23)
 
Others Receiving Votes: Henderson St., 51; Shepherd, 39*; West Alabama, 34; Fort Hays St., 31; UT Permian Basin, 29; Northern St., 16; Virginia Union, 16*; Walsh, 16; UNC Pembroke, 15; Ashland, 10; East Central, 7; Roosevelt, 6; Mars Hill, 5; Black Hills St., 1.

* NCAA Super Region One school
^ SRU opponent in 2026




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