Lofty national rankings are nothing new for the University of Minnesota Duluth football program. The Bulldogs, after all, have have cracked the Top 15 in every American Football Coaches Association Division II weekly poll since Sept. 8, 2008. That includes the most recent ranking, the AFCA II preseason poll, which was released today and had UMD occupying the No. 3 spot.
The Bulldogs, winners of two of the past six national championships (2010 and 2008), collected 638Â points and were just one of three Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference schools represented in the AFCA II Top 25 ratings. Minnesota State University-Mankato (No. 7) and St. Cloud State University (No. 15), which hosts UMD on Oct. 11, were the others. Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State University, which defeated UMD last November in the second round of the NCAA II playoffs, was ranked first and received all 31 first-place votes and 799 points. The Bearcats were followed by Grand Valley State University (725 points), UMD, Colorado State University-Pueblo (629) and the University of North Alabama (589).
The following is a listing of UMD's AFCA II preseason and final poll rankings since 2008:
Year             Preseason                   Final
2014Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 3
2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 11Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 8
2012Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 12
2011Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 1 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 6
2010Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 1
2009Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 5
2008Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 22Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â No. 1
UMD will launch its 82nd year of intercollegiate competition on Sept. 6 with a NSIC home clash against Concordia University-St. Paul.
2014 AFCA II Preseason Coaches Poll
