Golden Tigers vault to 13th in AFCA poll after Whitewater win
WACO, Texas (goldentigersports.com) — Several teams moved around this week in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II football poll released Monday morning, with the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers being one of those teams. The Golden Tigers moved up two spots this week to 13th in the latest coaches poll.
Tuskegee (2-0), off the heels of 28-18 victory over Albany State, picked up 359 points in this week’s ranking that left them just five points behind 12th-ranked Midwestern State. The Golden Tigers used 406 yards of total offense and a stifling defense to walk out of the Whitewater Classic with the 10-point victory, inching closer to the top 10 where they were at one point last season.
The Golden Tigers are the only school from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) ranked inside the top 25, and is the only team receiving votes from the conference.
The top five had a shakeup at the top following defending national champion Northwest Missouri State holding down the top spot. Grand Valley State and West Georgia flipped places in the polls with Grand Valley State moving up a spot, while Shepherd and Ashland close out the top five. The remainder of the top 10 include Ferris State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Henderson State, Indiana (Pa.) and Colorado School of Mines – all moving up one spot each in this week’s poll.
The next 10 include Slippery Rock, Midwestern State, Tuskegee, Central Missouri, Sioux Falls, Azusa Pacific, Assumption, Augustana, Florida and North Alabama who was idle this week. The biggest move of the week up the polls came from Azusa Pacific who moved up from 24th last week.
The top 25 is rounded out by MInnesota State (down from sixth) – the biggest drop of the week after falling last week, followed by Valdosta State, Colorado Mesa, Bemidji State and Humboldt State who fell from 13th.
Tuskegee steps out of the DII ranks this week as they travel to Mobile (Ala.) to face FCS-member Florida A&M University in the 5th Quarter Classic. Kickoff is set for 6 pm (cst) at Ladd-Peebles Stadium and will be carried on the Tuskegee Digital Network. Tickets are still available for the game.
