West Chester Ranked 10th In AFCA Preseason Poll

Head Coach Bill Zwaan and Center Derek Schatz Talk With Matt Leon of KYW Newsradio

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Coming off perhaps the most successful campaign in school history, West Chester University's football squad was ranked 10th in the country by the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) in its preseason poll. The Golden Rams ended 2013 ranked fourth in the final rankings.

West Chester garnered 477 points to come in 10th overall in the preseason poll. Defending national champion, Northwest Missouri State is the preseason favorite to take the title again. It received 31 first-place votes for a total of 799 points. The only other first-place vote went to Henderson State (Ark.), which was picked eighth in the poll. The Golden Rams were one of three Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference schools in the AFCA Top 25 Coaches' Poll. Indiana (Pa.) came in 20th while Bloomsburg was 24th. Both of those schools appear on West Chester's 2014 schedule. East Stroudsburg, who also appears on West Chester's schedule this year, was listed among others receiving votes.

West Chester is coming off a 13-2 season in which the Rams tied for the PSAC Eastern Division title and advanced to the NCAA Division II national semifnals for the second time in school history. The Golden Rams open their 2014 schedule on Saturday, Sept. 6 at New Haven.
 

Rank   School (1st votes)   Rec.    Pts.     Rank*

     1.     Northwest Missouri St. (31)       15-0          799              1
     2.     Grand Valley St. (Mich.)            12-3          725              3
     3.     Minnesota-Duluth                      11-2          634              8
     4.     Colorado St.-Pueblo                  11-1          619               7
     5.     North Alabama                         10-3           589             10
     6.     Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)                   13-2          538              2
     7.     Minnesota St.-Mankato              11-1          530              6
     8.     Henderson St. (Ark.) (1)             11-1          523             13
     9.     Pittsburg St. (Kan.)                   10-2           522             19
    10.   West Chester (Pa.)                    13-2           477               4
    11.   West Texas A&M                       11-3           407              11
    12.   Shepherd (W.Va.)                       11-1           393               9
    13.   Ohio Dominican                          10-1          390              12
    14.   Winston-Salem St. (N.C.)            10-2          389              14
    15.   St. Cloud State (Minn.)                12-2          350                5
    16.   Carson-Newman (Tenn.)               10-3          333              17
    17.   Tarleton St. (Texas)                       7-3           266              NR
    18.   Indianapolis (Ind.)                        10-2           229              18
    19.   Delta St. (Miss.)                           7-3           206              NR
    20.   Indiana (Pa.)                                 9-2          167               24
    21.   North Carolina-Pembroke               9-2          140               15
    22.   Azusa Pacific (Calif.)                   10-2          133               NR
           Emporia St. (Kan.)                        9-2          133                20
    24.   Bloomsburg (Pa.)                       10-2           103               16
    25.   Tuskegee (Ala.)                           8-3             98               25
 
*– Ranking in final AFCA Division II Poll of 2013
 
Others Receiving Votes: Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.), 87; Central Missouri, 82; West Alabama, 67; Valdosta St. (Ga.), 59; American International (Mass.), 51; Ferris St. (Mich.), 41; California (Pa.), 38; Missouri Western St., 38; Albany St. (Ga.), 32; Midwestern St. (Texas), 31; Harding (Ark.), 27; Colorado School of Mines, 20; Newberry (S.C.), 20; Concord (W.Va.), 19; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 19; Slippery Rock (Pa.), 13; Eastern New Mexico, 12; Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), 9; Winona St. (Minn.), 9; Fayetteville St. (N.C.), 7; Sioux Falls (S.D.), 7; Truman St. (Mo.), 5; Findlay (Ohio), 3; Miles (Ala.), 3; Chadron St. (Neb.), 2; Michigan Tech, 2; Washburn (Kan.), 2; West Georgia, 2.