KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Kutztown University football broke into the top five of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Poll for the first time in program history, Monday.

The Golden Bears improved to 5-0 on the season with Saturday's 42-10 win over Bloomsburg and moved up from No. 8 to No. 5 in the latest poll following losses by three of the top seven teams in last week's poll.

Kutztown held its third opponent in five weeks to 10 points or fewer and now ranks sixth in NCAA Division II in scoring defense at 10.2 points allowed per game. The Maroon and Gold own the nation's second-best pass defense (122.8 ypg) and fifth-best total defense (210.0 ypg). Head coach Jim Clements picked up his 150th career college win on Saturday.

Prior to Monday's poll release, Kutztown's previous high ranking was sixth back on Nov. 14, 2011. The Golden Bears weren't ranked during last year's regular season after starting 0-2 but used 12 consecutive victories to win the PSAC East, PSAC and Super Region One titles on their way to their first-ever national semifinals appearance. KU claimed the No. 7 ranking in the AFCA's final DII Poll and opened the 2024 season ranked 10th.

Defending national champion Harding (Ark.), Grand Valley State (Mich.) and Valdosta State (Ga.) maintained the top three spots in this week's poll, while Ferris State (Mich.) moved up to fourth and Kutztown fifth. Falling out of the top eight were No. 4 Colorado School of Mines (now No. 12), which fell at Colorado Mesa, No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne (now No. 17), which lost to Emory & Henry, and No. 7 Minnesota State (now No. 15), which was defeated by Sioux Falls (S.D.).

Kutztown is back at home this coming Saturday, Oct. 12, to face Lock Haven in a PSAC East game at noon.
 

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AFCA Division II Poll - Week 6

Monday, Oct. 7, 2024
BOLD indicates Super Region One teams
 

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	Record	Pts.	Prev.
1	Harding (Ark.) (30)	5-0	750	1
2	Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	5-0	718	2
3	Valdosta St. (Ga.)	5-0	690	3
4	Ferris St. (Mich.)	4-1	654	5
5	Kutztown (Pa.)	5-0	605	8
6	Slippery Rock (Pa.)	5-0	590	9
7	Pittsburg St. (Kan.)	4-1	550	10
8	Western Colorado	5-0	498	13
9	Central Washington	4-1	471	11
10	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	5-0	470	14
11	West Alabama	4-0	412	15
12	Colorado School of Mines	4-1	404	4
13	Central Oklahoma	5-0	367	17
14	Charleston (W.Va.)	5-0	353	16
15	Minnesota St.	5-1	313	7
16	Colorado St.-Pueblo	5-1	306	18t
17	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	4-1	287	6
18	Emporia St. (Kan.)	5-1	263	18t
19	Delta St. (Miss.)	4-1	207	20
20	Findlay (Ohio)	5-0	171	23
21	Indianapolis (Ind.)	4-1	135	22
22	Johnson C. Smith (N.C.)	6-0	134	24
23	Carson-Newman (Tenn.)	5-0	118	25
24	Frostburg St. (Md.)	5-0	66	NR
25	Indiana (Pa.)	4-1	47	21

Dropped Out: Central Missouri (12)

Others Receiving Votes: Central Missouri, 45; Augustana (S.D.), 28; West Florida, 19; Texas A&M-Kingsville, 17; Virginia Union, 13; Southern Arkansas, 11; Henderson St. (Ark.), 9; Northwest Missouri St., 5; New Haven (Conn.), 4; Sioux Falls (S.D.), 4; Wayne St. (Neb.), 4; Assumption (Mass.), 3; Colorado Mesa, 2; Davenport (Mich.), 2; Michigan Tech, 2; Angelo St. (Tex.), 1; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 1; Limestone (S.C.), 1.