Muleriders enter at 10th in region football poll

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (SAU) - The NCAA released the final regular season Division II football region rankings Monday and Southern Arkansas enters the Super Region 3 poll at 10th. Great American Conference members Henderson State and Harding are second and fourth, respectively.

The Muleriders (7-2) enter the region poll for the first time since November 2003 when they were ranked fourth in the South Region and advanced to the playoffs, losing 48-24 in the first round at North Alabama.

The Reddies fell one spot in the poll after being idle this past week, while the Bisons also fell one spot from third the previous week.

The NCAA will release the final rankings on Sunday, which are used to seed teams for the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The top six teams in each of the four Super Regions advance to the playoffs. Additionally, the top-two ranked in each region will earn a first round bye and then host a second round game the following week.

Super Region 3 is made up of the 49 teams from the Great American Conference, Great Northwest Conference, Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). The Regional Selection Committee consists of a total of seven representatives from the four conferences.

SAU also received three votes in this week's AFCA coaches' poll, which would have them ranked 35th if the poll extended past the top 25.