Waco, Texas — The Minnesota State football team finished the season ranked #12 in the final edition of the 2009 American Football Coaches Association Top-25 poll.
Northwest Missouri State – which won the NCAA Division II National Championship last weekend – finished the year ranked #1 in the poll.
Minnesota State, which fell to Hillsdale, 27-24 in overtime in the first round of the NCAA playoffs, joins sixth-ranked Minnesota Duluth as the only two teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference ranked in the top-25.
The Mavericks finished the 2009 season with a 10-2 record, including a 9-1 mark in the NSIC.
AFCA Coaches' Poll Dec. 14, 2009
| Rank |
Team (1st Place votes) |
Record |
Points |
Previous |
| 1 |
Northwest Missouri State |
14-1 |
625 |
2 |
| 2 |
Grand Valley state |
13-2 |
600 |
3 |
| 3 |
Central Washington |
12-1 |
558 |
1 |
| 4 |
Carson-Newman |
11-3 |
535 |
10 |
| 5 |
Minnesota-Duluth |
11-2 |
502 |
4 |
| 6 |
North Alabama |
11-2 |
492 |
5 |
| 7 |
Carolina (Pa.) |
11-4 |
426 |
22 |
| 8 |
Nebraska-Kearney |
11-2 |
413 |
6 |
| 9 |
West Liberty |
11-2 |
377 |
9 |
| 10 |
Tarleton State |
10-3 |
362 |
12 |
| 11 |
Hillsdale |
10-3 |
352 |
15 |
| 12 |
Minnesota State |
10-2 |
310 |
8 |
| 13 |
Abilene Christian |
9-4 |
307 |
18 |
| 14 |
Midwestern State |
9-3 |
289 |
7 |
| 15 |
Shippensburg |
9-3 |
272 |
17 |
| 16 |
Texas A&M-Kingsville |
9-3 |
253 |
13 |
| 17 |
Tuskegee |
10-2 |
244 |
14 |
| 18 |
Arkansas Tech |
9-3 |
235 |
21 |
| 19 |
Saginaw Valley State |
9-3 |
206 |
16 |
| 20 |
North Carolina-Pembroke |
9-2 |
116 |
11 |
| 21 |
West Alabama |
8-5 |
113 |
NR |
| 22 |
Albany State |
8-3 |
106 |
20 |
| 23 |
Charleston |
9-2 |
82 |
19 |
| 24 |
Edinboro |
9-4 |
77 |
NR |
| 25 |
Washburn |
8-3 |
43 |
24 |
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