FOUR NEW TEAMS ENTER DIVISION II COACHES’ POLL IN WEEK TWO

WACO, TEX.-- Catawba, Tarleton State, Tiffin and Southern Connecticut State jumped into the 2007 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll in week two after a string a upsets to some of the Top 25 teams.

No. 1 Grand Valley State received 26 first place votes after the Lakers opened its season with a 42-14 victory over St. Joseph’s. No. 2 Northwest Missouri State, No. 3 North Dakota and No. 4 North Alabama were all idle this week and stay in the same spots. Valdosta State opens its season by beating then-No. 21 Albany State, 41-3, and jumps one spot to No. 5.

Chadron State falls one position to No. 6 despite its 55-14 victory over Wayne State (Neb.). Pittsburg State handed East Central a 41-15 loss and stays at No. 7. Delta State upset Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) member Jackson State, 27-15, and moves up two to No. 8. Carson-Newman also earned a 29-17 win over an FCS member, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and jumps four spots to No. 9. Shepherd beat Shippensburg, 19-14, and rounds out the Top 10.

Nebraska-Omaha opened its season with a 41-24 victory over in-state rival, Nebraska-Kearney, and moves up three to No. 11. No. 12 Bloomsburg beat C.W. Post, 42-28, while No. 13 Northwood opened conference action with a 28-10 win over Mercyhurst. Newberry blanked Chowan, 67-0, and is up two to No. 14. No. 15 West Chester also moved up two spots after beating Edinboro, 32-16.

Southeastern Oklahoma State beat Northwestern Oklahoma State, 48-26, while West Texas A&M upset then-No. 8 South Dakota, 55-45, but both are ranked at No. 16 in this week’s poll. Midwestern State was idle, but moves up one to No. 18. California (Pa.) jumped four spots to No. 19 after beating Glenville State, 34-14. South Dakota fell to No. 20 after its loss to West Texas A&M.

Catawba enters the poll at No. 21 after handing then-No. 22 Elizabeth City State a 34-7 loss. Tarleton State beat FCS member Stephen F. Austin, 27-24, in overtime and also makes its first appearance in the Coaches’ Poll at No. 22. No. 23 Tiffin is the third newcomer this week after the Dragon’s defeated Clarion, 38-10. Abilene Christian fell 13 spots to No. 24 after its 27-17 loss to Central Oklahoma. Southern Connecticut State beat Kutztown, 52-30, and jumps into the poll at No. 25.

Conference Breakdown: The Lone Star Conference (Southeastern Oklahoma State, West Texas A&M, Midwestern State, Tarleton State, Abilene Christian) has the most representatives in the AFCA Division II Coaches’ Poll with five.

Other conferences represented include: Gulf South-3 (North Alabama, Valdosta State, Delta State); North Central-3 (North Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha, South Dakota); Pennsylvania State Athletic-3 (Bloomsburg, West Chester, California (Pa.)); South Atlantic-3 (Carson-Newman, Newberry, Catawba); Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic-2 (Grand Valley State, Northwood); MIAA-2 (Northwest Missouri State, Pittsburg State); Great Lakes Football-1 (Tiffin); Northeast 10-1 (Southern Connecticut State); Rocky Mountain Athletic-1 (Chadron State); West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic-1 (Shepherd).

Head-to-Head
Three games featuring teams ranked in the AFCA Division II Coaches’ Poll highlight this weekend’s action. The first Top 25 matchup sees No. 2 Northwest Missouri State traveling to No. 11 Nebraska-Omaha. The Mavericks own the all-time series lead at 10-8-1, with each team winning at home the last two seasons. The second Top 25 matchup has No. 19 California (Pa.) playing host to No. 12 Bloomsburg. The Huskies own the all-time series lead at 10-6-2 and won last year’s meeting, 24-19, at Bloomsburg. The final Top 25 matchup has the top two teams in the Lone Star Conference meeting each other as No. 22 Tarleton State travels to No. 16 Southeastern Oklahoma State. Tarleton State owns the all-time series lead at 7-4, but lost last year’s meeting, 37-30.

Poll Points
Bloomsburg runningback Jamar Brittingham scored five touchdowns, tying a school record, and totaled 34 points, which set the school single-game scoring record, in the Huskies 42-28 win over C.W. Post. Brittingham scored on runs of 6, 5, 2, 2 and 2 yards and also had two, two-point conversions. Brittingham’s five rushing touchdowns also gave him 65 for his career, setting a new Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference career mark. He also became the PSAC’s all-time leader in career points scored with 408 ... No. 8 Delta State held Jackson State to negative 29 yards rushing in the Statesmen’s 27-15 upset victory over the Football Championship Subdivision member.