Bearcats Retain Hold on #17 in D3Football.com Top 25

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University football team remained #17 this week in the D3Football.com Top 25. Willamette, 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference, has won five consecutive games. Mount Union College (Ohio), the defending NCAA Division III national champion, 5-0 on the season, stayed at #1 after a 28-21 victory over Capital University on Saturday (Oct. 10).

Mount Union, which received 22 of 25 first place votes a week ago, garnered 19 first place votes this week. It was more than enough to keep the Raiders ranked first with 616 points. Mount Union scored a touchdown with 3:10 left to break a 21-21 tie with Capital, which was ranked #21 last week and is now #16.

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, 5-0, remained #2 in the Top 25 with six first place votes and 605 points. Last season, Whitewater defeated Willamette 30-27 in the second round of the playoffs and fell to Mount Union in the national championship game.

Also holding their spots in the poll were the teams ranked #3 through #7. The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), 5-0, stayed at #3 with 579 points. Wheaton College (Illinois), 5-0, continued at #4 with 537 points, while Wesley College (Mass.), 5-0, retained the #5 spot with 520 points.

St. John's University (Minn.), 6-0, kept a hold on #6 in the poll with 487 points. Linfield College, 5-0, stayed at #7 with 424 points.

Central College (Iowa), 6-0, moved up to #8 with 413 points, as it switched places with Washington and Jefferson (Va.), 5-0, which slipped one spot to #9 with 377 points. W&J was idle during the weekend. Wabash College (Ohio), 5-0, advanced one position to round out the top 10 with 362 points.

The highest-ranked team with a loss this week is North Central College (Illinois), 4-1, ranked #14. Capital, 4-1, is listed at #16 and Willamette is #17. Overall, the poll includes 16 undefeated teams, eight teams with one loss and one team with two losses: #19 Ohio Northern University (3-2).

Willamette will host Pacific Lutheran University, 1-3 overall (1-0 in the NWC), on Saturday, Oct. 17. Kickoff at McCulloch Stadium is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (PDT).