William Penn Drops to #16, Again Misses Playoffs by One
William Penn Statesmen Football season ended in a tough loss to Grand View on Saturday
Oskaloosa–For the second year in a row, the Statesmen football team was on the precipice of the postseason, only to be left out by one spot as the tenth and final NAIA top-25 football poll as well as the playoff pairings were released today.
William Penn (9-2, 5-2 MWL), who lost to now #18 Grand View 14-13 on Saturday, fell eight spots to #16 with 156 points.
The program was just three points behind #15 Benedictine (Kan.), who receives the final at-large bid at 9-2. With its tiebreaker over St. Francis (Ill.), automatic qualifier Grand View stole the last berth by moving into the top 20.
Marian (Ind.) enters the playoffs as the #1 overall seed with 13 first-place votes. Carroll (Mont.), with the other two first-place votes, Georgetown (Ky.), MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.), and Saint Xavier (Ill.) round out the top five.
The decision by the raters to drop William Penn all the way to 16th was likely three-fold, including that the Mid-States Football Association would then have six total playoff representatives (three on each side), that Benedictine handed #7 Missouri Valley its only loss of the year, 35-19, and that one of Benedictine’s two losses was to #4 MidAmerica Nazarene on the road, 49-39.
The Midwest League will be represented in the NAIA Championship Series by Grand View and #11 St. Francis (Ill.). The Mideast League will send three teams into next week’s first round, including #1 Marian, #5 Saint Xavier, and #9 St. Francis (Ind.).
The Statesmen end the year as the second-highest rated team in the state, behind only #6 Morningside.
NAIA Football Championship Series–First Round Pairings
#18 Grand View @ #1 Marian (Ind.)
#12 Valley City State (N.D.) @ #2 Carroll (Mont.)
#15 Benedictine (Kan.) @ #3 Georgetown (Ky.)
#14 Southern Nazarene (Okla.) @ #4 MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
#13 Bethel (Tenn.) @ #5 Saint Xavier (Ill.)
# 11 St. Francis (Ill.) @ #6 Morningside
#9 St. Francis (Ind.) @ #7 Missouri Valley
#10 Ottawa (Kan.) @ #8 Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
NAIA Football Final Rating – November 13, 2011
(Number in parentheses is first-place votes)
(NAIA Championship Series qualifiers bolded)
1. Marian (Ind.) (13)
2. Carroll (Mont.) (2)
3. Georgetown (Ky.)
4. MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.)
5. Saint Xavier (Ill.)
6. Morningside
7. Missouri Valley
8. Azusa Pacific (Calif.)
9. St. Francis (Ind.)
10. Ottawa (Kan.)
11. St. Francis (Ill.)
12. Valley City State (N.D.)
13. Bethel (Tenn.)
14. Southern Nazarene (Okla.)
15. Benedictine (Kan.)
16. William Penn
17. Northwestern
18. Grand View
19. Eastern Oregon
20. Doane (Neb.)
21. Baker (Kan.)
22. St. Ambrose
23. Langston (Okla.)
24. Cumberlands (Ky.)
25. Cumberland (Tenn.)
Others receiving votes: Bethany (Kan.) 9, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.), 6, Midland (Neb.) 1.
