Pitt win boosts Northwest into top five

With Saturday's thrilling comeback win over No. 1 Pittsburg State at Arrowhead Stadium, Northwest Missouri State moved back into the top five at No. 5 and received one of 30 first-place votes in the latest AFCA Division II Poll released Monday.

This is Northwest's highest ranking since they were No. 3 after week one and makes the Bearcats (6-1, 5-1) the top-ranked team in the MIAA for the first time all year.

One of three teams to get a first-place vote, Northwest has won five straight games since its only loss to Central Missouri in week two.

After being No. 1 for the first six weeks of the season, Pittsburg State (5-1, 5-1) dropped to No. 7 and shares that spot with Minnesota-Duluth.

Missouri Western, which lost to Missouri Southern 31-30 at home Saturday, plummeted 12 spots to No. 16. The Griffons (6-1, 5-1) play at Pittsburg State Saturday.

MIAA leader Emporia State (7-0, 7-0) and second place Washburn (6-1, 6-1) are tied for the No. 18 spot in the poll. Central Missouri (5-2, 5-2) received six top 25 votes.

Formerly ranked No. 2, Colorado St.-Pueblo (7-0) took over the No. 1 ranking from Pittsburg State with 23 first-place votes. Winston-Salem St. (N.C.) is ranked No. 2 and received six first-place votes.

New Haven (Conn.) (6-0) is third followed by Bloomsburg (Pa.) (7-0) at No. 4.

Along with Northwest and Pitt, the remaining top 10 teams are No. 6 Ashland (Ohio), No. 9 Minnesota St.-Mankato and No. 10 Quachita Baptist (Ark.).

Northwest, Duluth and Pitt are the only top 10 teams with a loss.

Entering this week's poll are Miles (Ala.) at No. 21, Michigan Tech at No. 22, and Sioux Falls (S.D.) at No. 23. This is the first-ever top 25 appearance for Miles.

Grand Valley State (Mich.) fell double-digit spots for the second straight week to No. 24. Harding (Ark.) grabbed the final spot in the poll.

Dropping out were Wayne St. (Mich.), North Carolina-Pembroke and Shepherd (W. Va.). West Alabama leads the receiving votes category with 29.