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The West Texas A&M football team finished fourth in the final American Football Coaches Association final poll released Monday, capping one of the most successful seasons in school history. It is the highest end-of-the-season ranking in school history for the Buffs.
WT, which finished 12-3 on the year and earned a share of the Lone Star Conference championship, had a remarkable run through the NCAA Division II Super Four Regional entering the tournament as the six-seed. The Buffs, who entered the tournament ranked 16th, upset third-seeded and No. 20 Chadron State (38-30), fourth-ranked and second-seeded Ashland University (Ohio) 33-28 and toppled No. 1-ranked Colorado State-Pueblo 34-13, before falling in the NCAA Semifinal to No. 2 Winston-Salem State. The amazing part of the run is all of the postseason games came on the road as the team traveled over 8,000 miles during the postseason. For the season, WT played in a school-record ten road games as the team went 8-2 in those games and 11 games away from Canyon with a neutral site game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington earlier in the season with a 40-10 win over then-No. 14 Texas A&M Kingsville. Valdosta State downed Winston-Salem State in the National Championship game last weekend 35-7 as the Blazers finished first, followed by WSSU. Minnesota State Mankato, who lost to Valdosta State in the other NCAA semifinal, finished third, followed by the Buffs and Missouri Western was fifth to round out the top five. The Buffs previous best finish in the final AFCA poll was eighth in 2007 as the team went 12-1 with the lone loss coming in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Northwest Missouri State. Colorado State-Pueblo fell to sixth following the loss to the Buffaloes. Indiana (Pa.) was seventh following its loss to Winston-Salem State in the quarterfinals, while New Haven (Conn.) was eighth, followed by Ashland and Northwest Missouri State finished tenth. WT has finished in the AFCA Top 25 or others receiving votes in each of head coach Don Carthel’s eight years at the helm of the program. The Buffs registered three wins in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history and also advanced to their first NCAA semifinal in program history. 2012 American Football Coaches Association Division II Coaches’ Poll December 17, 2012 Rank | School (1st votes) | Rec. | Pts. | Prev. | Post-season | Head Coach | 1. | Valdosta St. (Ga.) (30) | 12-2 | 750 | 17 | D. No. 2 Winston-Salem St. (N.C.), 35-7, in national championship | David Dean | 2. | Winston-Salem St. (N.C.) | 14-1 | 719 | 2 | Lost to No. 17 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 35-7, in national championship | Connell Maynor | 3. | Minnesota St.-Mankato | 13-1 | 674 | 5 | Lost to No. 17 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 35-19, in semi-finals | Aaron Keen | 4. | West Texas A&M | 12-3 | 596 | 16 | Lost to No. 2 Winston-Salem St. (N.C.), 41-18, in semi-finals | Don Carthel | 5. | Missouri Western St. | 12-2 | 578 | 9 | Lost to No. 5 Minnesota St.-Mankato, 17-10, in quarterfinals | Jerry Partridge | 6. | Colorado St.-Pueblo | 12-1 | 575 | 1 | Lost to No. 16 West Texas A&M, 34-13, in quarterfinals | John Wristen | 7. | Indiana (Pa.) | 12-2 | 545 | 11 | Lost to No. 2 Winston-Salem St. (N.C.), 21-17, in quarterfinals | Curt Cignetti | 8. | New Haven (Conn.) | 10-1 | 496 | 3 | Lost to No. 11 Indiana (Pa.), 17-14, in second round | Peter Rossomando | 9. | Ashland (Ohio) | 11-1 | 480 | 4 | Lost to No. 16 West Texas A&M, 33-28, in second round | Lee Owens | 10. | Northwest Missouri St. | 10-3 | 446 | 13 | Lost to No. 5 Minnesota St.-Mankato, 38-35 2OT, in second round | Adam Dorrel | 11. | Henderson St. (Ark.) | 10-1 | 408 | 6 | Lost to No. 9 Missouri Western St., 45-21, in second round | Scott Maxfield | 12. | Minnesota-Duluth | 10-2 | 407 | 7 | Lost to No. 9 Missouri Western St., 57-55 3OT, in first round | Bob Nielson | 13. | Carson-Newman (Tenn.) | 9-3 | 406 | 22 | Lost to No. 17 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 48-26, in quarterfinals | Ken Sparks | 14. | Shippensburg (Pa.) | 11-2 | 349 | 15 | Lost to No. 2 Winston-Salem St. (N.C.), 37-14, in second round | Mark Maciejewski | 15. | Indianapolis (Ind.) | 10-3 | 288 | 18 | Lost to No. 1 Colorado St.-Pueblo, 28-7, in second round | Bob Bartolomeo | 16. | Midwestern St. (Texas) | 9-2 | 284 | 8 | Lost to No. 18 Indianapolis (Ind.), 31-14, in first round | Bill Maskill | 17. | Bloomsburg (Pa.) | 10-2 | 263 | 10 | Lost to No. 15 Shippensburg (Pa.), 58-20, in first round | Danny Hale | 18. | Chadron St. (Neb.) | 9-3 | 231 | 20 | Lost to No. 16 West Texas A&M, 38-30, in first round | Jay Long | 19. | Harding (Ark.) | 9-2 | 219 | 12 | Lost to No. 13 Northwest Missouri St., 35-0, in first round | Ronnie Huckeba | 20. | Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) | 9-3 | 195 | NR | Lost to No. 22 Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 38-35, in second round | Mike Houston | 21. | West Alabama | 9-4 | 189 | NR | Lost to No. 17 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 49-21, in second round | Will Hall | 22. | Emporia St. (Kan.) | 10-2 | 110 | 24 | D. Texas A&M-Kingsville, 45-38, in Lower Kanza Bowl | Garin Higgins | 23. | Tuskegee (Ala.) | 10-2 | 97 | 14 | Lost to Elizabeth City St. (N.C.), 28-13, in Pioneer Bowl | Willie Slater | 24. | Missouri S&T | 10-1 | 95 | 19 | DNQ Playoffs | David Brown | 25. | Shepherd (W.Va.) | 8-3 | 84 | 25t | Lost to No. 11 Indiana (Pa.), 27-17, in first round | Monte Cater |
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