WT Buffs finish school best in AFCA poll
Posted: 12.17.2012 at 4:05 PM
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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