'Jacks Break Into Top 10 In Final Polls
12/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 21, 2009
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - The Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack football team finished the 2009 season ranked in all three major national polls. The final polls, announced Monday, all include the 'Jacks among their top 10 teams, the first time this season SFA has cracked the top 10.
SFA is ranked 10th in both the Sports Network and Any Given Saturday Top 25 polls, and the Lumberjacks are the No. 9 team in the final FCS Coaches poll of the season. The previous best ranking for SFA this season was its No. 11 tag earned the week of Oct. 26.
SFA went 10-3 on the season and posted a 6-1 record in the Southland Conference, claiming a share of the program's first league title since 1999. The 'Jacks went on to knock off Eastern Washington in the first round of the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs before falling to No. 1 overall seed and eventual title game participant Montana in the quarterfinals.
The last time an SFA team finished the season ranked among the top 25 in any national poll was 1999, when the 'Jacks went 8-3 and won a share of the Southland championship. SFA finished the season ranked No. 22 that year. The 'Jacks also finished the 1997 campaign as a ranked team. Monday's top 10 billing marks their first such ranking to end a season since they finished the 1995 slate ranked fourth in the nation.
-- SFA --
