Lenoir-Rhyne football keeps winning, and the Bears keep moving up in the national rankings.
The 8-0 squad from Hickory jumped four spots in the D2Football.com media poll and three spots in the AFCA coaches poll to No. 7 in both sets of rankings. It is the highest any North Carolina team has been ranked this season in the major polls.
Western Carolina advanced as high as No. 8 in the FCS media poll (Stats Perform) before losing to Furman this past Saturday. The Catamounts are still ranked 10th this week by Stats Perform (and 16th in the AFCA coaches poll).
North Carolina Central has been ranked as high as No. 9 in the AFCA coaches poll for FCS schools. The Eagles are 10th on that list this week and 13th in the Stats Perform poll.
The North Carolina Tar Heels sat at No. 10 in both of the major FBS polls (Associated Press and coaches) before being upset by Virginia on Saturday. The Heels fell to 17th in both sets of rankings.
Duke is the only other team from North Carolina ranked nationally this week. The 5-2 Blue Devils, who lost to Florida State on Saturday, are 20th in the AP poll and 21st in the coaches rankings. Mars Hill (6-1) received votes in the D2 coaches poll this week.
Lenoir-Rhyne, which earned a spot along with Mars Hill in the initial Division II regional rankings announced Monday, will visit Wingate (5-3) this Saturday. That game will feature the top two defenses in the South Atlantic Conference in terms of fewest points allowed and fewest yards allowed.
