AFCA Top 25
D2football.com Top 25

GOLDEN, Colo. - For the first time in program history, Colorado School of Mines football is ranked #1 in NCAA Division II, ascending to the top spot in both the AFCA coaches' and D2football.com media polls this week.

The Orediggers (7-0, 5-0 RMAC) had been stuck at #2 all season behind defending national champion Ferris State before they lost to Grand Valley State over the weekend; Mines defeated Grand Valley State in the season opener. That led a shake-up of the top-10 in both polls, Pitt State moved to #2 behind Mines with Minnesota State, Grand Valley State, and Delta State rounding out the AFCA's top five; Mines received 27 of 28 first-place votes in the AFCA poll. The D2football.com poll put Mines ahead of GVSU, Pitt State, Minnesota State, and Ferris State in the top five.

Football becomes the sixth different Mines program to be ranked #1 in a national poll all-time, joining men's basketball, men's cross country, golf, men's soccer, and men's track & field. The Oredigger men's cross country team is also #1 in D-II in their most recent poll out last week. It is the first time an RMAC team has reached #1 since CSU Pueblo at the conclusion of the 2014 season. It is the 57th consecutive national ranking for Mines dating back to early in the 2018 season.

The Orediggers' Week 9 opponent, Western Colorado, moved up to #12/14 as the only other RMAC program in the polls this week. Other Super Region 4 ranked teams include #3/4 Minnesota State, #15/9 Bemidji State, #17/21 Augustana, and #19/21 Angelo State, with Minnesota-Duluth, UT-Permian Basin, and Central Washington receiving votes in the AFCA poll, and UTPB broke into the D2football.com poll at #25.

Mines' Week 8 opponent is Black Hills State, with the Orediggers visiting the Yellow Jackets this Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff.