Courtesy: AFCA http://www.afca.com/ Wisconsin-Whitewater celebrates the 2007 National Championship

Wisconsin-Whitewater succeeded in its third attempt at a national championship when the Warhawks defeated Mount Union, 31-21, in the Stagg Bowl on Saturday to claim its first Division III national championship and the No. 1 ranking in the final AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll.

Top-ranked Whitewater finished 14-1 on the season with its lone loss coming at the hands of Division II St. Cloud State. The Warhawks also won the top individual honor in Division III when runningback Justin Beaver took home the Gagliardi Award as the Player of the Year in Division III. Mount Union comes in at No. 2 as its two-year reign as national champions comes to an end. Mary Hardin-Baylor finishes in the No. 3 spot after advancing to the semifinals for the first time since 2004. Fellow semifinalist Bethel (Minn.) checks in at No. 4. Wesley rounds out the top five.

Central (Iowa) reached the regional final round before falling to Bethel and is ranked No. 6 in the final poll. No. 7 St. John Fisher also advanced to the regional final before falling to Mount Union. No. 8 Wabash finished at 11-2 on the season. No. 9 St. John’s (Minn.) finished at 10-2 on the season. Muhlenberg comes in at No. 10 after posting an 11-1 record and reaching the second round of the playoffs.

Case Western Reserve makes its first-ever appearance in a season-ending AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll this year at No. 11. The Spartans finished the season 11-1. Washington & Jefferson tumbles from No. 4 to No. 12 in the final poll after a first round playoff upset loss. No. 13 Wisconsin-Eau Claire joins Whitewater as the second WIAC team in this week’s poll. No. 14 Trinity (Texas) reached the postseason for the 10th time in 11 seasons. Capital finishes the season 8-3 to earn the No. 15 ranking.

North Central vaults into the final poll at No. 16 after winning the CCIW and reaching the second round of the playoffs. No. 17 Salisbury finished the season 9-2 after falling to Muhlenberg in the first round. No. 18 St. Norbert posted another perfect regular season before falling in the first round of the playoffs. No. 19 Curry advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in school history. No. 20 Franklin finished 9-2 and won the HCAC title.

No. 21 College of New Jersey won the NJAC title and reached the second round of the playoffs. No. 22 North Carolina Wesleyan makes its first appearance in the AFCA Top 25 this week after notching the first playoff victory in school history. No. 23 Mount St. Joseph finished 9-2 on the season. No. 24 Ithaca reached the postseason for the 16th time this year. No. 25 Wartburg is the lone non-playoff team in the final rankings.

Conference Breakdown: Ohio (Mount Union, Capital), Wisconsin (Wisconsin-Whitewater, Wisconsin-Eau Claire), Atlantic Central (Wesley, Salisbury), Heartland (Franklin, Mount St. Joseph), Illinois-Wisconsin (North Central), Iowa (Central {Iowa}, Wartburg), Minnesota (St. John’s, Bethel), America Southwest (Mary Hardin-Baylor), Centennial (Muhlenberg), Empire 8 (St. John Fisher, Ithaca), Midwest (St. Norbert), New England (Curry), New Jersey (College of New Jersey), North Coast (Wabash), Presidents (Washington & Jefferson), Southern Collegiate (Trinity), UAA (Case Western Reserve), USA South (North Carolina Wesleyan).

Poll Points
Wisconsin-Whitewater is the fifth West Region school to win the Stagg Bowl in the last 13 years. Mount Union has won the other eight titles in that span ... Mount Union has finished no lower than third in the AFCA Division III Coaches’ Poll since its inception in 1999 ... Mary Hardin-Baylor has reached the Division III semifinals twice in the last four years ... Bethel (Minn.) reached the semifinals for the first time in school history this year ... Wesley won its third consecutive Atlantic Central Football Conference title this year ... Central (Iowa) advanced to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2000 this year ... St. John Fisher reached the quarterfinals for the second consecutive season ... Wabash captured its third consecutive NCAC title this season ... St. John’s (Minn.) reached the postseason for the 22nd time this year ... Muhlenberg won 11 consecutive games for the first time in school history in 2007 ... Case Western Reserve won 11 games in a season for the first time in school history ... Washington & Jefferson averaged a school-record 518.7 yards per game offensively ... Wisconsin-Eau Claire reached the playoffs for just the second time in school history this season ... Trinity (Texas) won its 14th SCAC title in the last 15 seasons this year ... Capital has faced the eventual national champion in the playoffs each of the last three seasons ... North Central has won back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 1946-47 ... Salisbury reached the playoffs for the first time since 2004 this season.

Rank	School (1st votes)	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.	Post-season Results	Head Coach
1.	Wis.-Whitewater (40)	14-1	1,000	2	D. No. 1 Mount Union (Ohio), 31-21, in Stagg Bowl	Lance Leipold
2.	Mount Union (Ohio)	14-1	960	1	Lost to No. 2 Wis.-Whitewater, 31-21, in Stagg Bowl	Larry Kehres
3.	Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas)	12-2	916	5	Lost to No. 2 Wis.-Whitewater, 16-7, in semifinals	Pete Fredenburg
4.	Bethel (Minn.)	12-2	869	10	Lost to No. 1 Mount Union (Ohio), 62-14, in semifinals	Steve Johnson
5.	Wesley (Del.)	11-2	802	6	Lost to No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), 27-10 in quarterfinals	Mike Drass
6.	Central (Iowa)	12-1	792	3	Lost to No. 10 Bethel (Minn.), 27-10, in quarterfinals	Jeff McMartin
7.	St. John Fisher (N.Y.)	11-2	763	7	Lost to No. 1 Mount Union (Ohio), 52-10, in quarterfinals	Paul Vosburgh
8.	Wabash (Ind.)	11-2	657	14	Lost to No. 2 Wis.-Whitewater, 47-7, in quarterfinals	Chris Creighton
9.	St. John’s (Minn.)	10-2	623	8	Lost to No. 3 Central (Iowa), 37-7, in second round	John Gagliardi
10.	Muhlenberg (Pa.)	11-1	597	9	Lost to No. 6 Wesley (Del.), 38-21, in second round	Mike Donnelly
11.	Case Western Reserve (Ohio)	11-1	456	15	Lost to No. 14 Wabash (Ind.), 28-23, in second round	Greg Debeljak
12.	Washington & Jefferson (Pa.)	10-1	454	4	Lost to North Carolina Wesleyan, 35-34 (OT), in first round	Mike Sirianni
13.	Wis.-Eau-Claire	9-3	446	22	Lost to No. 10 Bethel (Minn.), 20-10, in second round	Todd Glaser
14.	Trinity (Texas)	9-2	398	13	Lost to No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), 52-23, in first round	Steve Mohr
15.	Capital (Ohio)	8-3	383	16	Lost to No. 2 Wis.-Whitewater, 34-14, in first round	Jim Collins
16.	North Central (Ill.)	9-3	380	NR	Lost to No. 2 Wis.-Whitewater, 59-28, in second round	John Thorne
17.	Salisbury (Md.)	9-2	341	12	Lost to No. 9 Muhlenberg (Pa.), 31-21, in first round	Sherman Wood
18.	St. Norbert (Wis.)	10-1	340	11	Lost to No. 22 Wis.-Eau Claire, 24-20, in first round	Jim Purtill
19.	Curry (Mass.)	12-1	276	20	Lost to No. 7 St. John Fisher (N.Y.), 38-7, in second round	Skip Bandini
20.	Franklin (Ind.)	9-2	247	17	Lost to North Central (Ill.), 44-42, in first round	Mike Leonard
21.	College of New Jersey	9-3	219	NR	Lost to No. 1 Mount Union (Ohio), 59-7, in second round	Eric Hamilton
22.	North Carolina Wesleyan	9-3	191	NR	Lost to No. 5 Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas), 64-0, in second round	Jack Ginn
23.	Mount St. Joseph (Ohio)	9-2	187	18	Lost to No. 14 Wabash (Ind.), 31-21, in first round	Rod Huber
24.	Ithaca (N.Y.)	8-3	129	NR	Lost to No. 1 Mount Union (Ohio), 42-18, in first round	Mike Welch
25.	Wartburg (Iowa)	8-2	127	19	DNQ Playoffs	Eric Koehler

Dropped Out: Rensselaer (N.Y.) (21), Whitworth (Wash.) (22), Wheaton (Ill.) (24), Redlands (Calif.) (25).

Others Receiving Votes: Rensselaer (N.Y.), 113; Redlands (Calif.), 82; Whitworth (Wash.), 57; Wheaton (Ill.), 34; Widener (Pa.), 29; St. Olaf (Minn.), 24; Hampden-Sydney (Va.), 23; Hartwick (N.Y.), 17; Linfield (Ore.), 11; Montclair St. (N.J.), 10; Hobart (N.Y.), 10; Millsaps (Miss.), 10; Middlebury (Vt.), 9; Pacific Lutheran (Wash.), 4; Ripon (Wis.), 3; Concordia (Wis.), 5; Dickinson (Pa.), 2; Illinois Wesleyan, 2; Randolph-Macon (Va.), 1; Occidental (Calif.), 1.