Ferris State Wins Third National Championship

December 23, 2024

Categories: AFCA News

The Ferris State (Mich.) Bulldogs showed why they were in their third NCAA Division II national championship game in the last four years. The Bulldogs built an early 14-0 lead against then-No. 1 Valdosta State (Ga.) and never looked back, winning their third national title in dominant fashion, 49-14. This was Ferris State’s fourth national title game appearance in the last six years and regained the title after back-to-back championships in 2021 and 2022. The Bulldogs end the 2024 season ranked No. 1 in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll, presented by Hudl. Valdosta State drops to No. 2 with a stellar 13-1 record.

The Blazers are followed by Slippery Rock (Pa.), who rose eight spots to No. 3 after their run to the semifinals. Harding (Ark.) stays in the No. 4 spot after making it to the quarterfinals with Kutztown (Pa.) rounding out the top five. The Bears lost a close overtime game against conference rival Slippery Rock in the second round.

Minnesota State made an incredible run in the playoffs, winning two rounds on the road to reach the semifinals and went from unranked to finishing the season at No. 7.

Four other teams were unranked in the final regular season poll and finish the season in the top 25. Virginia Union and Bemidji State (Minn.) were both quarterfinal participants and see their selves ranked No. 11 and No. 13, respectively. Miles (Ala.) and Ashland (Ohio) were never ranked in 2024, both made it to the second round of the playoffs and finish at No. 22 and No. 23, respectively.

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Rank	School (1st votes)	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.	Post-season	Head Coach
1	Ferris St. (Mich.) (27)	14-1	675	2	D. No. 1 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 49-14, in national championship	Tony Annese
2	Valdosta St. (Ga.)	13-1	643	1	Lost to No. 2 Ferris St. (Mich.), 49-14, in national championship	Tremaine Jackson
3	Slippery Rock (Pa.)	12-2	583	11	Lost to No. 2 Ferris St. (Mich.), 48-38, in semifinals	Shawn Lutz
4	Harding (Ark.)	12-2	579	4	Lost to No. 2 Ferris St. (Mich.), 41-7, in quarterfinals	Paul Simmons
5	Kutztown (Pa.)	11-1	482	3	Lost to No. 11 Slippery Rock (Pa.), 25-24 OT, in second round	Jim Clements
6	Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	11-2	479	5	Lost to No. 4 Harding (Ark.), 44-26, in second round	Scott Wooster
7	Minnesota St.	11-4	462	NR	Lost to No. 1 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 35-21, in semifinals	Todd Hoffner
8	Colorado St.-Pueblo	10-2	460	7	Lost to Minnesota St., 26-23, in second round	Philip Vigil
9	Central Oklahoma	11-2	405	8	Lost to No. 2 Ferris St. (Mich.), 78-17, in second round	Adam Dorrel
10	Western Colorado	11-2	360	10	Lost to Bemidji St. (Minn.), 20-19, in second round	Jas Bains
11	Virginia Union	10-4	343	NR	Lost to No. 1 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 49-14, in quarterfinals	Alvin Parker
12	California (Pa.)	10-3	338	20	Lost to No. 11 Slippery Rock (Pa.), 31-13, in quarterfinals	Gary Dunn
13	Bemidji St. (Minn.)	10-4	333	NR	Lost to Minnesota St., 27-23, in quarterfinals	Brent Bolte
14	Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)	10-2	316	9	Lost to No. 8 Central Oklahoma, 38-31 OT, in first round	Todd Knight
15	Charleston (W.Va.)	11-1	293	6	Lost to Ashland (Ohio), 40-38, in first round	Quinn Sanders
16	Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.)	10-3	275	15	Lost to Virginia Union, 44-12, in second round	Doug Socha
17	Pittsburg St. (Kan.)	8-3	273	13	Lost to No. 4 Harding (Ark.), 48-3, in first round	Tom Anthony
18	West Alabama	9-2	229	12	Lost to No. 15 Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.), 37-34, in first round	Brett Gilliland
19	Indianapolis (Ind.)	10-2	224	14	Lost to No. 5 Grand Valley St. (Mich.), 24-7, in first round	Chris Keevers
20	Angelo St. (Tex.)	9-3	170	16	Lost to Bemidji St. (Minn.), 24-14, in first round	Jeff Girsch
21	Wingate (N.C.)	9-2	164	17	Lost to Virginia Union, 34-31 OT, in first round	Rashaan Jordan
22	Miles (Ala.)	10-3	138	NR	Lost to No. 1 Valdosta St. (Ga.), 33-17, in second round	Sam Shade
23	Ashland (Ohio)	9-4	125	NR	Lost to No. 20 California (Pa.), 34-33, in second round	Doug Geiser
24	Central Washington	8-4	111	19	Lost to No. 10 Western Colorado, 28-21, in first round	Chris Fisk
25	Augustana (S.D.)	8-4	87	22	Lost to Minnesota St., 20-19, in first round	Jerry Olszewski

Showing 1 to 25 of 25 entries

Dropped Out: Colorado School of Mines (18), West Florida (21), Southern Arkansas (23), Carson-Newman (Tenn.) (24), Central Missouri (25)

Others Receiving Votes: Colorado School of Mines, 56; Carson-Newman (Tenn.), 47; East Stroudsburg (Pa.), 38; Central Missouri, 35; West Florida, 20; Southern Arkansas, 16; Fort Hays St. (Kan.), 14; New Haven (Conn.), 1; Truman St. (Mo.), 1.

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Ferris State Wins Third National Championship

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