Hello Top 25!

MOORHEAD, Minn.  (9/21/14)— Strengthened by their third straight win over St. John's, Concordia climbed into the D3football.com national rankings for the first time in 2014. The Cobbers enter that national poll ranked 25th.

The top 25 ranking marks the third straight season Concordia has earned a spot in the national rankings. The Cobbers were ranked in the top 25 in both the D3footbal.com and American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA) poll for most of the 2013 season. Concordia's top ranking last year came after the team's win over Carleton on Nov. 2 when they climbed to the No.21 spot.

Complete D3football.com national rankings 

Before 2012, the last time the Cobbers were in the top 25 of the nation was in 2009.   

Concordia is one of three MIAC teams ranked in the top 25 in this week's D3football.com national rankings. St. Thomas is currently ranked 10th while Bethel checks in at No.15.

The Cobbers are also one of three conference teams that remain undefeated on the year. Concordia is 3-0 in all games and 1-0 in the MIAC. It is the third straight season that CC has opened the year with three straight wins.

Concordia has earned its three victories in 2014 by holding on to the ball. The Cobbers have posted at least 35:00 minutes in time of possession in all three games and is coming off a stellar 40:10 time of possession against the Johnnies. It marked only the second time in the past 30 years the Cobbers have held the ball for over 40 minutes against SJU.

The Cobbers have held the ball for an average of 37:28 this year which is tops in the MIAC by over four minutes. CC is currently ranked fifth in all of Division III in time of possession.

Concordia is outscoring its opponents 93-36 this season which includes a 42-10 margin in the second quarter.

Concordia has scored 12 touchdowns this season with seven of those scoring drives covering at least 70 yards and five lasting for at least 12 plays. In addition, CC has had five TD drives that have lasted over five minutes in length. The Cobbers' winning score against St. John's was a season-long 15-play drive that lasted a season-best 7:40.

The Cobbers will put their newly-appointed national ranking on the line when they host St. Olaf on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. The annual Lefse Bowl has attracted the national spotlight for having the ugliest rivalry trophy in all of the nation.


D3football.com Top 25 (Week 3)
#  School (1st votes)     
1. UW-Whitewater (25)     
2. Mary Hardin-Baylor     
3. Mount Union     
4. Wesley     
5. North Central (Ill.)     
6. Linfield     
7. St. John Fisher     
8. John Carroll     
9. Wartburg     
10. St. Thomas     
11. Hobart     
12. Wabash     
13. UW-Platteville     
14. Johns Hopkins     
15. Bethel     
16. Pacific Lutheran     
17. Ithaca     
18. Wittenberg     
19. Wheaton (Ill.)     
20. Thomas More     
21. Widener     
22. Lycoming     
23. Heidelberg     
24. Hampden-Sydney     
25. Concordia-Moorhead     

Others receiving votes: Washington and Jefferson 38; Chapman 25; Muhlenberg 24; Simpson 21; Guilford 21; Willamette 14; Texas Lutheran 13; Wesleyan 4; Franklin 4; Ohio Northern 3; Delaware Valley 2; Alfred 2; Rhodes 1.