Rensselaer Ranked 11th & 12th in Final Polls

TROY, N.Y. - Following a season in which it won 10 games, captured its second straight Liberty League title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals, the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) football team concludes ranked 11th in the final D3football.com Poll and 12th in the last American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Poll.

Rensselaer, which finished 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the Liberty League, won its first eight games, including four conference contests, before defeating Husson University (38-14) in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs and then-No. 3/4 The College at Brockport on the road. (21-13). RPI's season ended at then-No. 13/14 Johns Hopkins University with a 37-14 loss in the quarterfinals. The Blue Jays finished No. 5 and No. 5 in the final polls, while Brockport is 11th and 13th. Husson is not included in either listing.

This is the fourth time the Engineers have been among the top 25 in the final AFCA Poll since 1999. They were 20th in 1999 (9-1), 22nd in 2001 (8-1) and No. 9 in 2003 (11-2). The final D3football.com Poll, which started in 2003, had included Rensselaer once since its inception when RPI was ranked No. 5 after advancing to the 2003 NCAA Tournament Semifinals.

This year's Engineers, led by head coach Ralph Isernia, included 44 freshmen, 33 sophomores, 13 juniors and 27 seniors. The team was listed in the AFCA Poll throughout the year, climbing as high as 14th, while also being ranked in the D3football.com Poll each week with the exception of the last in the regular season.