ROLLA, Mo. – For the first time since 1984, Missouri S&T is ranked among the top 25 teams in NCAA Division II as the Miners are at No. 20 in this week's American Football Coaches Association rankings.

The Miners won their fifth consecutive game Saturday 41-22 over Saint Joseph's to improve to 9-1 on the season, the third time in school history that a Miner team has won at least nine games in a season and first since 1980.  This marks just the fifth time that a Miner team has been ranked nationally in a weekly ranking, as it happened twice during the 1980 season – which included a No. 10 ranking in the final poll -- and twice more in October of 1984.

Missouri S&T was ranked sixth in the NCAA Division II rankings on Oct. 13, 1984 before losing to Truman State and falling out of the rankings – which consisted of just 10 teams at the time.

Also on Monday, the Miners remained seventh in the latest NCAA Division II Super Region Four rankings with one week remaining in the regular season.  The top six teams in the region will advance to the national playoffs in a field that will be announced Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m.

The Miners will play their final game of the 2012 regular season Saturday when they face South Dakota School of Mines in a 2 p.m. (Central time) game in Rapid City, S.D. 

AFCA Division II Coaches Poll (Nov. 5, 2012)
1. Colorado State-Pueblo (10-0) – Saturday at Western State (Colo.)
2. Winston-Salem State, N.C. (10-0) – Saturday vs. Elizabeth City State (N.C.)
3. New Haven, Conn. (9-0) – Saturday vs. American International (Mass.)
4. Northwest Missouri State (9-1) – Saturday vs. No. 11 Missouri Western
5. Ashland, Ohio (10-0) – Saturday vs. Notre Dame (Ohio)
6. Minnesota State (10-0) – Saturday vs. Upper Iowa
7. Shippensburg, Pa. (10-0) – Saturday at No. 13 Indiana (Pa.)
8. Henderson State, Ark. (9-0) – Saturday vs. Ouachita Baptist (Ark.)
9. Midwestern State, Texas (8-1) – Saturday vs. West Georgia
10. Minnesota-Duluth (9-1) – Saturday vs. Northern State (S.D.)
11. Missouri Western (9-1) – Saturday at No. 4 Northwest Missouri State
12. Bloomsburg, Pa. (9-1) – Saturday at Slippery Rock (Pa.)
13. Indiana, Pa. (9-1) – Saturday vs. No. 7 Shippensburg (Pa.)
14. Harding, Ark. (8-1) – Saturday vs. Southwestern Oklahoma State
15. Grand Valley State, Mich. (8-2) – Saturday at Saginaw Valley State (Mich.)
16. Tuskegee, Ala.  (8-1) – Saturday vs. Fort Valley State (Ga.)
17. West Texas A&M (8-2) – Saturday at Texas A&M-Commerce
18. Valdosta State, Ga.  (8-2) – Regular season completed
19. Indianapolis, Ind.  (8-2) – Saturday at Urbana (Ohio)
20. Missouri S&T (9-1) – Saturday at South Dakota School of Mines
21. Chadron State, Neb. (8-2) – Saturday vs. Colorado School of Mines
22. Sioux Falls, S.D. (8-2) – Saturday vs. Wayne State (Neb.)
23. Miles, Ala. (8-2) – Regular season completed
24. Carson-Newman, Tenn.  (7-2) – Saturday vs. Mars Hill (N.C.)
25. Emporia State, Kan.  (8-2) – Saturday at Washburn (Kan.)

NCAA Division II Regional Rankings – Super Region 4 (with next game scheduled)
1. Colorado State-Pueblo (10-0) – Saturday at Western State (Colo.)
2. Ashland, Ohio (10-0) – Saturday vs. Notre Dame (Ohio)
3. Chadron State, Neb.  (8-2) – Saturday vs. Colorado School of Mines
4. Midwestern State, Texas (8-1) – Saturday vs. West Georgia
5. Indianapolis, Ind. (8-2) – Saturday at Urbana (Ohio)
6. West Texas A&M (8-2) – Saturday at Texas A&M-Commerce
7. Missouri S&T (9-1) – Saturday at South Dakota School of Mines
8. Grand Valley State, Mich. (8-2) – Saturday at Saginaw Valley State (Mich.)
9. New Mexico Highlands (7-3) – Saturday vs. Western New Mexico
10. Saginaw Valley State, Mich. (7-3) – Saturday vs. Grand Valley State (Mich.)