Football ranked No. 19 nationally in final D3Football.com poll
By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern football team finished the 2015 season ranked No. 19 in the final D3Football.com poll.
The Polar Bears (9-3 overall, 7-2 Ohio Athletic Conference) received 144 points in the voting after receiving 33 points in the 11th and final regular season poll.
Mount Union won the national title and was ranked first with 625 points and all 25 first place votes, national runner-up St. Thomas (Minn.) was second with 599 points and Linfield (Ore.) was third with 562 points.
The Polar Bears have now been mentioned in the D3football.com poll in 14 of the last 17 years.
Northern reached the final 16 of the NCAA III Playoffs with a 28-24 victory at Franklin (Ind.) in the first round before bowing out to No. 5-ranked Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the second round.
2015 D3football.com Poll - Final
| Total | 2015 | Previous | ||
| Rank | School (1st Place Votes) | Points |
Record |
Week |
| 1. | Mount Union (25) | 625 | 15-0 | 1 |
| 2. | Saint Thomas (Minn.) | 599 | 14-1 | 4 |
| 3. | Linfield (Ore.) | 562 | 12-1 | 2 |
| 4. | Wisconsin-Oshkosh | 558 | 12-2 | 5 |
| 5. | Wisconsin-Whitewater | 514 | 11-2 | 3 |
| 6. | Wesley (Conn.) | 467 | 11-2 | 11 |
| 7. | Mary Hardin-Baylor (Tex.) |
462 | 11-2 | 13 |
| 8. | Wabash (Ind.) | 449 | 12-1 | 7 |
| 9. | Wheaton (Ill.) | 418 | 11-1 | 6 |
| 10. | Saint John's (Minn.) | 399 | 10-2 | 10 |
| 11. | Thomas More (Ky.) | 931 | 11-1 | 9 |
| 12. | Hardin-Simmons (Tex.) | 360 | 9-2 | 12 |
| 13. | Johns Hopkins (Md.) | 321 | 11-1 | 8 |
| 14. | Wisconsin-Platteville | 275 | 8-2 | 14 |
| 15. | Cortland State (N.Y.) | 222 | 9-3 | 25 |
| 16. | North Central (Ill.) | 206 | 7-3 | 15 |
| 17. | Albright (Pa.) | 160 | 10-2 | 20 |
| 18. | Texas Lutheran | 152 | 8-2 | 17 |
| 19. | Ohio Northern | 144 | 9-3 | NR |
| 20. | Whitworth (Wash.) | 138 | 9-2 | 22 |
| 21. | Washington & Lee (Va.) | 121 | 10-1 | 16 |
| 22. | John Carroll | 103 | 8-2 | 23 |
| 23. | Dubuque (Iowa) | 99 | 8-3 | 18 |
| 24. |
Wartburg (Iowa) | 96 | 9-1 | 19 |
| 25. |
Huntingdon (Ala.) | 60 | 10-2 | NR |
Others Receiving Votes: Salisbury 45; Guilford 31; Franklin 28; Amherst 16; Washington and Jefferson 15; Framingham State 14; St. Lawrence 13; Albion 10; St. Norbert 10; East Texas Baptist 9; La Verne 8; Hendrix 6; Gustavus Adolphus 5; Case Western Reserve 4; RPI 3; DePauw 2; Delaware Valley 2; Carnegie Mellon 2; Western New England 1.