WACO, Texas -- The Washburn Ichabods were ranked No. 10 in the American Football Coaches Assocation Preseason Division II Coaches Poll released today by the AFCA. The Ichabods will open the season Aug. 28 at Colorado Mines. The ranking is the highest positioning the Ichabods have received in a preseason AFCA poll since receiving a No. 17 ranking prior to the 2006 season.

The Ichabods were one of four MIAA squads who were ranked in the top 25 poll. Defending champion Northwest Missouri received 22 of 25 first-place votes with Grand Valley State collecting three and North Alabama garnering one vote. Nebraska-Omah was picked 15th in the poll and Missouri Western was selected No. 20.

Washburn's opening opponent Colorad Mines received votes placing them 34th overall. The Ichabods' second week opponent Abilene Christian was slotted No. 7 in the opening poll. The Ichabods will face ACU on Sept. 4 in Topeka.

Rank	School (1st votes)	2009 Rec.	Pts.	2009 Rank*	Season Opener	Head Coach
1.	Northwest Missouri St. (22)	14-1	645	1	Sept. 2 vs. No. 16 Texas A&M-Kingsville	Mel Tjeerdsma
2.	Grand Valley St. (Mich.) (3)	13-2	621	2	Sept. 2 vs. No. 11 West Texas A&M	Matt Mitchell
3.	North Alabama (1)	11-2	580	6	Sept. 4 vs. Henderson St. (Ark.)	Terry Bowden
4.	Minnesota-Duluth	11-2	549	5	Aug. 28 at No. 5 Central Washington	Bob Nielson
5.	Central Washington	12-1	499	3	Aug. 28 vs. No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth	Blaine Bennett
6.	California (Pa.)	11-4	489	7	Sept. 4 at No. 14 Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.)	John Luckhardt
7.	Abilene Christian (Texas)	9-4	435	13	Sept. 4 at No. 10 Washburn (Kan.)	Chris Thomsen
8.	West Liberty (W.Va.)	11-2	420	9	Sept. 4 vs. Edinboro (Pa.)	Roger Waialae
9.	Carson-Newman (Tenn.)	11-3	400	4	Aug. 28 vs. Winona St. (Minn.)	Ken Sparks
10.	Washburn (Kan.)	8-3	339	25	Aug. 28 at Colorado School of Mines	Craig Schurig
11.	West Texas A&M	7-5	337	NR	Sept. 2 at No. 2 Grand Valley St. (Mich.)	Don Carthel
12.	West Alabama	8-5	313	21	Aug. 28 vs. Shorter (Ga.)	Bobby Wallace
13.	Nebraska-Kearney	11-2	296	8	Aug. 28 vs. Wayne St. (Neb.)	Darrell Morris
14.	Saginaw Valley St. (Mich.)	9-3	235	19	Sept. 4 vs. No. 6 California (Pa.)	Jim Collins
15.	Nebraska-Omaha	7-5	232	NR	Sept. 4 vs. No. 13 Nebraska-Kearney	Pat Behrns
16.	Texas A&M-Kingsville	9-3	216	16	Sept. 2 at No. 1 Northwest Missouri St.	Bo Atterberry
17.	Tuskegee (Ala.)	10-2	210	17	Sept. 4 vs. Benedict (S.C.)	Willie Slater
18.	Hillsdale (Mich.)	10-3	188	11	Sept. 3 vs. Ferris St. (Mich.)	Keith Otterbein
19.	Midwestern St. (Texas)	9-3	163	14	Sept. 2 at New Mexico Highlands	Bill Maskill
20.	Missouri Western St.	9-3	160	NR	Sept. 2 vs. Mesa St. (Colo.)	Jerry Partridge
21.	Minnesota St.-Mankato	10-2	127	12	Sept. 2 vs. Northern Michigan	Todd Hoffner
22.	West Chester (Pa.)	7-4	122	NR	Sept. 2 at Delaware	Bill Zwaan
23.	North Carolina-Pembroke	9-2	115	20	Sept. 4 vs. Fayetteville St. (N.C.)	Pete Shinnick
24.	Delta St. (Miss.)	5-5	93	NR	Sept. 4 at Jackson St. (Miss.)	Ron Roberts
25.	East Stroudsburg (Pa.)	8-4	74	NR	Sept. 4 at Pace (N.Y.)	Denny Douds

*– Ranking in final AFCA Division II Poll of 2009

Others Receiving Votes: Texas A&M-Commerce, 73; Valdosta St. (Ga.), 59; Bemidji St. (Minn.), 56; Wingate (N.C.), 49; Bloomsburg (Pa.), 34; Tarleton St. (Texas), 32; Albany St. (Ga.), 30; Fayetteville St. (N.C.), 28; Colorado School of Mines, 27; St. Cloud State (Minn.), 17; Benedict (S.C.), 16; Morehouse (Ga.), 15; Indiana (Pa.), 14; Shaw (N.C.), 14; Augustana (S.D.), 13; Findlay (Ohio), 13; Winona St. (Minn.), 13; Central Missouri, 11; Charleston (W.Va.), 11; Shippensburg (Pa.), 11; Angelo St. (Texas), 9; Shepherd (W.Va.), 9; Bentley (Mass.), 8; Chadron St. (Neb.), 6; Southern Connecticut St., 6; Arkansas Tech, 4; Southeastern Oklahoma St., 4; Edinboro (Pa.), 3; C.W. Post (N.Y.), 2; Fort Valley St. (Ga.), 1; Henderson St. (Ark.), 1; Ouachita Baptist (Ark.), 1; Wayne St. (Neb.), 1; Western Oregon, 1.