Fisher and Ithaca Ranked in D3football.com Preseason Poll
The St. John Fisher College and Ithaca College football teams will enter the 2014 season ranked among the nation's top programs. The Cardinals are ranked 9th overall, while the Bombers are ranked 23rd in the
D3football.com preseason top 25 poll.
Fisher (2013: 10-3, 5-2 E8) earned 376 points in the poll, topping John Carroll (330), while Ithaca (2013: 9-3, 6-1 E8) earned 140 points.
Salisbury University (2013: 7-4, 5-2 E8) was amongst the other schools receiving votes.
Defending champion UW-Whitewater received all No. 1 votes to top the poll with 625 points. Last year’s runner-up Mount Union finished third with 580 points, as Mary Hardin-Baylor ranked second with 583 points.
In 2013, Fisher advanced to the national quarterfinals for the second time in the last three years. The Cardinals were named the Lambert Meadowlands Football Award Winner for Division III as the top team in the East and finished the year ranked No. 8 nationally.
Ithaca won the Empire 8 Championship in 2013 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Ithaca’s nine-win season was the program's best since 2008 when Ithaca was 9-2. The first-round victory in the NCAA Tournament over Framingham State was Ithaca's first postseason victory since 2003.
Fisher and Ithaca each open the 2014 season at home against Otterbein University and Union College, respectively, on September 6.
2014 Empire 8 Composite Schedule