The Ashland University football team has slipped out of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) NCAA Division II Coaches Top 25 rankings poll.

On Monday, Sept. 11, the third poll of the season was released and the Eagles are no longer ranked, still having received votes to be included.

To start the 2023-24 campaign, the Eagles were recognized at a high level by the AFCA, having been given a No. 12 national ranking in the preseason poll. That ranking came after the Eagles went 10-2 in the 2022 fall, with a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) championship and birth into the D-II Postseason Tournament.

In Week One, the Eagles ended up falling to the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in a 24-17 loss. That loss would drop the Eagles down a notch in the AFCA poll from the No. 12 spot, to the No. 21 position.

With a loss in Week One, the Eagles hoped to bounce back in Week Two, but an even tougher contest would be in the front windshield.

In Week Two, the Eagles took on the No. 1 nationally ranked Ferris State Bulldogs, who they would lose to in a 38-28 bout at home.

After back-to-back losses, the team dropped from the No. 21 spot straight out of the top 25.

The team will now look to conference play as they gear up to take on the Hillsdale College Chargers in hopes of hoisting the Traveling Trophy when all is said and done. The two sides will battle at Jack Miller Stadium on the campus of Ashland University on Saturday, Sept. 16, with kickoff set for 7 p.m.