WACO, Texas (Dec. 14) -- The Central Washington University football team, which finished with a school-record 12 wins and qualified for the NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs for the third consecutive season, is ranked third in the final American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II poll of 2009, released Monday.

Central's number three ranking marks the highest final ranking in the program's 11 seasons as a member of the NCAA Division II. The 12-1 Wildcats were ranked behind the two teams that played for the championship this past Saturday -- national champion Northwest Missouri State (14-1) and runner-up Grand Valley State (Mich.) (13-2). CWU lost to Northwest Missouri, 21-20, in the national quarterfinals at Tomlinson Stadium on Nov. 28.

The previous high for a final national ranking for the Wildcats since becoming a NCAA Division II football member in 1999 had been ninth in 2002. Overall, Central has been ranked in the AFCA poll in each of the past 33 rankings dating back to Oct. 9, 2007, which is the sixth-longest active streak in Division II. CWU was listed among the top 10 in each of the final 12 polls of the 2009 season and earned its first-ever number one ranking at the Division II level in the final regular-season poll on Nov. 9.

Central Washington has posted a combined record of 32-6 over the past three seasons. The Wildcats and head coach Blaine Bennett lose 23 seniors from the 2009 squad, which claimed the program's fifth Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship in the seven-year history of the conference.

Final 2009 AFCA Division II Top 25 Poll