FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

2010 USA Today Division III Football Top 25 1. Mount Union (Ohio) 2. Wis.-Whitewater 3. Wesley (Del.) 4. St. Thomas (Minn.) 5. Linfield (Ore.) 6. Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) 7. Wittenberg (Ohio) 8. Delaware Valley (Pa.) 9. St. John's (Minn.) 10. Central (Iowa) 11. Wis.-Stevens Point 12. Thomas More (Ky.) 13. Ohio Northern 14. Monmouth (Ill.) 15. Otterbein (Ohio) 16. North Central 17. Willamette (Ore.) 18. Hardin-Simmons (Texas) 19. Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) 20. Coe (Iowa) 21. Wabash (Ind.) 22. Trine (Ind.) 23. Huntingdon (Ala.) 24. California Lutheran 25. DePauw (Ind.)

June 22, 2010 - The North Central College football team is ranked 16th in the 2010 NCAA Division III Preseason Top 25 Poll, published by USA Today Sports Weekly.

The Cardinals, who went 8-2, won their fourth consecutive College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Championship and led all Divisions of the NCAA in scoring (49.0 points per game) in 2009, are the only CCIW team featured in the USA Today poll. Mount Union College (Ohio), last season's national runner-up, is ranked first.

North Central has also appeared in two other preseason top 25 polls, ranking 14th in the Sporting News poll and 15th in the Lindy's Sports rankings. The defending Division III national champion, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, is ranked first in both polls.

North Central opens the 2010 season Sept. 4 at Cornell College (Iowa). The Cardinals' first home game is Sept. 25 against the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.