PELLA —  Some key losses by teams previously above the Central College football team enabled it to climb a few rungs in both the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association top-25 rankings Monday.
           
The AFCA moved Central up five spots to No. 18 while D3football.com pushed Central to No. 19. Hope College (Mich.), Mary Hardin-Baylor University (Texas), Susquehanna University (Pa.) and Grove City College (Pa.) all suffered losses that enhanced the position of the Dutch. Central defeated the University of Dubuque 35-16 Saturday.
           
Central hits the road Saturday for a 1 p.m. game at Loras College in Dubuque.
 
2025 AFCA Division III Coaches' Poll – September 29, 2025
 

Rank	School (1st votes)	Rec.	Pts.	Prev.
1	North Central (51)	3-0	1275	1
2	Mount Union	3-0	1224	2
3	Johns Hopkins	3-0	1153	3
4	St. John's (Minn.)	3-0	1072	4
5	UW-La Crosse	2-0	1033	6
6	Salisbury	3-0	999	5
7	Hardin-Simmons	3-0	928	7
8	UW-Platteville	3-0	906	8
9	Wartburg	4-0	863	9
10	UW-Whitewater	3-0	817	10
11	Bethel (Minn.)	3-0	773	11
12	UW-River Falls	3-0	759	12
13	DePauw	4-0	665	13
14	Trinity (Tex.)	3-0	550	16t
15	Wheaton	2-1	521	16t
16	Carnegie Mellon	2-1	438	20
17	UW-Oshkosh	2-1	429	21
18	Central (Iowa)	4-0	384	23
19	John Carroll	3-1	369	22
20	Cortland	3-1	238	24
21	Hampden-Sydney	4-0	234	25
22	Mary Hardin-Baylor	1-2	174	18
23	Hope	3-1	168	15
24	Christopher Newport	3-0	121	NR
25	Wabash	4-0	92	NR

Dropped Out: Susquehanna (14), Grove City (19)
Others Receiving Votes: Muhlenberg, 67; Linfield, 46; Randolph-Macon, 44; Berry, 38; Susquehanna, 35; Alma, 30; Ursinus, 28; Baldwin Wallace, 23; UW-Stevens Point, 13; Brockport, 10; Maryville, 10; Marietta, 9; Salve Regina, 8; Washington (Mo.), 8; Coe, 5; Calvin, 4; Washington & Jefferson, 4; Grove City, 3; Utica, 3; Stevenson, 1; University of New England, 1.


Through games of Saturday, Sept. 27

Rank	School (No. 1 votes)	W-L	Points	Prev.
1	North Central (Ill.) (22)	3-0	621	1
2	Mount Union (3)	3-0	599	2
3	Johns Hopkins	3-0	575	3
4	St. John's	3-0	523	4
5	UW-La Crosse	2-0	486	5
6	Salisbury	3-0	468	6
7	UW-Platteville	3-0	447	8
8	Wartburg	4-0	444	7
9	UW-Whitewater	3-0	432	10
10	Hardin-Simmons	3-0	416	9
11	UW-River Falls	3-0	405	11
12	Bethel	3-0	379	12
13	DePauw	4-0	324	14
14	Wheaton (Ill.)	2-1	272	17
15	UW-Oshkosh	2-1	228	19
16	John Carroll	3-1	217	21
17	Carnegie Mellon	2-1	207	20
18	Trinity (Texas)	3-0	206	22
19	Central	4-0	164	23
20	Hope	3-1	109	15
21	Mary Hardin-Baylor	1-2	108	16
22	Cortland	3-1	100	24
23	Christopher Newport	3-0	88	--
24	Hampden-Sydney	4-0	63	--
25	Susquehanna	2-2	52	13

Dropped out: No. 18 Grove City; No. 25 Berry.
Others receiving votes: Linfield 35; Berry 31; Wabash 23; Maryville 19; Randolph-Macon 16; Baldwin Wallace 16; Alma 14; Muhlenberg 8; Brockport 7; Lewis & Clark 7; Utica 6; Grove City 4; Monmouth 2; Ursinus 2; Washington & Jefferson 2.