By Brian Ramsey
OBU Sports Information

INDIANAPOLIS — Ouachita Baptist University has been slotted at No. 8 in the initial NCAA Division II Football Regional Rankings that were released on Monday.

The top seven teams, according to the NCAA regional rankings, advance to the playoffs at the end of the regular season. Ouachita has qualified for the NCAA playoffs in each of the past three seasons, and is seeking its fifth overall playoffs appearance this season.

The Tigers are aligned in Super Region Three, which features teams from the Great American Conference, the Great Lakes Valley Conference, the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Ouachita is one of four GAC teams ranked in the top 10 of the first regional rankings. Harding is ranked No. 2, followed later by Henderson State at No. 6 and Southeastern Oklahoma State at No. 10. HU, HSU, and Ouachita are all 7-1, tied for first place in the GAC.

Also this week in rankings news, the Tigers moved up one spot to No. 6 in this week’s American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Poll following a 42-7 win over Southern Arkansas at home this past Saturday.

With three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Tigers have a challenging schedule ahead with all three remaining opponents currently sporting a winning record, including two of the previously-mentioned regionally ranked teams in Southeastern Oklahoma State and Henderson State. This Saturday, Ouachita faces off against 5-3 East Central in its final road trip of the regular season.