The National Champion University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team was a unanimous #1 pick in both of the major Division III polls following the 2016 season. The Cru achieved its highest final ranking on both of those polls after winning the first national title in school history with a 10-7 victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh in Stagg Bowl XLIV Friday night.
UMHB claimed all 42 first-place votes and totaled 1,050 points as the #1 team in the final American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. Wisconsin-Oshkosh took second place. The Cru also posted postseason victories over #4 Mount Union, #7 Wheaton College, #8 Linfield College and #25 University of Redlands. UMHB added regular season wins over Linfield and 13th-ranked Hardin-Simmons University. Hardin-Simmons and East Texas Baptist (1 vote) were the only other American Southwest Conference programs mentioned in the AFCA Poll.
The Cru snared all 25 first-place votes and 625 total points as #1 in the final D3football.com Top 25 Poll of the 2016 season. Wisconsin-Oshkosh was #2 in that poll, as well. D3football.com had Mount Union at #4, Linfield College at #7, Wheaton ranked 8th, Hardin-Simmons 13th and Redlands receiving votes worth 24 total points.
“I am just flying and still enjoying myself so much,” Cru Head Coach Pete Fredenburg said. “The way our team dedicated themselves to this season and developed their leadership to get us to the point where we could accomplish our goal was amazing. We get to enjoy this the whole Christmas break. Then we will come back to work and hit the ground running.”
The Cru also posted the first undefeated season in school history, finishing 15-0. In addition to its first National Championship, UMHB also claimed its 14th ASC crown with a 6-0 league record this season.
