Cullowhee, N.C. – Ahead of one of the biggest games in the program's recent history, Western Carolina football returned to the national rankings today, re-entering both the AFCA Coaches Poll and tipping the scale in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at No. 24 this week after scoring a sixth-straight victory last Saturday over the Chattanooga Mocs.
The Catamounts have been among the polling in the FCS Nation Top 25 the past couple of weeks, advancing to as high as No. 14 in the tabulation released on Monday.
Seven nationally-ranked teams, including four inside the Top 10, were toppled last week on a shakedown Saturday in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as the rankings saw plenty of shuffling on the first weekend of November.
WCU and this week's opponent, Mercer, remain the only two Southern Conference teams among the national discussions in the polls. The Bears come into the week tied for 10th in the AFCA Coaches Poll, up from 13th last week, and are up three spots to No. 12 overall in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25.
Western Carolina opened the year ranked 18th and 19th in the media and coaches' preseason polls, respectively, but fell from the media vote and dipped to No. 25 by the coaches after a week-one loss to Gardner-Webb, which is receiving votes in the media voting at present. The Catamounts received votes through the second week of the season before falling from the conversation after the 0-3 start to the year.
WCU resurfaced in the polls with a blip in the Sept. 29 AFCA Coaches poll before returning to the 'others receiving votes' status the past three weeks consecutively, reemerging from the voting today in Week 10.
In other NCAA FCS national ranking news this week, the second NCAA FCS Top 10 ranking will be released on Wednesday (Nov. 5) on ESPN2 during the College Football Live program. The committee released its initial Top 10 back on Oct. 11, with six of the 10 teams unbeaten at the time, with two one-loss and a pair of two-loss teams making up the poll.
Western Carolina (6-3, 5-0 SoCon) opens back-to-back home games in a crucial stretch in its 2025 SoCon schedule, hosting the nationally-ranked and the current first-place Mercer Bears on Saturday, Nov. 8, on Homecoming, before hosting mountain-rival ETSU for the "Blue Ridge Border Battle" on Senior Day / Hall of Fame Day on Nov. 15.
This Saturday, the best game day atmosphere and the loudest house in the Southern Conference roars back to life for the nationally-ranked showdown between the No. 10/12 Bears and the No. 24 Catamounts. Kickoff from E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Two teams are both riding lengthy win streaks – Mercer with seven-straight wins, tied for the fifth-longest active streak, and WCU's six-game heater is tied for the ninth-longest in the NCAA FCS.
Single-game tickets and gameday parking for the Nov. 8 Homecoming game and the Nov. 15 rivalry match-up for "the Rock" traveling trophy against ETSU are on sale now at CatamountSports.com/BuyTickets or by phone by calling (828) 227-2401. Tickets and parking passes are going fast with fans encouraged to purchase in advance.
Catamount head coach Kerwin Bell will be live on location at Catamount Jaxe (114 Market Street) in Cullowhee just across NC Hwy 107 from the Ramsey Center on Monday (Nov. 3) for "Catamount Football Weekly," presented by Stanberry Insurance. "Catamount Football Weekly" airs at 6 p.m. on the Catamount Athletics YouTube Channel and official Facebook page.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount football and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (FB.com/CatamountSports; FB.com/catamountsportsnetwork) and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountsFB).
