INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 10) – The California (PA) football team climbed one position to fifth in the latest ranked-order list of NCAA Division II Super Region One teams released on Monday evening.

The Super Region One rankings determine the participants for the NCAA Playoffs. Super Region One consists of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), Mountain East Conference (MEC), Northeast-10 (NE-10) Conference and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) with eight of the 43 teams from the four leagues making the field for the NCAA Playoffs.

Beginning this year, each conference champion earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Playoffs, as Super Region One features four automatic qualifiers and four at-large selections. The PSAC and CIAA both hold championship games, while the MEC and NE-10 award their automatic berths to their regular-season champions. Bentley (MA) has already secured the initial automatic qualifier from the NE-10 after upsetting Assumption (MA) last week. The remaining three automatic bids will be determined this weekend.

Kutztown remains the top-ranked team in Super Region One while standings as one of five unbeaten programs nationally entering the final week of the regular season. The Golden Bears will be appearing in the PSAC Championship for the third-consecutive year and fifth time in six seasons. Virginia Union and Johnson C. Smith continue to sit second and third, respectively, and will meet in the CIAA Championship this weekend. VUU, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2024 NCAA Playoffs, earned a head-to-head victory over Johnson C. Smith in mid-September. IUP jumped one position to fourth in the region and will face two-time, defending-PSAC Champion Kutztown on Saturday. The Vulcans round out the top half of the rankings this week following their road victory over the weekend.

Frostburg State vaulted two spots to sixth and could secure the automatic berth from the MEC with a victory on Saturday. Assumption tumbled three positions to seventh following its road loss to Bentley. Fayetteville State climbed one slot to eighth, while Slippery Rock dropped two positions following a 30-point road loss last weekend. Charleston (WV) continues to round out the top 10 in the regional rankings.

The only contests in Week 11 between regionally-ranked teams will be the championship games in the PSAC and CIAA.

Among the teams featured in this week's rankings, the Vulcans boast the second-best best opponent winning percentage (OWP)-opponents' opponent winning percentage (OOWP) at .558 behind only Fayetteville State. Additionally, Cal ranks fifth in Super Region One in 'performance indicator' with a 25.200 rating.

Cal closes the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15, by traveling to face Shippensburg. The Raiders finished fifth in the PSAC East standings and hold a 3-7 overall record. Cal will be playing Shippensburg for the first time since 2018, and the Vulcans will be playing on the road in the series for only the third time since the Raiders shifted to the PSAC East in 2008.