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INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 1) – The California (PA) football team moved to seventh in the NCAA Division II NPI Rankings when the updated rankings were announced on Sunday morning.

The NCAA Power Index (NPI) is the new ranking system that will be used to determine post-season fields, replacing the ranking committees and former selection criteria. The NPI ranks all programs in NCAA Division II based on results and the strength of their opponents. Each game produces a value based on the game outcome (win, lose, tie) and the opponent's NPI. The NCAA will release NPI rankings each Sunday until the announcement of the field during the NCAA Selection Show on Nov. 15.

The Vulcans currently feature an NPI ranking of 54.392 which ranks seventh among schools in Super Region One. The region is comprised of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), Mountain East Conference (MEC), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) and Northeast 10 Conference (NE-10).

Slippery Rock continues to boast the top NPI raking in the region at 69.179. East Stroudsburg and Kutztown flipped positions this week following the Warriors posting an overtime victory against the Golden Bears yesterday. ESU holds an NPI ranking of 63.794 and Kutztown sits at 60.602. The Rock and Warriors are set to meet in the PSAC Championship in two weeks after the teams previously faced each other in September.

The next three positions in the rankings are held by teams from the CIAA with Virginia Union (58.704) at fourth, Johnson C. Smith (56.949) at fifth and Virginia State (56.374) at sixth. VUU travels to face VSU on Saturday, Nov. 7 before the CIAA Championship is held the following weekend in Durham, North Carolina.

IUP (54.491), Bloomsburg (54.466) and Fayetteville State (54.235) round out the top 10 this week. The Vulcans and Huskies will meet in two weeks at Adamson Stadium during the final week of the regular season.

The NCAA Playoffs will continue to feature automatic qualifiers, an important distinction given that the latest NPI rankings do not include any teams from either the MEC or NE-10 in the top 10. The post-season field for Super Region One will feature four automatic bids and four at-large selections in 2026.