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INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 8) – The California (PA) football team climbed one position to sixth in the NCAA Division II NPI Rankings when the latest 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 at 6 p.m. EST.

The Vulcans now feature an NPI ranking of 55.944 which ranks sixth 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).

The top-five positions in the NPI rankings remain unchanged from last week, as all five teams earned victories yesterday. However, four of the top-five teams will face each other in conference championship games on Saturday, Nov. 14. Slippery Rock continues to hold the top slot with an NPI ranking of 69.007 and will host second-ranked East Stroudsburg (64.147) in the PSAC Championship. Kutztown (62.771) closes the regular season on the road, while Virginia Union (61.090) and Johnson C. Smith (57.642) will meet in the CIAA Championship for the second-straight year on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina.

Cal climbed to sixth following a loss by Virginia State to Virginia Union yesterday that dropped the Trojans to ninth. Fayetteville State (55.558) jumped three positions to seventh, while Assumption (55.352) sits eight and Shepherd (54.587) rounds out the top 10 this week.

The Vulcans close out the regular season on Saturday when they host Bloomsburg at Adamson Stadium with kickoff set for 12 p.m. The Huskies were featured in the top 10 last week but dropped to 11th in Super Region One with a NPI ranking of 53.916 following a loss at Kutztown yesterday.