D3football.com Poll

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. – Saint John's University stayed at No. 5 in the final D3football.com top 25 poll of the 2021 regular season released Sunday, Nov. 14.

Seven teams in NCAA Region 6 (MIAC, NWC, SCIAC, UMAC, WIAC) were ranked in the top 25, including five in the top 15: Wisconsin-Whitewater (No. 3), SJU (No. 5), Linfield (No. 7), Wisconsin-La Crosse (No. 11), Bethel (No. 14), Wisconsin-River Falls (No. 22) and Redlands (No. 25). Wisconsin-Oshkosh received votes.

SJU won its MIAC-record 35th conference championship and earned the league's automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division III playoffs with a 29-28 win Nov. 13 at Bethel. Senior quarterback Chris Backes (St. Cloud, Minn./Tech) connected with junior tight end Alex Larson (Woodbury, Minn./East Ridge) for a three-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-goal to tie the game with one second remaining. Freshman kicker Conor Pavelko's (Sioux Falls, S.D./O'Gorman) extra point provided the difference for SJU, which trailed 21-8 at halftime.

Backes threw for 151 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 103 yards and another score – the first time a Johnnie quarterback crossed the 100-yard rushing mark in a game since Ken Pletcher ran for 104 yards on four carries at Macalester on Oct. 30, 1993.

The victory marked the largest halftime deficit an SJU team has overcome and won since trailing 28-13 at the half in a 35-34 win at St. Thomas on Oct. 8, 1994.

The Johnnies (10-0, 8-0 MIAC) find out their first-round opponent when the NCAA announced the postseason field at 4:30 p.m. CT Sunday, Nov. 14, on www.ncaa.com.