Wabash Ranked 20th in Street and Smith’s College Football 2002 Poll

Crawfordsville, IN — The Wabash College football team is ranked 20th in the first pre-season poll of the year. Street and Smith’s College Football 2002 magazine published its Division III top-25 rankings, listing the Little Giants at 20th. The ranking comes on the heels of an honorable mention in the final American Football Coaches Association poll of the 2001 season. Wabash finished the 2001 campaign with an 8-2 record, winning its last seven games of the season.

Ryan Short (SR, Indianapolis, IN/Perry Meridian) (photo) earned individual honors in the publication. The senior tight end was named a pre-season All-American. Last season, Short was a Hewlett Packard First Team All-American, in addition to receiving D3Football.com and Don Hansen’s Football Gazette Second Team All-American honors.

Wabash is also listed in the “Games To Watch” section of the magazine. The Little Giants’ game at Wittenberg on October 12 is named as one of the top-eight games to see this season in Division III football. The game will pit Wabash against the seventh-ranked Tigers. North Coast Athletic Conference foe Ohio Wesleyan is listed as a “Best of the Rest” team in the pre-season poll, as well. Wabash and Ohio Wesleyan finished tied for second place in the NCAC in 2001 with 6-1 records, both losing to conference champion Wittenberg.

Wabash opens the the 2002 season at home against Kalamazoo College. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Byron P. Hollett Little Giant Stadium.