The Ithaca College football team are is now ranked 24th in Division III in the latest D3football.com top 25 poll, released Sept. 14.

Following the squad’s 38–23 win over Union College on Sept. 5 in its first game, the Blue and Gold received votes during the Week 1 poll, but did not crack the poll.

After a bye week this past week, the Bombers snuck into the rankings for the first time since Nov. 8, 2014 during Week 10 of the 2014 season when they were ranked No. 23 in the nation.

Other teams in the Empire 8 that received votes were SUNY Cortland, which received 38 total votes, and Alfred University and St. John Fisher College, which each garnered one vote.

The No. 1 team in the nation is University of Wisconsin-Whitewater for the second straight week, followed by University of Mount Union, Linfield College, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wesley University to round out the top five. For the complete poll, visit http://d3football.com/.

The D3football.com top 25 is voted on weekly by a panel of 25 coaches, sports information directors and media members from across the country.

The South Hill squad will head into its home opener at 1 p.m. Sept. 19 against No. 16 Hobart College at Butterfield Stadium with a nationally ranked status. It’s the team’s first matchup against the Statesmen since a 22–15 loss in the first-round of the NCAA playoffs last season.