ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T finished a season in the final national football rankings for just the second time in school history, as it ended the 2012 season at No. 24 in the American Football Coaches Association poll released Monday.

The Miners, who finished the season at 10-1, were the only team that did not participate in a post-season game that was in the final poll for the season.  Missouri S&T tied its single-season record for victories with 10 and also set a one-year scoring record with 458 points as it finished second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference to Indianapolis, who was ranked No. 15 in the last poll.

S&T was ranked in the Top 25 in the last two regular season polls of the year – last at No. 19 at the conclusion of the regular season – and this year's team joins the 1980 undefeated team as the only Miner teams to be ranked at the end of that year.  The 1980 Miners were ranked 10^th in the final poll after its 10-0 season.

Missouri S&T ended the season as one of just seven teams in NCAA Division II with only one loss (no team finished undefeated) along with No. 2, Winston-Salem State, No. 3 Minnesota State, No. 6 Colorado State-Pueblo, No. 8 New Haven, No. 9 Ashland and No. 11 Henderson State.

NCAA Division II national champion Valdosta State finished atop the rankings after a dominating 35-7 win over Winston-Salem State Saturday in the national championship game.

American Football Coaches Association Rankings (Final for 2012 season)
1. Valdosta State, Ga. (12-2)
2. Winston-Salem State, N.C. (14-1)
3. Minnesota State (13-1)
4. West Texas A&M (12-3)
5. Missouri Western (12-2)
6. Colorado State-Pueblo (12-1)
7. Indiana, Pa. (12-2)
8. New Haven, Conn. (10-1)
9. Ashland, Ohio (11-1)
10. Northwest Missouri State (10-3)
11. Henderson State, Ark. (10-1)
12. Minnesota-Duluth (10-2)
13. Carson-Newman, Tenn. (9-3)
14. Shippensburg, Pa. (11-2)
15. Indianapolis, Ind. (10-3)
16. Midwestern State, Texas (9-2)
17. Bloomsburg, Pa. (10-2)
18. Chadron State, Neb. (9-3)
19. Harding, Ark. (9-2)
20. Lenoir-Rhyne, N.C. (9-3)
21. West Alabama (9-4)
22. Emporia State, Kan. (10-2)
23. Tuskegee, Ala. (10-2)
24. Missouri S&T (10-1)
25. Shepherd, W.Va. (8-3)