NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport University continues to move up in the weekly national football poll from D3football.com. The Captains, 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the New Jersey Athletic Conference, are ranked 13th in the new poll released Sunday. CNU defeated Montclair State University on Saturday at TowneBank Stadium, 49-42, and was ranked 14th in the poll last week.

The new ranking is the highest for CNU since the first week of the 2007 season when the Captains were slotted 12th in the country. Christopher Newport's highest national ranking ever was 11th during the 2003 campaign, which marked the first year of the D3football.com poll. The Captains are 8-0 for the first time in the 25-year history of the Christopher Newport program, and remain one of just eight undefeated teams in the nation. Paul Crowley's squad has now won 13 straight games dating back to last year when the Captains won their final five games to conclude the season.

The Captains will host Salisbury University this Saturday in a battle for first place in the NJAC. It will be Senior Night at TowneBank Stadium, and the Sea Gulls, ranked seventh in the new poll, are also 8-0 and 5-0 in the NJAC. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Salisbury defeated William Paterson University on Saturday in Salisbury, Md., 51-7.

The winner of Saturday's game vs. Salisbury will be guaranteed at least a share of the NJAC Championship with one game to play. The Captains will conclude the regular season on Friday, November 14th, at the College of New Jersey in a 6:00 p.m. start. CNU is looking for its second NJAC title since joining the league in 2015. The Captains advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning the conference in 2023 for the first time ever.

The complete D3football.com poll:
 

Rank	School (No. 1 votes)	W-L	Points	Prev.
1	North Central (Ill.) (25)	8-0	625	1
2	Mount Union	8-0	597	2
3	Johns Hopkins	8-0	576	3
4	Bethel	8-0	508	4
5	Hardin-Simmons	8-0	505	6
6	Wartburg	9-0	486	7
7	Salisbury	8-0	484	5
8	UW-River Falls	7-1	477	9
9	UW-La Crosse	6-1	431	10
10	St. John's	7-1	392	11
11	John Carroll	7-1	374	12
12	UW-Platteville	6-2	336	13
13	Christopher Newport	8-0	307	14
14	UW-Whitewater	6-2	269	8
15	DePauw	7-1	244	15
16	Hope	7-1	222	16
17	Berry	7-1	213	17
18	Wheaton (Ill.)	6-2	202	19
19	Central	7-1	190	18
20	Cortland	7-1	161	20
21	Randolph-Macon	8-1	134	21
22	Baldwin Wallace	7-1	80	22
23	Trinity (Texas)	7-1	61	--
24	Susquehanna	6-2	43	--
25	Wabash	7-1	37	--

Dropped out: No. 23 UW-Stout; No. 24 Muhlenberg; No. 25 UW-Oshkosh.

Others receiving votes: Alma 27; Franklin & Marshall 19; Monmouth 13; Muhlenberg 13; Carnegie Mellon 12; Adrian 12; UW-Stout 11; Chapman 9; Mary Hardin-Baylor 8; Washington & Jefferson 8; UW-Oshkosh 8; Whitworth 8; Endicott 6; RPI 5; Hampden-Sydney 3; Maryville 3; Rowan 3; Hanover 2; Eastern 1.