ARKADELPHIA – The Ouachita Baptist University football team has earned a No. 14 national ranking from the American Football Coaches Association in the final poll of the 2024 season.

The Tigers also earned the No. 15 spot in the final D2Football.com Top 25. Ouachita finished the season 10-2 with a share of the Great American Conference championship and a berth into the NCAA Division II playoffs.

Ouachita has now been nationally-ranked by the AFCA in 76 of the last 77 polls, reaching as high as No. 3 on two different occasions – late in the 2022 season and in week nine of this past season after an 8-0 start to the season including a win over then-ranked No. 1 Harding at home on October 19.

Other highlights of the 2024 season include senior safety Josiah Johnson being named GAC Defensive Player of the Year and first team AFCA All-American, offensive lineman Isaiah Simpson earning GAC Freshman of the Year honors, 21 others earning all-conference honors, and Todd Knight winning his seventh GAC Coach of the Year award. Knight also moved into a tie with the late Buddy Benson as the all-time winningest coaches in program history.

The Tigers won their seventh GAC championship this past season and earned the program's sixth NCAA playoffs berth. The 27-20 Battle of the Ravine victory over Henderson State to end the regular season gave Ouachita its fifth 10-win season in program history. The Tigers also earned their 16th consecutive winning season, which is the longest active streak among all college football programs in the state of Arkansas.