NEWBERRY, S.C. -- For the first time since 2016 the Newberry College football team has found itself listed among the season's best teams as they closed out the 2021 season with a No. 17 ranking in the final American Football Coaches Association poll released earlier this week, their highest ranking since the 2016 season.

After closing out the year with a two-round run in the NCAA playoffs, the Wolves eventually were bested by No. 6 Bowie State 13-10 after upsetting then No. 2 West Florida in the opening round of action.  The South Atlantic Conference champions appeared for the first time in the final poll since the 2016 season, where they finished No. 16.  The highest ranking at the end of the year came in a similar season to 2021, in which the Wolves made it to the second round of the NCAA Playoffs, finishing with a No. 12 ranking in 2006.

Newberry has ranked as high as No. 9 on a pair of occasions in the poll over the teams history, but that rank has been unkind to the Scarlet and Gray as they have lost both thier next contests both times.