Arizona Western College is proud to announce that the Matador Football team has finished with a #3 national ranking in the final NJCAA Football Poll released earlier this afternoon.

The Matadors were knocked out of the top spot by virtue of their 4th-quarter rally falling just short in the NJCAA National Championship Game at the 2011 El Toro Bowl-presented by Time Warner Cable.

East Mississippi Community College earned their first-ever national football title with a 55-47 victory over the Matadors in Saturday's bowl game, and moved into the #1 spot in the final poll.

The Matadors dropped behind both the Lions and #2 Butler Community College, who defeated Trinity Valley Community College (TX) in the Citizen's Bank Bowl yesterday.

Despite falling out of the top spot, the #3 final ranking is still the highest the Matadors have finished in a final national poll since the 1972 national championship season in which they finished atop the poll.

The Matadors finished with an 11-1 overall record-the first 11-win season in the program's 47-year history.

For more details about the poll, please visit http://www.njcaa.org/sports_polls.cfm?category=Polls&sid=11&divid=0&slid=5

Article submitted by the AWC PR & Marketing Dept.