UW-Oshkosh To Host St. Scholastica In NCAA Playoffs
UW-Oshkosh plays in the postseason for the first time when it hosts The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) in the first round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship on Saturday (Nov. 17) at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium. The Titans (10-0) and Saints (8-2) will kick off at noon.
The NCAA announced the 32 teams in the tournament on Sunday (Nov. 11). A total of 24 teams earned automatic bids, while eight received at-large invitations.
UW-Oshkosh captured a spot by winning the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) with a 7-0 record. St. Scholastica was one of three teams in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) to finish 7-1. The Saints then received the league's playoff bid when their name was randomly drawn by the UMAC commissioner.
St. Scholastica is making its second NCAA postseason appearance. The Saints entered last year's tournament with a 10-0 record before falling to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) in the opening round, 48-2.
The Titans completed their perfect regular season with a 27-18 victory at UW-Stout on Nov. 10. UW-Oshkosh is currently on a 12-game win streak, the second-longest active string in the NCAA Division III. This year, the Titans defeated fifth-ranked UW-Whitewater (28-13) and 14th-ranked UW-Platteville (34-13).
The winner of Saturday's game will play either Bethel University (Minn.) or Concordia University-Chicago (Ill.) on Nov. 24. Other first-round contests in this pod feature Pacific Lutheran University (Wash.) at Linfield College (Ore.) and North Central College (Ill.) at California Lutheran University.