FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

NCAA Division III Championship Bracket

Nov. 17, 2013 - The North Central College football team will host Albion College (Mich.) in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Division III Football Championship on Saturday. The NCAA made this year's selections for the postseason on Sunday.

The Cardinals completed the third 10-0 regular season in their history last Saturday, defeating Augustana College, 53-14. North Central has tied a College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) record by winning the CCIW title for eight straight years, and will be playing in the postseason for the fourth straight year and the eighth time in the last nine seasons.

Albion (8-2) qualified for the championship as the automatic qualifier from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA), posting a perfect 6-0 record in the conference for the second time in three years. The Britons' last playoff appearance resulted in a 59-0 loss to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the first round in 2011.

North Central owns an all-time playoff record of 7-7. The Cardinals have advanced to the second round of the tournament the past two seasons, which followed the program's first national quarterfinal appearance in 2010. 

The teams have one common opponent this season in CCIW rival Wheaton College. Albion lost a 66-0 decision to the Thunder on Sept. 14, and the Cardinals defeated Wheaton, 35-16, on Nov. 9.

Albion has won two of its three previous meetings with the Cardinals, though the most recent encounter, a 20-0 North Central win, occurred in 1934.

The winner of Saturday's first-round game will advance to face the winner of the first-round contest between Concordia University Wisconsin (8-2) and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (9-1). On the other side of the bracket, Wartburg College (8-2) takes on Illinois Wesleyan University (9-1) and the College of St. Scholastica (9-1) faces Bethel University (10-0). 

Kickoff at Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium is scheduled for 12 p.m., and information regarding ticket sales will be made available as soon as it has been finalized. Links to live video, audio and in-game statistics can be accessed by clicking HERE.