FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302

NCAA Division III Football Championship Bracket

Nov. 11, 2012 - The North Central College football team will open the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship by making the longest postseason trip in the program's history, as the Cardinals will head to Thousand Oaks, Calif., to take on California Lutheran University. The NCAA released this year's tournament field on Sunday.

The 14th-ranked Cardinals (8-2) wrapped up the regular season on Saturday, posting a 37-6 victory at Augustana College to tie Wheaton College and Elmhurst College for the CCIW regular-season championship. North Central collected its seventh straight CCIW title and earned the conference's automatic bid to the postseason. 

The Cardinals are preparing to make their seventh postseason appearance, owning a 6-6 all-time record in the playoffs. North Central is 2-3 in postseason contests away from home, with its last victory coming in 2007 at Franklin College. 

Eighth-ranked Cal Lutheran (8-1) qualified as the champion of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, clinching its fourth straight SCIAC title with a 38-28 win over Chapman University on Saturday. The Kingsmen's past three postseason appearances have resulted in first-round losses to Linfield College (Ore.)

CLU ranks fifth nationally in total offense (526.2 yards per game) and sixth in scoring offense (45.6 points per game) but rank 201st out of 240 teams in total defense (425.1 yards allowed per game).

Cal Lutheran is the second SCIAC team on the Cardinals' schedule this season. North Central defeated the University of Redlands, 42-16, on Sept. 8. The Kingsmen topped Redlands, 45-35, on Oct. 6.

As soon as they are available, links to live coverage of the game will be available on the Cardinals' schedule page at northcentralcardinals.com/schedule.aspx?path=football.