Bethel's tough draw to open D-III playoffs, and four other games of note

Bethel and Wisconsin Whitewater have been frequent participants in the NCAA Division III football playoffs since 2005.

When the Royals (8-2) and host Warhawks (9-1) square off in Wisconsin on Saturday, it will be the ninth playoff appearance for the Royals and the 16th for the Warhawks in the past 18 years.

The Royals earned their third consecutive appearance by defeating Gustavus Adolphus 31-7 last Saturday for the MIAC championship. The Royals take a seven-game winning streak — their longest since 2013 — into Saturday's contest. Coach Steve Johnson has announced he'll retire at season's end.

The Warhawks, the WIAC runner-up, were chosen for one of four at-large berths for the 32-team playoff bracket. They played one of the toughest schedules in D-III football this season: their first six games were against teams ranked in the D-III Top 25, and their only loss was to Wisconsin La Crosse 37-34 in October.

The Warhawks, who have won six national titles since 2005 (the most recent in 2014), and Royals have met just one other time. UW-Whitewater defeated the Royals 26-12 in the quarterfinals on Dec. 1, 2018 in Whitewater.

Here are four other games to watch this week:

Minnesota Morris (7-3), making its first postseason appearance since 1981, will play at WIAC champion UW-La Crosse (9-1) in the first round of the D-III playoffs. It is the first meeting between the two programs.

The Cougars earned their first UMAC title since 2006 with a 42-39 victory over Northwestern (St. Paul) last Saturday.

The Eagles, who ended a 19-game losing streak to UW-Whitewater with the victory on Oct. 7, are making their third consecutive appearance. That game, played in Whitewater, was attended by 20,113 fans — the largest-ever on-campus crowd for a D-III game.

Going into its season-finale on Saturday, St. Thomas has at least two incentives when it plays host to Valparaiso.

A victory over the Beacons would extend the Tommies' home-field winning streak to 31 games and could also give the Tommies a share of the Pioneer League title. The Tommies, who haven't lost at O'Shaughnessy Stadium since December 2016, are tied for second (with Davidson) in the conference standings with a 6-1 record. Drake, which defeated the Tommies on Oct. 14 in Des Moines, is on top in the league with a 7-0 record.

Drake plays at Butler on Saturday, while Davidson plays host to Dayton.

Minnesota State Mankato (9-2) and Augustana (10-1) will meet in Sioux Falls, S.D., for the second time in the last month.

Augustana, the No. 4 seed in Super Region IV of the Division II playoffs, defeated the Mavericks 28-10 on Oct. 21 in Sioux Falls and went on to earn the NSIC regular-season title.

The Mavericks are making their seventh appearance in the D-II playoffs since 2014.

Bemidji State, which finished in a three-way tie for second in the NSIC standings, is making its third consecutive appearance in the D-II playoffs.

The Beavers (8-2), the No. 6 seed in Super Region IV, travel to Midland, Texas to take on third-seeded Texas-Permian Basin. It is the first meeting between the programs.

The Falcons (10-1) went 8-0 to claim the Lone Star Conference title.

The Beavers have been led by sophomore defensive end Marcus Hansen, who was named the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year this week, and quarterback Brandon Alt.

Alt, a fifth-year senior from Cottage Grove, is the fifth player in NSIC history to throw for more than 10,000 yards in his career.