Despite losing to St. John's for the second time this season, Bethel University secured one of the five at-large bids in the 32-team NCAA Division III football tournament.
St. John's, Bethel make NCAA D-III football playoffs; Bemidji St., Duluth in D-II field
November 15, 2021 at 2:48PM
The Johnnies earned the automatic bid as MIAC champion and will play host to Lake Forest, the Midwest Conference champion, on Saturday in Collegeville. St. John's won the conference title on Saturday with a 27-26 victory over the Royals, scoring the game-winning touchdown with one second to play.
Bethel will play at Central College in Pella, Iowa. on Saturday.
Making its first-ever appearance in the Division II playoffs, Bemidji State will be one of three teams from the Northern Sun Conference in the 28-team field. The Beavers, champions of the North Division, will play at NSIC South titlist Augustana in Sioux Falls.
Minnesota Duluth, the NSIC North runner-up, will play at Angelo State of Texas.
WIAC champion Wisconsin-Whitewater will play UMAC champion Greenville in the first round and runner-up Wisconsin-LaCrosse will play at Albion.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified one of the teams in the NCAA Division II field.
Two offensive linemen from Lakeville, Bryce Benhart and Riley Mahlman, are standouts for Big Ten rivals of Minnesota.
