UW-La Crosse selected for NCAA Div. 3 football playoffs

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WEAU) - For the first time since 2006, the UW-La Crosse Eagles are back in the NCAA Division 3 football playoffs.

UWL (8-2) was an at-large selection, earning one of five Pool C bids to the field of 32.

The Eagles will take on Albion (Mich.), 9-1 champions of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. The winner will take on either defending national champion North Central College or Carnegie Mellon. It’s the first playoff appearance for UWL since 2006 and the 12th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in football for the school. UW-La Crosse is seeking its third Division 3 national championship and fourth national championship overall, and their first since 1995.

Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion UW-Whitewater (10-0) will host Greenville on the other side of the bracket. Another WIAC team, UW-River Falls (8-2), will face Washington University in the first-ever Culver’s Isthmus Bowl played in Verona, Wis.

UW-Stout athletic director Dewey Naatz, the chair of the NCAA selection committee for Division 3, called the process of selecting at-large teams “challenging.” La Crosse was one of just five schools selected as an at-large for the field.

You can view the full NCAA Division 3 football playoff bracket on the NCAA website. A printable version is available on the d3football.com website.

correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Albion's conference as the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association. Albion is the champion of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

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