NCAA Announcement

Interactive Bracket



INDIANAPOLIS – Only 28 teams get to compete for the NCAA Division II Football Championship trophy and on Sunday night, Great Midwest Athletic Conference champion Hillsdale realized its playoff destiny.
 
The Chargers (9-2 overall) are the No. 5 seed in Super Region 1 as bids were allocated from the Mountain East Conference (MEC), Northeast-10 Conference (NE-10) and Pennsyvlania State Athletics Conference (PSAC).
 
The conference had three teams factoring in the Midwest Region rankings (Tiffin, Ohio Dominican), but were unfortunately left on the outside looking in during the official announcement.
 
Hillsdale is the second team in Great Midwest history to make the national tournament bracket after Findlay was the No. 7 seed and advanced into the second round in 2017.
 
The Chargers concluded the regular season in Week 11 ranked No. 20 in the AFCA Poll with a tough road outcome at No. 12 UIndy.
 
But Hillsdale clinched the program’s first conference title in Week 10 by toppling Tiffin in a battle of nationally-ranked teams and completed an undefeated run against league competition.
 
Hillsdale’s opening-round draw as a slight underdog in terms of seeding is No. 4 Kutztown (9-1 overall), which closed the season with a one-point overtime win over Edinboro. The Golden Bears started the year with a win against Assumption, the school that ended Findlay’s playoff run in 2017.
 
Hillsdale and Kutztown will play on Saturday the 17th from Andre Reed Stadium with a kickoff lined up for 1 p.m. ET.
 
The winner will take on Super Region One top seed Notre Dame (OH) on Nov. 24 at a time to be determined.
 
The other half of the Super Region One bracket will feature No. 2 LIU Post (NE-10) hosting No. 7 Slippery Rock (PSAC) and No. 3 West Chester (PSAC) vs. No. 6 New Haven (NE-10). Teams advancing into the semifinal round will be re-seeded.