Montana Western receives bid to NAIA playoffs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Montana Western Bulldogs are heading to Kentucky.

The Bulldogs learned Sunday they will represent the Frontier Conference in the NAIA Football Championship Series. They were announced Sunday by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as the No. 16 seed in the NAIA Football Championship Series. It is the first time since 2002 that Western has made the playoff field.

The 16-team FCS will kick-off on Saturday at eight campus host sites across the country, with the higher seed hosting each contest.

The Bulldogs (8-3) will take on No. 1 Lindsey Wilson, Ky. (10-0).

The Bulldogs downed Rocky Mountain College 50-42 in double overtime Saturday. That win, coupled with Carroll College’s win over College of Idaho created a tie for the Frontier Championship.

The full field features 12 automatic qualifiers and four at-large berths. In order to qualify for an automatic bid, teams must win their conference regular-season title. At-large berths were determined by the NAIA Football National Selection Committee.

The 66th Annual NAIA Football National Championship will culminate on December 18th at Durham County Memorial Stadium in Durham, N.C.

First round matchups:

No. 16 Montana Western (8-3) at No. 1 Lindsey Wilson, Ky. (10-0)

No. 15 Ottawa, Ariz. (8-1) at No. 2 Morningside, Iowa (10-0)

No. 14 Dickinson State, N.D. (8-2) at No. 3 Grand View, Iowa (11-0)

No. 13 Central Methodist, Mo., (9-2) at No. 4 Northwestern, Iowa (10-1)

No. 10 Kansas Wesleyan (10-1) at No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan (9-1)

No. 12 Keiser, Fla. (8-2) at No. 6 Reinhardt, Ga. (9-2)

No. 9 Southwestern, Kan. (9-1) at No. 7 Marian, Ind. (8-2)

No. 11 Saint Xavier, Ill. (8-2) at No. 8 Concordia, Mich. (8-1)