Northwest Missouri State is lone MIAA playoff entry in NCAA Division II

The Kansas City Star

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First the good news for the MIAA.

Northwest Missouri State, 10-1, received a first-round bye for the NCAA Division II playoffs and will play a home game in the quarterfinals on Nov. 21.

Now the bad: The league-champion Bearcats are the lone entry from the powerful football conference used to landing multiple teams on the bracket.

Heading into the weekend, Missouri Western and Central Missouri were ranked fifth and sixth in Super Regional Four, one of four that supply teams to the 24-team field. If they had finished there, both would have made the bracket.

But the Griffons fell to Nebraska-Omaha 30-21, and the Mules got walloped at Northwest Missouri 56-14. The contenders fell out of the top six. Postseason spots remain for MIAA teams. The league has agreements with the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, and the Kanza Bowl in Topeka. Both games will be played on Dec. 5.

The Bearcats are making their sixth straight NCAA appearance, and they’re bidding for their fifth straight year in the championship game, having lost in the final each time. Northwest Missouri, the region’s second seed, will play host to the winner of Midwestern State-Abilene Christian in a noon kickoff. Central Washington is the top seed in Super Regional Four.

| Blair Kerkhoff, bkerkhoff@kcstar.com

Posted on Sun, Nov. 08, 2009 11:01 PM

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