How Bethel avoided a trip to Iowa, and four other things to know about Minnesota college football this week

Bethel will play host to a Division III football playoff game Saturday for the first time since 2018.

But for a while earlier this week, it appeared the Royals would be on the road again in the first round. When the playoff bracket was announced by the NCAA on Sunday afternoon, it had the Royals playing at Coe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

On Monday morning, the NCAA notified both schools that the site of the game should have been announced as Bethel.

This is the first season of the expanded bracket — from 32 to 40 teams — for the Division III playoffs. To aid the selection of the 12 at-large teams to go along with the 28 automatic bids in the field, the NCAA went to a new rating system for choosing at-large teams.

In the final ratings, Bethel was No. 28 and Coe No. 30, so Bethel should have been announced as the home team as the higher seed.

The Royals (8-2), the MIAC runner-up making their fourth consecutive playoff appearance, and Coe have never met in football. Coe (9-1) is making its second consecutive appearance.

Bethel, in its first season under coach Mike McElroy, has been led by quarterback Cooper Drews, who has thrown for 2,815 yards and 37 touchdowns. Joey Kidder has caught 89 passes for 1,072 yards and 17 touchdowns while becoming the leading receiver in school history.

UMAC champion Northwestern (St. Paul), making its third appearance in the Division III playoffs, will play at Wisconsin-La Crosse in the first round.

Wisconsin-La Crosse, making its fourth consecutive appearance in the playoffs, received an at-large berth after finishing second in the WIAC.

Both teams are nicknamed the Eagles, and both are 7-3. Northwestern’s Sivert Klefsaas is eighth in Division III with 1,271 rushing yards. Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Gabe Lynch led the WIAC in rushing with 906 yards.

The winner will play at top-seeded St. John’s, which has a first-round bye, on Nov. 30.

For the second consecutive season, Minnesota State Mankato will play at Augustana in Sioux Falls, S.D., in the first round of the Division II playoffs This will be the fourth meeting of the past two seasons for the NSIC rivals.

Bemidji State, in the Division II playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, will play at Angelo (Texas) State in the first round on Saturday.

The Beavers were included in the 28-team field after defeating NSIC champion Augustana 17-13 last Saturday in Bemidji.

The Beavers (8-3) scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to rally for the victory over the Vikings.

St. Thomas will complete its fourth season in the Pioneer League by playing host to Dayton on Saturday.

The Tommies (5-6, 4-3) have a three-game losing streak after being defeated by Butler 36-20 in Indianapolis last Saturday.