The Linfield Wildcats will host the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens Saturday at noon in the first round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs at Maxwell Field in McMinnville.
It’s the 32nd playoff appearance and third in a row for the Wildcats (9-0), who are ranked No. 4 in the American Football Coaches Association poll and No. 5 in the D3football.com poll.
Linfield enters the postseason after a dominant regular season in which they outscored opponents by an average margin of 44.8-10.9 and held five of their nine opponents to seven or fewer points on the way to winning the Northwest Conference championship. The Wildcats are one of 12 undefeated teams and 16 host schools in the 32-team playoff field.
In its final four regular season games, Linfield recorded two shutouts and outscored Pacific Lutheran, George Fox, Willamette and Lewis & Clark by a combined score of 217-17.
The unranked Sagehens (8-2), meanwhile, earned a playoff berth by defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 28-14 on Saturday in their regular-season finale. It’s the program’s first NCAA playoff berth.
The Linfield-Pomona winner will advance to a second-round matchup on Nov. 26 against the Wheaton-Bethel winner at a site to be determined Sunday by the NCAA.
The first-round game will air in the Portland area on KRCW (32) and be streamed online by The Linfield Sports Network.
For tickets, visit https://linfieldsports.universitytickets.com/
— The Oregonian/OregonLive Sports Staff
