Catawba College Receives Bid To NCAA Football Playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division II Football Committee announced today the field of 24 teams for the 2007 NCAA Division II Football Championship.

Catawba College, 10-1 overall and South Atlantic Conference co-champion, received a bid into the playoffs and will host Albany State (8-3) out of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

The Catawba Indians are seeded fourth for the Southeast Region and will host fifth-seeded Albany State on Saturday at 1 p.m. Catawba (10-1) was South Atlantic Conference co-champions and returns to the playoffs for the first time since 2004. It will be the Indians' first home playoff game since 2001.

Albany State finished the season at 8-2 and represent the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the playoff. The Golden Rams were in the field of 24 teams last season and dropped a first round game at Newberry 34-28. The game will mark the first match-up between the schools in football.

The other first-round game in the Southeast Region will feature sixth-seeded Shaw at third-seeded Delta State. Top-seeded Valdosta State will await the winner of the Catawba-Albany State game, while North Alabama, the No. 2-seed, will face the Shaw/Delta State winner.

Eight first-round games will be conducted on the campus of one of the competing institutions. In addition, two teams per region have earned first-round byes. The first-round winners will all advance to face a bye team in their region in the second round on the campus of one of the competing institutions. Second-round winners will meet in the quarterfinals at various campus sites. Quarterfinal winners will advance to play in the semifinals on the campus of one of the competing institutions. Six teams selected per region make up the field of 24 teams. The first-round dates, sites and pairings are:

November 17 at Ellensburg, Washington
Ashland University (8-1) vs. *Central Washington University (8-2)

November 17 at Grand Forks, North Dakota
Winona State University (10-1) vs. *University of North Dakota (9-1)

November 17 at Abilene, Texas
Mesa State College (10-1) vs. *Abilene Christian University (9-2)

November 17 at Canyon, Texas
Washburn University of Topeka (8-3) vs. *West Texas A&M University (11-0)

November 17 at Salisbury, North Carolina
Albany State University (Georgia) (8-2) vs. *Catawba College (10-1)

November 17 at Cleveland, Mississippi
Shaw University (8-3) vs. *Delta State University (9-1)

November 17 at New Haven, Connecticut
Bryant University (8-2) vs. *Southern Connecticut State University (8-3)

November 17 at West Chester, Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (8-2) vs. *West Chester University of Pennsylvania (9-2)

*Denotes Host Institution

The following institutions earned first-round byes in each region and also will host a second-round game on November 24, 2007.

Northwest:
1. University of Nebraska at Omaha (10-0)
2. Grand Valley State University (10-0)

Southwest:
1. Chadron State College (11-0)
2. Northwest Missouri State University (9-1)

Southeast:
1. Valdosta State University (9-1)
2. University of North Alabama (9-1)

Northeast:
1. California University of Pennsylvania (11-0)
2. Shepherd University (9-1)

All contests shall start at noon local time. Other times may be established if approved by the committee. Grand Valley State defeated Northwest Missouri State in the 2006 national championship game to claim the NCAA title. The championship game will be played December 15, at Noon Eastern time at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. The 2007 championship will mark 22 consecutive years that the Division II championship game has been played in Florence. In addition, both semifinal games will be played on Saturday, December 8. Kick-off will be at either 11 a.m. Eastern time or 9 p.m. Eastern time and will air on either ESPN2 or ESPNU.