Lindenwood head football coach Jed Stugart receives a water bucket bath as his players celebrate winning their second Great Lakes Valley Conference championship in the last three seasons, Saturday afternoon at Hunter Stadium in St. Charles. (Photo: Steven Delia)

by Cedric Williams
Senior Editor

The Lindenwood University football team received the news it had been hoping for all season, Sunday evening, just before dinner time.

The Lions are playoff bound.

Lindenwood, the newly crowned Great Lakes Valley Conference champion, will play the No. 4 seed from Super Region No. 3, Grand Valley State, in the NCAA Division II playoffs, this Saturday at Grand Valley’s Lubbers Stadium in Allendale, Mich. That game is scheduled to kickoff at noon central time.

Grand Valley State (9-1) will come into the matchup ranked fifth in the country, with its only loss on the season coming to the lone undefeated team in the country and No.1 ranked Ferris State. The winner of Saturday’s Lindenwood at Grand Valley matchup will face Ferris State in the second round of the playoffs next week.

Lindenwood, 9-2 on the year and winners of nine games in a row, will be looking to pull off the same magic it did in 2019, when the Lions went on the road in the first round of the playoffs and defeated then-No. 5-ranked Ouachita Baptist to make it to the tournament’s second round.

The Lions only loss this season to a Division II opponent, came in the season opener against Angelo State, which went 9-2 this year and was the No. 2 seed in D2 Super Region No. 4.

“We’re excited to see where they put us and where we go,” Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart said on Saturday, before he knew who his team would play. “Once we find out, we’ll get to it and start working on what we need to do to go win a ballgame.”

The other first-round matchups are as follows:

  • Nov. 20 at West Haven, Connecticut – Bentley (9-1) at New Haven (9-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Shepherdstown, West Virginia – Findlay (8-3) at Shepherd (10-1)
  • Nov. 20 at South Euclid, Ohio – Slippery Rock (9-2) at Notre Dame (Ohio) (10-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Albany, Georgia – West Georgia (8-2) at Albany State (Georgia) (10-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Bowie, Maryland – Lenoir-Rhyne (8-2) at Bowie State (10-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Pensacola, Florida – Newberry (9-2) at West Florida (9-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Allendale, Michigan – Lindenwood (9-2) at Grand Valley State (9-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Searcy, Arkansas – Washburn (9-2) at Harding (10-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Maryville, Missouri – Central Washington (8-2) at Northwest Missouri State (9-1)
  • Nov. 20 at Sioux Falls, South Dakota – Bemidji State (9-2) at Augustana (South Dakota) (9-2)
  • Nov. 20 at San Angelo, Texas – Minnesota Duluth (9-2) at Angelo State (9-2)
  • Nov. 20 at Gunnison, Colorado – Nebraska-Kearney (9-2) at Western Colorado (10-1)

The four Super Regional No. 1 seeds were:

  • Super Regional One: 1. Kutztown (10-1)
  • Super Regional Two: 1. Valdosta State (9-1)
  • Super Regional Three: 1. Ferris State (10-0)
  • Super Regional Four: 1. Colorado School of Mines (10-1)

The 2021 Division II Football National Championship Game will be played on December 18 at 8 p.m., at McKinney ISD Stadium in McKinney, Texas.