Ithaca and Fisher Headed to NCAA Championships
The football season will continue for Ithaca College and St. John Fisher College. The Bombers earned the automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Championship, while the Cardinals were one of five teams to receive an at-large bid.
A total of 32 teams will be playing in the 2013 NCAA football playoffs; 16 first-round games will be played Nov. 23, with eight second-round games to be played on Nov. 30, followed by quarterfinals on Dec. 7 and semifinals Dec. 14 at campus sites. The 41st Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl is Dec. 20 at Salem, Va. Eight teams in the tournament field earned at-large invitations and 24 teams earned automatic qualification by virtue of winning their conference.
Ithaca will host the Framingham State Rams in the first round on Saturday, Nov. 23 at noon at Butterfield Stadium.
The No. 25 Cardinals (8-2) will take on No. 9 John Carroll University (9-1) at 12 p.m. on Saturday at JCU's Don Shula Stadium.
Ithaca is making its 18th appearance in the Division III tournament and has a 27-14 record in 41 NCAA games, including national championships in 1979, 1988 and 1991. Ithaca has played in the Stagg Bowl for the national championship seven times. Ithaca made its last tournament appearance in 2008 and dropped a first-round game 26-21 to Curry. Framingham State is making its second appearance in the NCAAs. The Rams previously qualified in 2012 and lost a first-round game 20-19 at Cortland.
Sunday's selection marks the fifth time the Cardinals will appear in the NCAA Championship and first time since the 2011 season. That year, Fisher earned an at-large bid as well and knocked off previously-undefeated Johns Hopkins University and Delaware Valley College, before bowin out in the national quarterfinals to St. Thomas.
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