DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College's return to the NCAA Division III playoffs will bring a familiar foe to James Work Memorial Stadium as the Aggies will host former Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) foe and current Liberty League champion Susquehanna University in the opening round as announced on ESPNews on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 21.
Delaware Valley, which went 9-1 overall and a perfect 7-0 in the MAC in the regular season, will make its third trip to the NCAA playoffs and the first since 2005. The Aggies reached the quarterfinals in both 2004 and '05. Susquehanna went 8-2 and captured the Liberty title in its last year in the league (the Crusaders are moving to the Centennial Conference for football in 2010). The two teams last met in 2006 – Susquehanna's last year in the MAC – and the Crusaders posted a 17-10 upset in Doylestown. The Aggies had won the previous three meetings between the two schools.
The NCAA Division III playoffs are broken up into four brackets of eight teams apiece with no official seed or regions. The winner of the Delaware Valley/Susquehanna contest would meet the winner of the Albright College/Alfred College contest that will take place at Alfred. An Aggie victory would mean a home game for the second-round match-up, including a possible rematch with MAC rival Albright, whom they defeated 45-16 just two weeks ago.
The upper portion of the Delaware Valley/Susquehanna bracket includes defending champion Mount Union College (OH) hosting Washington & Jefferson College (PA) and Maine Maritime at Montclair State University (NJ). The Aggies could potentially make a trip to Alliance, Ohio and face the Division III powerhouse in the quarterfinals on December 5.
The NCAA Division III championship game – known as the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl – is on Saturday, December 19 (11:00 a.m.) in Salem, Virginia. The game is broadcasted live on ESPN2.
Ticket prices for the Delaware Valley/Susquehanna contest, as per the NCAA, are $8 for adults and $4 for students. Tickets will go on sale starting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday and no complimentary tickets will be available.
2009 Division III Playoff Pairings - First Round
(All games kickoff at noon local time)
Bracket 1
Washington & Jefferson at Mount Union
Maine Maritime at Montclair State
Albright at Alfred
Susquehanna at Delaware Valley
Bracket 2
North Carolina Wesleyan at Wesley
Mississippi College at Huntingdon
Johns Hopkins at Hampden-Sydney
DePauw at Thomas More
Bracket 3
Lakeland at Wisconsin-Whitewater
Wabash at Illinois Wesleyan
Trine at Case Western Reserve
Mount St. Joseph at Wittenberg
Bracket 4
Coe at St. John's
St. Thomas at Monmouth
Mary Hardin-Baylor at Central
Cal Lutheran at Linfield
