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WICHITA FALLS – So the entire season comes down to this for the 2009 Wildcats:
Win Saturday against Midwestern State and a fourth straight berth in the NCAA Division II
playoffs awaits. Lose, and the Wildcats could be headed to ... the Kanza Bowl?
While the newest NCAA Division II bowl game (Dec. 5 in Topeka, Kan.) would be a nice
consolation prize for a team with lesser pre-season promise, the Wildcats, frankly, have their eyes on a bigger prize than a trip to Kansas in early December.
And after a late-season slip-up the Wildcats are right back in position to achieve most of their
pre-season goals. A win Saturday would punch their ticket to the playoffs for a fourth straight
season, while a win and a victory by red-hot West Texas A&M over Tarleton State would give the Wildcats a share of their second straight Lone Star Conference championship.
ACU enters Saturday's regular-season finale ranked No. 4 in the NCAA Division II Super
Region Four poll with the top six teams in Sunday's final rankings earning trips to the post-season playoffs. And while a loss on Saturday doesn't necessarily mean the Wildcats' NCAA post-season hopes are finished, they would have to depend on several other teams to lose in order to reach the playoffs.
That could leave the Wildcats awaiting a Sunday night bid to the first Kanza Bowl in Topeka,
Kan. The LSC representative will be the non-playoff team with the best overall conference record.
In the event of a two-way tie, head-to-head will determine the representative. If there is no
head-to-head result or in the event of a multiple-team tie, the Kanza Bowl Selection Committee will determine the representative. The LSC's opponent in the Kanza Bowl will be the best or second-best non-playoff team from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
But before the Wildcats begin worrying about Sunday afternoon scenarios, they've got one
huge game left in the regular season, and that's against a Midwestern State team that knows it must win Saturday just to have a chance at a playoff berth.
The Mustangs enter Saturday's contest ranked No. 7 in the region, meaning they'll need a win
just to have a chance at claiming one of the six playoff bids from Super Region Four.
Local fans can listen to the game on KYYW 1470 AM.
