For the first time since 2019, Saint Francis will participate in the NAIA Football Championship. Saturdayapps 39-31 loss at Olivet Nazarene forced the Cougars (8-3, 4-1 MSFA Midwest League) to share the division championship with rival Marian, which also finished 4-1 in division play. USFapps head-to-head win over the Knights propelled the Cougars into the postseason.
However, the loss in the regular-season finale likely presented the Cougars with a 12-hour road trip as a punishment of sorts, as USF learned Sunday it earned the No. 18 seed in the 20-team playoffs and will play in an opening-round matchup Saturday at No. 15-seed Southwestern (Kan.).
appIt 100% put us on the road,app USF offensive coordinator Adam Sherman said of Saturdayapps loss. appLooking at the rankings, if we win that, weappre hosting somebody, and maybe (Southwestern) is coming to us. It doesnappt matter, either weappre gritty or weappre not. The biggest thing is, we have to take it as an opportunity to come together as a team.app
Located just over 800 miles from the USF campus in Winfield, Kan., Southwestern will be hosting its first NAIA playoff game since 1998, the first year for football at Saint Francis. The Moundbuilders earned an at-large selection after finishing 10-1 overall and 4-1 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference, with their only loss coming to KCAC champion Friends University.
Saturdayapps game will serve as the first-ever meeting between Saint Francis and Southwestern in football. Southwesternapps colors are purple, black and white, and the school has a secondary nickname of appThe Jinxapp, which is the nickname printed on the football teamapps jerseys.
According to legend, Southwestern students placed a tombstone with a black cat on it on campus after defeating Fairmount College (now known as Wichita State University) 41-3 in football. The tombstone was believed to be good luck and the reason that Southwestern then defeated Fairmount for the next 14 years.
After a tough three-week stretch in which the Cougars knocked off Marian, Saint Francis (Ill.) and Saint Xavier app three teams with a combined 20 victories, including the MSFA Midwest League co-champion Knights that finished 8-2 overall app as part of a five-game win streak ended by Olivet Nazarene, Sherman explained that despite coming out appkind of flatapp against the Tigers, the USF Cougars will be ready for the challenge presented by the Moundbuilders.
appWeappre battle-tested and weappve seen everything,app Sherman said. appNow we just have to go out there and get this road monkey off our back.app
