The Husson University football team will visit Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs next Saturday.
Game time for the first meeting between these two programs is noon at East Campus Stadium in Troy, New York.
The 32-team NCAA Division III playoff field and first-round pairings were announced Sunday.
Husson of Bangor (8-2) earned an automatic bid to this year’s tournament by winning the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference championship with a 6-0 league record.
The Eagles are leaving the conference after this season to join the Commonwealth Coast Football ranks in 2019.
Husson concluded its regular season Saturday with a 21-10 nonconference victory over Plymouth (New Hampshire) State to extend its winning streak to seven games.
Husson will be making its third straight NCAA playoff appearance and fourth in the last five seasons under head coach Gabby Price.
Last fall, the Eagles scored their first-ever NCAA postseason victory with a 23-21 first-round win at Springfield (Massachusetts) before being ousted by Delaware Valley 37-15 in the second round.
Husson is one of four New England teams in this year’s NCAA field along with Framingham (Massachusetts) State, Western New England University of Springfield, Massachusetts, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Husson played Western New England in nonconference play this season, dropping a 31-28 decision at the Winkin Complex in Bangor on Sept. 15.
Rensselaer went 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the Liberty League this season and was ranked as high as 14th in the NCAA Division III national polls. The Engineers tied for the conference title but earned the league’s automatic berth to the NCAAs via their 10-9 regular-season victory over Liberty League co-champion Ithaca College.
Rensselaer made its sixth appearance in the NCAA playoffs last November, falling to Wesley College of Dover, Delaware, 45-27 in the first round. The Engineers also qualified in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2007, with their best finish a national semifinal berth in 2003.
Rensselaer and Husson have one common opponent this fall in Liberty League member Union College of Schenectady, New York. The Dutchmen defeated Husson 30-7 in their season opener on Sept. 1 and topped Rensselaer 34-10 in their regular-season finale last Saturday.
Union finished third in its conference and did not qualify for the NCAAs.
The Husson-Rensselaer winner plays the winner of Saturday’s first-round game between The College at Brockport (New York) and Framingham State on Nov. 24.
