The Monmouth College Football team will return to the playoffs and face a familiar foe in No. 7 Saint John’s (9-1, 8-1 MIAC). The teams will meet at Clemens Stadium in Collegeville, Minnesota at Noon on Saturday, Nov. 29 in the Second Round of the Division III Football Playoffs.
Ticket information will be announced soon and the game will stream exclusively on ESPN+ (subscription needed). All NCAA Division III Playoff games until the Championship game will stream on ESPN+ as part of a deal that began in 2024. The Scots and Johnnies are among 24 teams that received a bye into the Second Round while 16 teams will face off in eight games on Nov. 22.
The Fighting Scots last appeared in the postseason in 2019 and earned the Midwest Conference’s automatic qualifier with a 9-0 conference record this season. The Scots recorded their third shutout of the season on Saturday in a 69-0 win over Knox in the Turkey Bowl. The Scots rank among the best teams in the nation in numerous defensive categories while also averaging 50.4 points per game,
Monmouth faced Saint John’s in their first ever NCAA Playoff game back in 2005 with current head coach Chad Braun as an assistant coach and current OC Joe Freitag as a player. The Johnnies won that game 62-3 and the teams have not met since. The Johnnies have been to the Division III Playoffs 30 times, including 10 of the last 11 seasons. They are 50-28 all-time in the postseason including a 27-8 mark at home. Saint John’s received an at-larger berth after falling to Bethel 17-10 in October. They were 6-0 at home this season and 7-1 at home last year. Their lone loss came in the NCAA Third Round with a 41-38 loss to Susquehanna after the Johnnies won at home 24-13 in the Second Round.
The Scots last went to the playoffs in 2019, a 35-10 loss at UW-Whitewater. Monmouth is 2-7 in the NCAA Playoffs with a 2-5 record in the opening game. The Scots beat Aurora at home 42-13 in 2008 and won at Illinois Wesleyan 33-27 in 3 OT in 2011. The Scots also traveled to Minnesota in the Second Round in 2011, a 38-10 loss at St. Thomas.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Monmouth College football team is ranked nationally. After beating Knox 69-0 on Saturday to finish a 9-0 Midwest Conference season and 9-1 overall regular season, the Scots are ranked No. 25 in Sunday’s D3football.com poll.
The last time the Scots were nationally ranked was in the final poll of the 2016 season. The Scots checked in at No. 21 after falling to Coe 21-14 in the first round of the playoffs to finish the season 10-1. The Scots were nationally ranked for most of the 2016 season, cracking the top 20 in late October in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
This season, Monmouth has been among teams receiving votes nearly all season and cracked the Top 25 on Sunday. The Scots will face No. 7 Saint John’s in the NCAA Playoffs.
Overall, five teams from Region V are ranked with North Central at No. 1, Wartburg at No. 5, Wheaton at No. 19 and Coe at No. 24. Coe replaced Central after beating the Dutch on Saturday. Last week the Scots were fourth in Region V behind Wartburg, North Central, Central and Concordia, Wisconsin.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
