10th-ranked Northwestern College squares off against seventh-ranked University of Saint Francis (Ind.) in a second round match-up between top 10 teams at the 2018 NAIA D-II National Championship on Friday, March 9. Tip-off at the Sanford Pentagon is scheduled for noon. Northwestern is a No.3 seed in the Liston portion of the bracket and is 26-6 on the year. USF is the No.2 seed and brings a 26-8 record into Friday’s game.
This will be the first ever match-up between Northwestern and USF.
Northwestern is in its 18th appearance at the NAIA D-II National Championship, second most among the 32-team field (behind Bellevue-19). This is the Red Raiders second consecutive trip to the D-II Championship and they have a 31-15 overall record at the championship, the fourth most wins in the field (Cornerstone-37, Oregon Tech-33, Bethel-32). Northwestern won the national championship in 2001 and 2003, finished as runner-up in 1992 and have reached the semi’s in 2002, 2007 and 2008.
USF is in its 10th trip and owns a 21-8 overall record at the D-II Championship. The Cougars won the national championship in 2010, defeating Walsh (Ohio) 67-66. They have also finished as the national runner-up on two occasions, most recently in 2016 when they lost to Crossroads League rival Indiana Wesleyan, 69-66. USF was also the runner to Cornerstone (Mich.) in 2011.
