The Illinois Wesleyan football Titans are back in the NCAA Division III playoffs for the second time in three seasons and for the fourth time overall. IWU earned at at-large bid and will host Monmouth (9-1) at Tucci Stadium at 12 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 19).

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for senior citizens aged 62 and older, and $4 for students with a valid ID. Children under the age of 3 will be admitted free. No passes will be honored. Gates will open at 10 a.m.

Illinois Wesleyan, who finished the 2011 season with a 9-1 record, has a 3-3 record in its three previous playoff showings, going 2-0 at home and 1-3 on the road, and has never lost a first round NCAA playoff game. The Fighting Scots, winners of nine straight games, were idle last weekend and are making their fourth overall appearance; they were also in the NCAA championships in 2009, 2008 and 2005 as a result of being Midwest Conferece champions.

The winner of the IWU/Monmouth game will meet the winner of the game between the No. 3-ranked University of St. Thomas [Minn.] (10-0) and St. Scholastica (10-0) on Nov. 26.


MONMOUTH IN BRIEF: The No. 25-ranked Fighting Scots are coached by Steve Bell, who has compiled a 93-31 mark in 12 seasons at the school.
The Scots lost their first game of the year to Wartburg, 35-28, and have been unblemished since, winning most recently 56-27 over Knox on November 5.
Monmouth has been among the NCAA's statistical team leaders this season, boasting Division III's top-ranked offense in yardage (556.7) and scoring (49.3). The Scots allow 366.9 yards per game and 21.8 points per game.
Senior quarterback Alex Tanney recently set the NCAA all-divisions career touchdown passing record (154) and eclipsed the Division III career passing yardage mark (13,686). Wide receiver Mike Blodgett is ranked No. 2 nationally in receiving yards per game (155.40). Blodgett has caught a pass in 43 straight games and, in their Nov. 5 game over Knox, made 13 grabs for a school-record 239 yards and three TDs. He holds the team's yardage records for single game, season and career.

THE SERIES: Illinois Wesleyan has a 2-1-1 lead in the series that dates back to 1898 but IWU and Monmouth have not met in football since 1974. The teams played twice in 1898, batting to a 0-0 tie and then Illinois Wesleyan took an 11-0 victory. Monmouth won by a 19-6 score in 1923 and the Titans downed the Scots, 10-9, in 1974, the senior season of current Titan head coach Norm Eash.

CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin champion North Central will host Dubuque on Saturday in its first round game. Both teams are 9-1.

WINS: Illinois Wesleyan has had nine wins or more in a football season four other times — most recently in 2009 (10-2). The other nine win teams were in 2000 (9-1), in 1996 (10-1) and in 1992 (10-1). The school record for wins in a season is 10…Until 2000, CCIW teams only played nine regular season games...

PLAYOFFS: In 1996 and 2009, the Titans have lost to the eventual national Division III champion. A look at previous playoff appearances:
2009: The Titans beat Wabash at home, 41-35 in the second overtime possession. Jack Scalcucci caught a 30-yard TD pass from Kraig Ladd on a fourth and 15 play to provide the winning score…IWU was ousted the next weekend by the eventual national champion Wis.-Whitewater by a 45-7 margin. The Titans trailed 14-7 in the second quarter before the Warhawks reeled off 31 straight points. Whitewater's Jeff Donovan was 21-of-28 for 271 yards with three touchdowns and Levell Coppage led the ground game with 188 yards on 32 carries.
1996: IWU was also 1-1 in the 1996 playoffs, downing Albion on the road (23-20) before falling again to Mount Union (49-14), who went on to become Division III national champions. Titan end Steve Peterson's block of a potential game-tying 19-yard field goal with 1:22 left saved IWU's win at Albion. Mount Union stormed to 35 second quarter points behind quarterback Bill Borchert, who threw for 228 yards and rushed for 97 more.
1992: The Titans were 1-1 in 1992 NCAA playoff action, topping Aurora, 21-12, at home before falling to Mount Union, 49-27. Quarterback Tom Monken was brilliant in the two games, completing 38 of 57 passes for 474 yards, but Mount Union quarterback Jim Ballard set an NCAA record with 17 consecutive completions in the first half en route to a 26 of 33 day with 454 yards and five touchdowns. That yardage total was a record for an IWU opponent.
CORN BOWL: The 1992 postseason appearance was the first for the school since Nov. 25, 1948, when IWU beat Eastern Illinois on Thanksgiving Day in the second annual Corn Bowl before a crowd estimated at 8,500 at Wesleyan Stadium.