BLOOMINGTON, Ill. -- The Illinois Wesleyan football Titans are back in the NCAA Division III playoffs for the sixth time overall and for the first time since 2013, earning an at-large bid and will host Case Western Reserve University (10-0) at Tucci Stadium at 12 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 18).

No. 11-ranked Illinois Wesleyan, who finished the 2017 regular season with a 9-1 overall record and shared the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship with a 7-1 mark, has a 3-5 record in its five previous playoff showings, going 2-2 at home and 1-3 on the road.

The No. 16-ranked Spartans also received an at-large bid into the NCAA playoffs, their fourth NCAA Division III playoff appearance and first since the 2009 season. The Spartans clinched a share of the 2017 Presidents' Athletic Conference championship with an 8-0 mark in league play, and went 2-0 in University Athletic Association contest to claim the conference's title.

The winner of the IWU/Case Western game would play on Nov. 25 against the winner of the game between nationally-ranked No. 2 Mount Union (10-0) and Washington & Lee (8-2).

NCAA Division III Playoff Bracket    |   Case Western Football Web Site

CASE WESTERN IN BRIEF: Case Western Reserve closed out the fifth undefeated regular season in program history with an overtime win over Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, 41-34 ... The Spartans have hosted all four of their previous postseason games (2007, 2008, 2009), going 1-3 in those contests, including a first-round victory over Widener in 2007 ... Case Western Reserve averages 43.5 points per game on 462.9 yards of offense, including 268.8 passing yards and 194.1 rushing yards per game. The defense allows just 16.9 points per game and 283.4 yards per game (170.7 passing, 112.7 rushing) ... Senior quarterback Rob Cuda completed 59.6 percent of his passes (159 of 267) for 2510 yards and 28 touchdowns with only five interceptions. He has also run for 276 yards and five touchdowns this season ... Seventeen different Spartans have caught at least one pass this year, led by junior wide receiver Justin Phan (48 catches, 591 yards, 7 TDs) and senior wide receiver Zak Hurd (25 catches, 606 yards, 4 TDs).  The CWRU ground game is anchored by senior Jacob Burke, who has carried the ball 210 times for 1,072 yards and 17 touchdowns ... Senior linebacker Justin McMahon leads the team with 72 tackles, including eight for loss and three fumble recoveries while senior linebacker Andrew Banathy has added 64 tackles and a team-leading four sacks ... Senior placekicker Ben Carniol has made eight-of-11 field goal tries and 55-of-57 extra point attempts.

CCIW: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin co-champion North Central will host St. John's (Minn.) on Saturday in its first round game.

WINS: Getting to nine wins in a season has only happened six other times in Illinois Wesleyan football history - the Titans finished with 10 wins in 1992 (10-1), 1996 (10-1) and 2009 (10-2) and also got to the nine-win mark in 2000 (9-1), 2011 (9-2) and 2013 (9-2) ... 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:
2013: A powerful ground game and stingy defense led visiting Wartburg College to a 41-7 victory over No. 13-ranked Illinois Wesleyan in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs on Nov. 23. Sophomore Brandon Domeyer ran for 161 yards and three touchdowns for Wartburg, who led 21-0 at halftime. The Titans' only score came with 1:06 left in the third quarter when senior Rob Gallik threw an 18-yard pass to Tate Musselman. Gallik completed 16 of 34 passes for 200 yards and senior running back Devonte Jones carried nine times for 39 yards. Defensively, senior Chris Simms led IWU with seven solo tackles and seven assisted tackles.
2011: The Illinois Wesleyan football team lost a 33-27 home decision to Monmouth in three overtimes in the NCAA Division III playoffs first round on Nov. 19. The teams tied 17-17 at the end of regulation and played through two rounds of overtime with alternating possessions. On Illinois Wesleyan's third overtime possession, sophomore Rob Gallik fumbled the ball at the 1-yard line to give the ball to the Scots. Trey Yocum ran four times for 30 yards in the final OT, including a 7-yard TD rush for the winning score. In the game, Monmouth got 323 second half yards and amassed 448 yards to 418 for the Titans. Gallik completed 21 of 43 with four interceptions and 280 yards. Sean Conley led the Titans with 47 rushing yards of the team's 138 total.
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.