Record four WIAC teams make NCAA Division III football playoffs

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In case you still needed one more data point to demonstrate the excellence of athletics inside the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, you have it now.

For the first time in NCAA Division III history, a conference placed four teams in the 40-team Football Championship bracket, highlighted by a UW-River Falls team that has one of the most explosive offenses in the nation and is making its first tournament appearance since 1996.

UW-La Crosse, UW-Platteville and UW-Whitewater all earned berths as well, with tournament games kicking off Nov. 22 (though all the WIAC schools will begin Nov. 29).

River Falls (9-1) doesn't yet know its opponent, with Whitworth College (Washington) and Chapman University (California), both 8-2 teams, meeting in a "first round" game before getting to River Falls for the first-ever NCAA Division III playoff game at the college's Ramer Field.



The program received a dose of national attention from The Athletic college football writer Chris Vannini earlier this month, highlighting a team averaging nearly 600 yards of offense per game, well ahead of any team at any college level this season.

River Falls finished with 583.3 yards per game, nearly 50 yards better than Hope College (Michigan) for the best in Division III.

The Falcons defeated Whitewater for the first time since 2001, 52-14, en route to a conference title.

“This breakthrough year, we’re doing all the same things we’ve been doing since 2020, we’ve just had better results,” offensive coordinator Joe Matheson told The Athletic. “It’s that consistent and relentless commitment to our process.”

From Vannini's story:

"Matheson’s offense utilizes run-pass option calls, the quarterback run game, wide splits from receivers, bunch formations, option-choice routes and all kinds of unique formations. Matheson has pulled ideas from the Noel Mazzone tree, the Art Briles offense and some veer-and-shoot. He says he had to because River Falls is the smallest school in its SEC-like Wisconsin-based conference, the WIAC. Whitewater has more than double the enrollment and a roster that can line up and run the ball. Matheson didn’t have that."

“We’ve kind of Moneyballed our way into, how do you play four quarterbacks and still win in the toughest league in the country?” Matheson said, referring to QB injuries in previous seasons. “We’re going to have a lower threshold of arm talent because we’re willing to run the quarterback, create more space and create more one-on-ones.”

Quarterback Kaleb Blaha sits fourth in Division III with 328 passing yards per game, and the Falcons just had their first winning season in 21 years when they went 9-2 last year.

There will be plenty of familiarity for River Falls in their playoff journey.

La Crosse (7-2) will travel to face Hope (Michigan) in the second round, marking a fifth straight tournament appearance. Platteville (8-2) will make its second straight tournament appearance and fourth overall with a battle at home against Alma College of Michigan (8-2). Whitewater (8-2) will host DePauw (Indiana) in the second round.

Outside the WIAC, Concordia Wisconsin (9-1) earned a berth and will host a first-round game against Coe College (Iowa) on Nov. 22. The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference champion Falcons went 8-0 in league play and will appear in the tournament for the first time since 2013.

Whitewater, one of the powerhouses in all of college football, collected six national titles during a stretch from 2007 to 2014 and last appeared in the national-title game in 2019. The Warhawks won two games during their last NCAA appearance, in 2023.

(This story was updated to add a photo.)

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Record 4 WIAC teams, led by River Falls, in NCAA D3 football playoffs

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