Kohawks shot at playoffs comes down to next two games

Will they get in?

The more pertinent question for the Coe Kohawks is: Will they win the rest of their games?

If Coe doesn't win at Loras Saturday, Buena Vista next week and at home against Cornell in two weeks, it will have no shot at making the NCAA Division III football playoffs.

Even if they do win out, the Kohawks are one of those “bubble teams” you hear so much about during basketball's March Madness.

“I don't have any idea,” Coe Coach Steve Staker said. “I just happened to look today for the first time at some of the criteria. I don't have any idea if we win out if we'd get in.”

This much is known. The D-III playoffs consist of 32 teams in four brackets. There are automatic bids for 23 conference champions, including the Iowa Conference. Unbeaten and fifth-ranked Central (7-0), which gave Coe its only loss, will likely be the IIAC champ.

Another three bids are reserved for the best of the independent teams and/or winners of conferences without automatic bids. That leaves six at-large bids nationally.

Claiming one of those is what Coe (6-1) is shooting for.

“I would say Coe is certainly in the mix,” said Pat Coleman, Executive Director of D3football.com, a Web site that covers Division III football. “But with only six spots, it's going to be pretty tight.”

The NCAA Division III Football Committee released its first regional rankings Wednesday, with Coe seventh in the West Region. The committee uses those rankings when picking at-large teams.

The Kohawks are one spot behind St. Thomas (Minn.), which also seeks at an-large berth. The last time the Iowa Conference had two teams in the field was 2005 (Coe and Central).

“We've talked to the kids about it,” Staker said. “We told them about the importance of continuing to play well because there are a lot of things for us to play for.”