Football | 11/16/2025 8:45:00 PM
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (pacathletics.org) - Two Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) football programs earned bids to the NCAA Tournament when the 40-team field was announced Sunday evening, as PAC champion Washinton & Jefferson College and Grove City College will represent the conference when the playoffs begin next Saturday.
W&J, who earned an automatic bid after winning the PAC title, is ranked No. 44 in the NCAA Power Index (NPI) and will travel to No. 34 Susquehanna University in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Football Championship Playoffs on Saturday (Nov. 22), at 12:00 p.m.
In addition, Grove City earned an at-large berth in the playoff draw and will visit Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) champion Hanover (Ind.) College in the first round of the playoffs, with kickoff also scheduled for Saturday, November 22 at 12 p.m.
W&J will be on the road for the seventh time in its last eight appearances in the NCAA Tournament. The Presidents enter the postseason boasting an 8-2 overall record and winners of eight in a row after a 67-0 victory over Thiel College in the regular season finale to complete an unbeaten 8-0 run on its way to the conference championship.
This marks the 28th time appearing in the Division III postseason for the Presidents. By claiming its 28th PAC championship, W&J has now won back-to-back conference titles for the first time since the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Presidents were tri-champions in the conference last season and also earned the PAC's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs, where they fell by a 38-22 score in the second round at Randolph-Macon.
The River Hawks of Susquehanna hold an 8-2 record as well from the regular season. Susquehanna was 6-0 in the Landmark Conference, winning its third-straight conference title.
W&J currently holds a 2-1 all-time record (1-1 home, 1-0 away) against Susquehanna. The Presidents met Susquehanna in the postseason once in its history, dropping a 28-20 playoff game to the River Hawks in 1986. The Presidents have won the last two matchups against Susquehanna, the most recent being from the 1994 season as W&J defeated the River Hawks in Selinsgrove, 34-0.
This will be the second time in the last three years Susquehanna will host a PAC team in the first round of the playoffs. In 2023, Grove City went into Selinsgrove and knocked off the River Hawks 21-20. Last year, Susquehanna made a deep run in the Tournament, beating Hobart, Saint John's (Minn.) and Bethel before losing in the semifinals at eventual national champion North Central.
The winner between W&J and Susquehanna advances to the second round to play at Christopher Newport University in Virginia on November 29th.
Grove City's playoff at Susquehanna in '23 was the first of now three consecutive years with an NCAA bid for the program. After pulling out the first round win that year, the Wolverines fell at eventual national champion Cortland in the second round, 25-24. Last season, national semifinalist Johns Hopkins edged visiting Grove City in Baltimore, 17-14.
This year's Grove City team (8-2) closed the regular season with seven straight victories to secure one of the 13 at-large berths in the tournament. The Wolverines earned a 63-14 win Saturday at Hiram to finish 7-1 in conference play, along with a 5-0 record on the road in the regular season.
Hanover (8-2) earned the HCAC's automatic berth in the playoffs by winning the conference title. Hanover became one of the first teams in Division III to clinch a playoff spot when the Panthers downed Bluffton, 48-0, November 1 to clinch the league crown. It is Hanover's first conference title and playoff berth since 2019. The Panthers enter the postseason on an eight-game winning streak.
This is the first meeting between the programs. It will be Grove City's first trip to Indiana since a 42-0 win September 14, 2013 at Anderson.
The Grove City-Hanover winner will visit North Central (Ill.) in the second round November 29.
Story contributions from W&J and Grove City Sports Information