UNI has been rewarded for playing a schedule that was ranked No. 1 as the toughest among all Football Championship Subdivision teams.

Roughly 17 hours after closing their regular season with a 37-0 shutout over Missouri State at the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, the Panthers learned their playoff fate late Sunday morning (Nov. 18, 2018).

The selection committee not only chose UNI as one of 24 FCS teams to compete for the National Championship, the Panthers were also given a first-round home game. UNI will host Lamar (TX) at 4 PM on Saturday in the Dome.

The Cardinals (7-4 overall), who finished third in the Southland Conference with a 6-3 mark, enter the playoffs on a six-game winning streak. Lamar started the season with a 70-8 over NAIA opponent Kentucky Christian, then lost the next four games, including a 77-0 decision at Texas Tech.

Lamar is one of three teams from the Southland Conference chosen to for the playoffs. The bracket also includes three Missouri Valley Football Conference teams, two of which are seeded among the top eight (No. 1 seed North Dakota State and No. 5 South Dakota State).

UNI (6-5) finished third in the Missouri Valley Football Conference race with a 5-3 mark.

All reserved tickets for Saturday's game are $20 in person and $24 online at unipanthers.com/tickets. Students will be free with a scan at the door.

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