Mavericks pick the Kanza Bowl

It became official Monday: UNO will play West Texas A&M in the Kanza Bowl on Dec. 5.

The Mavericks earned the right to choose to play in either the Kanza Bowl or Mineral Water Bowl by winning the tiebreaker among the top four MIAA teams which didn’t make the Division II playoffs. Only league champion Northwest Missouri State advanced to the six-team regional from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

UNO (7-4 overall) finished in a four-way tie for second with Missouri Western, Central Missouri and Washburn at 6-3. Among tied teams, UNO and Missouri Western each went 2-1 in head-to-head competition, while Central Missouri and Washburn were each 1-2. UNO beat Missouri Western head-to-head to earn its choice of either of the two bowl games with which the MIAA is affiliated.

The first-ever Kanza Bowl will be played at Hummer Sports Park in Topeka, Kan., home of Topeka’s public schools teams, with starting time at 1 p.m.

West Texas A&M (6-5) has won five straight games after a 1-5 start and went 6-3 in Lone Star Conference games, including wins over playoff teams from Tarleton State and Abilene Christian.

Four of the Buffaloes’ losses were to playoff teams, including top-five opponents Grand Valley State and Central Washington in nonconference matchups and Texas A&M-Kingsville in overtime.

The Lone Star earned four of the region’s six playoff berths, combining with Central Washington to squeeze out the MIAA. The Lone Star allows its schools to offer the Division II limit of 36 scholarships, which the Northern Sun (with a league limit of 24) does not.

Participants in the Mineral Water Bowl in Excelsior Springs, Mo., are scheduled to be announced Sunday. A possibility is a rematch of last year’s game between Missouri Western and Augustana.

Augustana (8-3), Wayne State (8-3), Bemidji State (8-3) and St. Cloud State (7-4) finished in a four-way tie for third in the Northern Sun at 7-3 behind playoff teams from Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota State-Mankato. While not all Northern Sun teams play head-to-head, Augustana was 2-0 in games with the tied teams — beating Wayne State and St. Cloud State. Bemidji State had nine of its games nullified, but not forfeited, for using an ineligible player.

Contact the writer:

444-1027, rob.white@owh.com