Aurora University’s (AU) football Spartans are headed to the NCAA Division III football championship playoffs for the ninth time in program history and fifth consecutive season the NCAA has held a playoff.
During the NCAA D-3 selection show Sunday, the Spartans received a Pool A berth as they finished the regular season with another program record 9-1 overall record and an 8-0 record for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference championship.
AU will have a first-round bye before heading to Hope College (10-0 and 7-0 MIAA) in Holland, Mich., for kickoff Saturday, Nov. 30, at 11 a.m.. The game will be the eighth meeting between the two football programs with Hope holding a 1-5-1 record. The last meeting came in the 2023 season opener with AU defeating Hope 38-17 at Spartan Athletic Park in Montgomery.
AU football is under the direction of head coach Don Beebe in his sixth season at Aurora.
AU is led by an offense that ranks ninth in scoring at 49.2 points per game and 17th in total offense (472.9 yards per game). Defensively the Spartans rank 12th in total defense (235.7 yards per game) and 21st in scoring defense allowing 13.7 points per game.
—Al Benson