INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the first time since 2003, the Tarleton Texan football team has been invited to the NCAA Division II playoffs. Tarleton will travel to Kingsville to play Texas A&M-Kingsville at noon on Saturday, Nov. 14.

The Texans (9-2) were the fifth-ranked team in the region and will play at TAMUK, the fourth seeded team.

Central Washington and Northwest Missouri State remained first and second in the region, respectively. Midwestern State moved to No. 3 in the region while TAMUK moved to No. 4. MSU will host No. 6 Abilene Christian on Saturday at noon as well. 

The first- and second-ranked teams in each region receive a first-round bye and then CWU will host the winner of the Tarleton/TAMUK game while NWMSU will host the MSU/ACU winner. Both of those games will be on Saturday, Nov. 21. The regional final will be at the highest remaining seed on Saturday, Nov. 28.

The Texans had their ticket punched to the playoffs for the third time since joining Division II. The Texans are 1-2 all-time in the Division II playoffs after going 1-1 in 2001 and 0-1 in 2003. 

Tarleton's first trip to the playoffs saw the purple and white defeat Chadron State on the road (28-24) before losing at California-Davis (42-25). In 2003, Tarleton lost at Texas A&M-Kingsville, 34-10.

Tarleton claimed a share of the program's second Lone Star Conference Championship this season while also claiming a share of the school's fifth LSC South Division title.