THE GAME: The Ithaca College football team hosts the Framingham State Rams in the first round of the NCAA Division III Football Championship on Saturday, Nov. 23 at noon at Ithaca's Butterfield Stadium. Ithaca qualified for the tournament as champions of the Empire 8. Framingham State earned an at-large selection. The winner of this Saturday's game will play the winner of a first-round game between Johns Hopkins and Wesley (being played Saturday at Johns Hopkins) in a second-round game on Saturday, Nov. 30.

TICKETS: Adult tickets will be $8 and students and senior citizens will be admitted for $4. There will be no advance sale of tickets as of this time. Season admission passes for Ithaca donors and VIPs will not be honored as this is an NCAA postseason game.

THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: A total of 32 teams will be playing in the 2013 NCAA football playoffs; 16 first-round games will be played Nov. 23, with eight second-round games to be played on Nov. 30, followed by quarterfinals on Dec. 7 and semifinals Dec. 14 at campus sites. The 41st Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl is Dec. 20 at Salem, Va. Eight teams in the tournament field earned at-large invitations and 24 teams earned automatic qualification by virtue of winning their conference.

THE SERIES: Ithaca and Framingham State have never met, nor have they faced any common opponents this season. Ithaca faced one other team in the NCAA Tournament, defeating St. John Fisher 25-22 on Oct. 26. Framingham State opened its season with two games against teams that went on to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. The Rams won 35-23 at Endicott on Sept. 7 and lost 29-19 at Rowan on Sept. 14.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: Ithaca is making its 18th appearance in the Division III tournament and has a 27-14 record in 41 NCAA games, including national championships in 1979, 1988 and 1991. Ithaca has played in the Stagg Bowl for the national championship seven times. Ithaca made its last tournament appearance in 2008 and dropped a first-round game 26-21 to Curry. Framingham State is making its second appearance in the NCAAs. The Rams previously qualified in 2012 and lost a first-round game 20-19 at Cortland.

NCAA.com Interactive Bracket

NCAA Division III Football Bracket (printable .pdf)