Great American Conference football champion Harding University earned a No. 2 seed and a home game in the NCAA Division II football playoffs, but the Bisons turned out to be the GAC's only representative in the 28-team field that was announced Sunday.
Harding (10-1) will play Washburn (9-2) of the Mid-American Athletic Association at 1 p.m. Saturday at First Security Stadium in Searcy.
Washburn, from Topeka, Kan., came into the final week of the regular season ranked No. 9 in the Super Region 3, behind No. 6 No. Henderson State, No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 9 Southeastern Oklahoma State, with Ouachita Baptist at No. 10.
Washburn (9-2) moved into the top 7 qualifiers when it defeated Missouri Southern 38-28 on Saturday and the two schools in front of it -- Henderson State (9-2) and Southeastern Oklahoma (8-3) lost.
Harding clinched the outright GAC title with a 31-0 win over Arkansas Tech and Henderson's 31-28 loss to Ouachita Baptist.
Harding will be hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2016, when the Bisons defeated Central Missouri 48-31. Harding has played its last eight playoff games on the road -- 2 in 2016, 4 in 2017, and 1 game each in 2018 and 2019.
Harding Coach Paul Simmons is 3-3 in playoff games since taking over as head coach in 2017 and is proud of the circumstances that have the Bisons in position to host at least two home games -- if they win Saturday.
"It's exciting times for us for sure," Simmons said. "I guess this is the highest seed we've ever had before. We've got to make it count."
Simmons said there is no question the Bisons, who have won nine consecutive games since a Week 2 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma, were excited to get the news.
"They'd be excited if they were going to Alaska," Simmons said. "They were excited to have a home playoff game, and possibly two, if we can keep on winning.
"We've got to figure out how to win. We've got our hands full with these guys. We've got to figure out how to win one for sure.
Fifth-year senior fullback Cole Chancey, the school's all-time leading rusher, and fifth-year senior Preston Paden are among a handful of Bisons who played a big role in the 2017 run.
"These guys know the drill," Simmons said. "They know what it's like to play in the playoffs. They've played in some huge football games. I'll be very surprised if this experience doesn't show up in these playoffs."
That Harding is the only GAC representative was disappointing news to OBU and Henderson State, which finished with 9-2 records.
"I'm disappointed for our team, for our seniors and for our coaching staff," OBU Athletic Director David Sharp said. "Yeah, it's hard. Having experience on the committee and knowing the criteria that they use, what can you say."
GAC Commissioner Will Prewitt, one of eight members of the Region 3 advisory committee, said Washburn's placement ahead of OBU had a lot to do with the Ichabods' 17-16 Oct. 16 win over Northwest Missouri, the region's No. 3 seed.
"If you look at Nos. 6 through 9, were basically dead even," Prewitt said. "You ended up having to put Kearney (9-2) ahead of Washburn because they beat them. You had to put Ouachita ahead of Henderson because they beat them. And you're sitting there, when you start comparing everybody, the biggest chip left on the table was that Washburn beat Northwest Missouri.
"The way the criteria was applied, if Henderson and Southeastern had won, we would have had three teams.
"I'm incredibly proud that we were the only conference in Super Region 3 with four ranked teams. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, we all beat each other up."