Coaches and players gathered in Flowers Hall to hear their playoff-fate announced by the Division II football committee earlier this afternoon.

The Lions were selected as the No. 3 seed in their region and will host Tuskegee University Saturday, Nov. 23 at Braly Municipal Stadium.

UNA finished the season on a seven-game winning streak and finished 8-1 against D-II opponents this season.

The No. 2 seed in UNA’s region, University of North Carolina-Pembroke, finished 7-1 in D-II games and were awarded the higher seed.

“My understanding is that the criteria of the seeding is the team with the toughest Division II schedule,” said defensive coordinator Chris Willis. “I guess they’re schedule was tougher than ours.”

The one common opponent between UNC-Pembroke and UNA was defending D-II National Champions Valdosta State University. UNC-Pembroke won by five, while the Lions won by 50.

“It might be a good thing that we’re playing (next week),” said Bobby Wallace, head coach. “We’re on a roll and we believe we can keep that going.”

UNA’s only D-II loss was against Delta State University during week three, when they fell 37-34.

“We should have beat Delta State, so that’s on us,” Wallace said. “They have a formula and they have to do the best they can with that formula. Now we just (have to) take care of our own business.”

The Lions will now turn their attention to the Golden Tigers on Saturday.

“We didn’t get what we wanted,” said senior linebacker Brion James. “We know what we have to do now, and we’ll be ready.”

With six teams from each of the four regions making the playoffs, the top two seeds from each region will receive a bye in the first round.

“We were hoping for the two seed,” quarterback Luke Wingo said. “But we’re a hot team, so we’ll be fine.”