For the 20th time in the last 24 postseasons, the Muhlenberg football team is headed to the postseason.
 
The Mules (7-3) earned a bid to the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series and will end their season with a home game against Widener on Saturday, November 23.
 
Initiated in 2015 by the Centennial Conference and Middle Atlantic Conference, the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series is comprised of the top three teams from each conference that are not selected to the NCAA Division III Championship. The top seed from each conference hosts the second seed from the other, and the two No. 3 seeded teams face each other, with the MAC hosting in even years and the Centennial hosting in odd years.
 
Muhlenberg earned the Centennial's top seed by finishing in third place behind Johns Hopkins, the CC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament, and Ursinus, which received an at-large bid and will, ironically, face a MAC opponent in King's in the first round.
 
The other Centennial-MAC Bowl Series games have Delaware Valley (MAC No. 1) hosting Franklin & Marshall (CC No. 2) and FDU-Florham (MAC No. 3) hosting Dickinson (CC No. 3).
 
Muhlenberg ended the regular season with a 21-0 non-conference shutout of Montclair State on Saturday, reaching the seven-win mark for the 13th consecutive season.
 
The Mules are 10-3 in the last six postseasons, winning an ECAC bowl game in 2017, advancing to at least the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and defeating Lebanon Valley in the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series in both 2022 and 2023.
 
Widener is 5-5 overall and 5-4 in the MAC. The Pride ended its regular season with a 49-26 home loss to Delaware Valley, snapping a three-game winning streak in which it defeated Alvernia, Lebanon Valley and FDU-Florham by a total of 16 points. Widener lost by just three points to King's, the MAC champion.

The Pride is playing in the postseason for the third time in the last four years but is seeking its first postseason win since 2014. Widener lost its last two postseason games by the same score, 49-21, to Rensselaer in an ECAC bowl game last year and to Susquehanna in a Centennial-MAC Bowl Series game in 2021.  

Widener leads the all-time series with Muhlenberg, 9-7-1, but the teams have played only once since 1976. The last meeting was in the first round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament, when Widener kicked a late field goal for a 36-35 win. The heyday of the series was in the early 1970s, including a memorable 1973 meeting in which the Mules won 21-19 against a Widener team that had three future NFL players and had won the previous year's meeting, 48-2.
 
The CC holds a 16-5 advantage in the bowl series after capturing all three games last year. The MAC won the first four games over the first two years of the annual event, but the Centennial Conference has won the 16 of the 17 games since 2017.
 
Ticket prices for the 2023 Centennial-MAC Bowl Series will be $10 for adults, $3 for students (elementary through high school) and free for college students with a valid school ID and a suggested donation to Special Olympics. Special Olympics athletes and children under the age of 6 are also admitted for free.
 
The two conferences will continue to support the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) partnership with Special Olympics by donating a portion of the proceeds generated during the Bowl Series to the organization. Giving back to local and regional communities not only adds to the comprehensive learning component of Division III, but also provides a venue for passion and service.