UPDATED TICKET INFORMATION: Ticket prices for Saturday's game are $8 for adults and $4 for students. Children under two years of age are admitted free of charge. All tickets sold will be general admission. A pre-sale will take place in Wittenberg's HPER Center from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday. For more information, call the Department of Athletics at (937) 327-6489.

Photo Courtesy Hiram College Joe Fincham receives a special football from Assistant Coach Mark Ewald to commemorate his 100th win at Hiram on Nov. 4.

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The center of the college football universe on Nov. 18 is Columbus, Ohio. Fortunately for the many fans sure to jam Ohio's capital city that day, there should be enough time to catch the kickoff of that other game after the NCAA Division III Tournament contest between Wittenberg University and Capital University, which kicks off at noon in Capital's Bernlohr Stadium.

The Wittenberg Tigers, co-champions of the North Coast Athletic Conference and owner of a 7-3 overall record, will venture into familiar territory for the postseason opener. Capital, runner-up in the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 9-1 overall record, has defeated the Tigers in each of the last three season openers, including the 2006 meeting on Sept. 2.

A lot of football has been played in the 10 weeks since Wittenberg and Capital met to start the 2006 season. The Tigers rebounded from an 0-2 start and a fourth place position in the NCAC preseason polls to capture the eighth conference title in Wittenberg's 17 years in the league. Only Allegheny, a charter NCAC member of the 22-year-old league, has more football championship trophies with nine.

The Tigers are led offensively by tailback Tristan Murray, class of 2006 from New Carlisle, Ohio, who put together the third-best rushing season in school history with 1,426 yards and set a pair of school records with nine straight 100-yard rushing games after opening the season with just 26 yards on 14 carries against Capital. A veteran offensive line and two-year starting fullback Andy Vanover, class of 2007 from Tipp City, Ohio, clear the way for Murray, who also has 55 receptions in the last two seasons.

Defensively, the Tigers start nine seniors and have shown tremendous improvement since giving up an average of 509 yards in three nonconference games to start the season. Against NCAC competition, Wittenberg allowed less than 250 yards per game, including a paltry 45 against Hiram in the season finale. Linebackers Tyler Harmon, class of 2007 from Indianapolis, Ind., and Joe Swanson, class of 2007 from Germantown, Ohio, lead the team in tackles.

In guiding the Tigers to a sixth NCAC title in his 11 years at the helm, Wittenberg Head Coach Joe Fincham reached a career milestone Saturday as he became the second Wittenberg football coach to win 100 games. Fincham's career record is a sparkling 100-22 overall, good for a win percentage of .820, which ranks in the top 10 among active NCAA Division III coaches.

Wittenberg is making its 12th all-time appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Tigers won the inaugural competition in 1973, added a second title in 1975 and were national runners-up in 1978 and 1979. Wittenberg, which reached the playoffs four straight years from 1998-2001, sports an 18-9 overall record in NCAA Division III Tournament play.

After winning their first four games by an average of 48 points, the Capital Crusaders were challenged repeatedly in the final six weeks. Ranked fifth in the nation by d3football.com, Capital came up with narrow road wins over conference foes John Carroll, Ohio Northern and Baldwin-Wallace and comfortable victories over Muskingum and Otterbein in a strong stretch run to the 2006 season. The Crusaders' lone defeat came against defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Mount Union on Oct. 28.

The winner of the Capital-Wittenberg first round game will advance to face the winner of a game between Concordia (Wis.) and North Central (Ill.) on Nov. 25 at a site to be determined.

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