INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 17) – The California (PA) football team earned the third seed and hosting rights against East Stroudsburg in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs, announced during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday evening.

The Vulcans (8-2) will be making their eighth all-time appearance in the NCAA Playoffs, and first since 2017. Cal returns to the post-season after registering an eight-game win streak this fall with its only losses being against two of the three remaining undefeated teams (Charleston, Kutztown) in the country. The Vulcans will be hosting the NCAA Playoffs at Adamson Stadium for the first time since 2016.

Cal will face ESU for the third-straight year, as the teams previously met in Week 11 the last two seasons. The Warriors (10-1) are returning to the NCAA Playoffs for a consecutive year and the sixth time in program history. ESU closed the regular season on a seven-game winning streak following a six-point loss against Kutztown on Sept. 28.

Kutztown captured the top seed and a first-round bye after winning back-to-back PSAC Championships yesterday. Charleston received the second seed and will host Ashland, while Slippery Rock earned the fourth seed and will face New Haven.

Cal will host ESU in the opening round on Saturday, Nov. 23, with kickoff set for 1 p.m.

Note, all preliminary-round games of this year's football playoffs will be broadcast exclusively on ESPN+. You must have an ESPN subscription or have access to ESPN+ to watch the games. There will be no streaming allowed by schools and no local TV coverage allowed by local TV stations. None of the playoff games will be available on the PSAC Digital Network due to the exclusivity agreement between the NCAA and ESPN.