Colorado Mines players and coaches believed that Saturday’s thrilling triple-overtime win over No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney was enough to propel the Orediggers into the NCAA Division II playoffs.
They were right.
When the seeds were unveiled Sunday, Mines was in the postseason field for only the second time in its 123-year history. The Orediggers earned the No. 6 seed in Super Regional Three and will travel to Allendale, Mich., to take on third-seeded Grand Valley State on Saturday at 11 a.m. MST.
“This is one of the few times when you get excited to get to come to work again on a Sunday,” Orediggers coach Bob Stitt said moments after hearing the news. “We were at a restaurant watching the selection show (on ESPN News), and there was a pretty big roar when our name flashed on the screen.”
Mines finished 9-2 overall and 8-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and shared the conference title with Nebraska-Kearney, whom the Orediggers defeated 55-53 Saturday. A slight chance existed that both RMAC schools could qualify, but the Lopers were left out.
“I figured it would be one or the other,” Stitt said. “Our league doesn’t have the respect in the region that the other two leagues have, and it’d be very tough for us to get two teams in.”
Mines entered the game against Kearney ranked No. 21 nationally. Grand Valley State (10-1) is ranked No. 6, with its only loss a 20-17 decision to Michigan Tech. The Lakers commonly play in front of 10,000-plus spectators.
“We’ve seen them on TV because they’ve played in so many playoff games and national championships,” Stitt said. “We haven’t had a chance to break down any of their tapes yet, but we’ll do that later this afternoon.”
Mines’ only other playoff appearance was in 2004, when the Orediggers defeated Midwestern State at home before losing at Pittsburg (Kan.) State. A former laughingstock, Mines has morphed into one of the consistently premier teams in the conference.
“I don’t know if it’s sunk in with the players yet,” Stitt said. “They’re very excited, but they probably don’t realize how big of a deal this is.”
