Last night, the NAIA announced their playoff pairings, and there are a few things that make this year's bracket really one-of-a-kind.
For starters, the NAIA level joins the FBS and FCS ranks as the two levels who have decided to stay the course with postseason play, and this year's bracket is also unique because it features teams that have played anywhere between 4 and 10 games.
For example, 16 seed Carroll (MT) is 3-1 on the year and will take on top seed Morningside (IA). A number of other teams joined were able to get 9 or 10 games in as well.
In another interesting twist, the last time that Morningside took the field for a game was November 21st, 2020 - having opted to play their season in the fall and then wait for the spring playoff.
Morningside has claimed the last two NAIA national titles, so it will be interesting to see if the long winter layoff was an advantage to get healthy, or a disadvantage.
The playoffs will take place over the next few weekends with the national championship set for May 10th, 2021 at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium in Grambling, LA.
See a full run down of the bracket below.