KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Pikeville will travel to Baldwin City, Kan., to play Baker University in the first round of the NAIA football playoffs.
 
The game will be played Saturday, Nov. 23.
 
Baldwin City is 12 miles south of Lawrence, while Baker is the oldest four-year university in the state of Kansas.
 
Baker will enter the postseason ranked No. 12 in the latest NAIA Football GoRout Top 25 Ratings.
 
The Wildcats will enter postseason play with a record of 9-1 on the season after earning a share of the Heart of America South regular-season championship. They shared the title with MidAmerica Nazarene, who they beat 20-14 on Nov. 9, and Benedictine, to whom they lost their only game this season by a 27-24 score on Sept. 28.
 
UPike won their way into the postseason by going 5-5 on the season and 5-1 in the Appalachian Athletics Conference. They won the tiebreaker with Reinhardt (Ga.) thanks to a 47-21 win on Oct. 5.
 
This marks only the second trip to the NAIA postseason for UPike in the 24^th season of football. The other trip was in 2005, when they traveled to St. Francis, Ind., to play in what was then a 16-team NAIA field.
 
Baker will be in the playoffs for the 21^st time. The Wildcats allow only 14.5 points per game, which is good for ninth in the nation. They average 40.8 points per game.
 
UPike, meanwhile, enters postseason play averaging 43.5 points per game and surrendering 30.5.
 
Baker averages 207 yards per game in the air while rushing for 191.9. Three quarterbacks have thrown for 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions, led by junior Truman Juelsgaard, who has completed 65.1 percent of his passes.
 
On the ground, 10 different ball carriers have seen action. Junior tailback Chauncey Andrews has led the Wildcats with 456 yards and two scores, while Juelsgaard followed with 454 yards and a team best nine touchdowns.
 
UPike graduate student Lee Kirkland averaged 336.6 yards per game, having thrown 35 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while completing 66.60 percent of his passes.
 
On the ground, the Bears have been paced by freshman tailback Amon Williams, who led the AAC with 1,067 yards this season and 13 touchdowns. The Bears average 155.7 yards per game while scoring 26 times on the ground.
 
Baker has a balanced receiving corps, with five players having between 215 and 434 yards through the air. Freshman receiver Adrion Seals has led the way with 24 catches for 434 yards and five touchdowns. Five targets have multiple receiving touchdowns.
 
Junior Jalen Royal-Eiland led the Bears with 643 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, while senior Diego Soto set a school record with 64 receptions this season.