× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

CEDAR FALLS | Bracketology is not a required course for Mark Farley.

In fact, Northern Iowa's football coach dropped it years ago, preferring to let somebody else guess at the makeup of the Football Championship Subdivision playoff field.

"I did that years ago," said Farley, grinning. "I wasted a lot of time doing that. I never was right."

Sunday morning, Farley and Panthers learned that their comeback season had not gone to waste. UNI earned an at-large bid to the 2014 FCS playoffs and a 7 p.m. Saturday game against Stephen F. Austin in the UNI-Dome. The Panthers are back in the postseason for the first time since 2011, ending a two-year absence that may have seemed like forever.

Those pieces of news received high marks from the head coach and his players. After struggling through a 3-4 start to the season, the Panthers' charge through a five-game winning streak and an 8-4 overall record got the job done. A senior class that brought high hopes to the program finally reached postseason play.

"I just wanted to get this football team in it, to get this crew in it, because it's a great class," said Farley. "It's a great football team as far as the people. So you wanted to get them in.