The bracket for the 2024 NCAA Division III Football Playoffs was released on Sunday and Lake Forest was one of 24 teams with an opening round bye. The Foresters will take on either Coe College or Bethel University on November 30.

The Foresters clinched their third Midwest Conference title and NCAA Playoff berth in the last four seasons with a dramatic 35-28 victory over Monmouth College on November 9. They finished off their second undefeated regular season (10-0 overall, 9-0 MWC) during that span with a 28-9 triumph at the University of Chicago on Saturday. This year's appearance in the NCAA Tournament will be the fourth in program history.

Bethel will host Coe in the first round with the winner advancing to take on Lake Forest. Bethel enters the playoffs 8-2 overall and the Royals were 4-0 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletoic Conference Skyline Division but fell 41-33 at Saint John's University in Saturday's MIAC Championship Game. They have earned a spot int he national tournament for the fourth consecutive season and the 13th time in program history.

Coe defeated Simpson College 41-10 on Saturday to finish the regular season 9-1 overall and in second place in the American Rivers Conference standings with a 7-1 mark in league play. The Kohawks also qualified for the NCAA Playoffs last year and have now done so 11 times in team history

The winner of the second round game will take on either Wartburg College or the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on December 7.

Games in the first five rounds of the playoffs will be played on college home fields and the championship will take place on January 4 at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston, Texas.