Johnny Peltz has had a big role in keeping Wheaton unbeaten. Thunderphotos.com

The distance between Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill. and Wheaton College is about a 20-minute cab ride in the western Chicago suburbs, but also a world away in the realm of Division III football in how the two teams reached the playoffs this year.

Benedictine (6-4), co-champions of the NACC, and No. 8-ranked Wheaton (10-0), reigning CCIW champs, will share the same field when in the first round of the playoffs Saturday in games featuring Midwest teams.

Wheaton has been in the Top 25 all season long and jumped into the Top 10 with its victory over CCIW rival and No. 15-ranked North Central, which was not selected for the playoffs this year. The Thunder, buoyed by a strong defense, completed its first undefeated season since 2003.

Benedictine opened the season 1-4 before rallying to win its final five games of the season, including a dramatic 16-0 victory over Lakeland last Saturday in a showdown for the NACC title. The Eagles had to win the game by 15 points to overcome the conference's point-differential tiebreaker rule to capture the league's automatic playoff bid.

"It was a crazy game," said Benedictine coach Jon Cooper. "It was like we spotted them 15 points before it started. We shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times in the red zone until we got that touchdown early in the fourth quarter and then we were able to hold on for the win."

In one sense, Benedictine has been in the playoff mode since losing its NACC opener to Wisconsin Lutheran17-6 on Oct. 11. Cooper said even though his team is well accustomed to playing in do-or-die games this season, he does not particularly see that as an advantage against Wheaton.

"We've really had great leadership and our players' attitudes have been phenomenal," Cooper said. "We've played through a lot of injuries and we've gotten better through it all and just never gave up, like the cartoon of the crane trying to eat a frog as the frog grabbed its throat. Besides, just about any team can say they had to do what we had to do until about the last week of the season, but we took it down the last seconds of the game."

For Wheaton's coach Mike Swider, whose defense has held four of its 10 opponents to single-digit scoring this season and allowed only one point to score more than 30 points on them in 2014, it has been a total team effort this season.

"I think one of the things that's exciting about this football team is when you win in a variety of different ways," Swider said. "I don't think it was just offense, defense or special teams. All units play critical roles in us winning football games this year. That really helps when you're not depending on one phase of the game to win a game for you. We're playing well in all three phases of the game right now."

Swider said while he is not surprised that this Thunder team went undefeated, it general it is just hard for any football team to go undefeated.

"It's really encouraging to be able to win all of your football games and we expect to win, but the fact is that it is really difficult, and we've won a lot of games here," Swider said. "We've had some great seasons but hard to go undefeated."

Wheaton and Benedictine are familiar with each other. Both teams played a home-and-home that ended in 2013, both won by Wheaton.

"We're looking at film and seeing what we can do against them," Cooper said. "That's why you play them. You've always got a shot."

Upstart Macalester takes on No. 1 UW-Whitewater

Macalester coach Tony Jennison knows that as well, even though his task may be just a little bit more difficult as the Midwest Conference champion (9-1) travels to play No. 1-ranked and defending national champion UW-Whitewater Warhawks (10-0).

Jennison described this season as "magical" for the Scots, joining the Midwest Conference after being a longtime independent, setting a second record for wins, and capturing the conference title in dramatic fashion when its running quarterback Samson Bialostok threw for 311 yards in leading Macalester to a 30-27 win over Illinois College.

"We’re going to be underdogs whoever we play, why not be underdogs against the very best and the biggest name in the entire country? It's just awesome," said Jennison, who won national championships at a player at UW-La Crosse in the 1990s.

"It's been unbelievable how our season has gone," Jennison said. "Every time we needed it someone has stepped up and made a play it's happened. I won two national championships as a player and played in the Stagg Bowl and I take away nothing from those experiences but this here has just been even as magical."

So what are Macalester's chances against Whitewater?

"We know they're a great football team. We're not idiots," Jennison said with a laugh. "This is an awesome experience and we're excited about it. They are the most amazing team we've seen on film and it's obvious why they've done what they've done. They are well coach and they've got great athletes. We haven't played a team at that level. We're going to go out there and play our hardest, do our best."

Franklin travels to No. 14 Wabash

While Franklin (8-2) is not as close to Wabash (9-1) as Benedictine is to Wheaton, Franklin coach Mike Leonard said he was happy in the in-state Indiana trip that amounted with a roughly two-hour bus ride through Indianapolis to Crawfordsville to take on the nationally ranked Little Giants.

The Grizzlies wrapped up their fifth straight HCAC title and seventh crown in the last eight years with a victory over Hanover in the Victory Bell Classic Saturday. The Franklin and Wabash have not played each other since the two teams played a home-and-home in 2006 and 2007, split by both teams at the time when Franklin started to turn its program into a winner.

"Our win against Wabash (in 2006) was our first big win for us," Leonard said.

The Little Giants were nationally ranked all season long and Leonard admitted he is concerned about keeping his senior Grant Welp out of the clutches of the Little Giants pass rush.

"They are very well coached and sound fundamentally and we're going to have to match that," Leonard said, who knows the Grizzlies' strength is throwing the football. "We know they like to blitz and come after the quarterback and we're going to have to figure out a way to account for that throughout the game. We're going to have to keep them off-balance with a mixture of run and pass."

Leonard said while he is happy with his HCAC titles, he wants to see his teams have consistent success in the playoffs. The Grizzlies have advanced to the second round the past three seasons, including last year's 17-10 victory over Washington U.

"Any time you win and qualify for the big show it's exciting and it's a great field of 32 teams," Leonard said. "I think we're doing things the right way but we're still striving to notch it up one and see how far we can take this in the playoffs. That's our goal."