West Alabama has a proud football history, so when a team does something that hasn’t been accomplished in 53 years, it’s an attention-getter.

The Tigers crushed Erskine 63-0 at Tiger Stadium in Livingston last Saturday to get to 9-1, its best regular-season finish since 1971. That just so happens to be the year West Alabama (then known as Livingston) went 11-1 and won the NAIA championship, the school’s lone national title at any level in more than 80 years of fielding a football team.

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“We came out and did what we needed to do,” 10th-year Tigers head coach Brett Gilliland said. “Having the best regular season since 1971 is a big deal. I have ties to that team and I think the coolest part is that I know what that ‘71 team was and the brotherhood they had. Coming through the spring and the summer, we started to see that brotherhood build on this team and that’s what makes the difference. These guys care about each other and trust one another.”

West Alabama, ranked 12th in the latest NCAA Division II poll and seeded third in Super Region Two, will try to keep the party going on Saturday. The Tigers host 15th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne of Hickory, N.C. — 9-2 and runner-up in the Piedmont Conference — in the first round of the playoffs, with kickoff set for 1 p.m. in Livingston.

West Alabama’s lone blemish this season came 21-6 at Gulf South Conference rival Delta State on Oct. 19 (a Sept. 28 game at unbeaten and top-ranked Valdosta State was canceled due to Hurricane Helene). Since that loss, the Tigers have won four straight games, blasting Chowan 38-0 on Oct. 26 and Shorter 31-6 on Nov. 9, while closing out a 17-14 nailbiter vs. North Greenville on Nov. 2 when the visiting Trailblazers failed to recover an onside kick with 1:12 remaining.

West Alabama is in the playoffs for the first time since 2018 and is hosting a postseason game for the first time since 2017, when the Tigers went 10-3 and reached the Division II quarterfinals. That was the best finish in Gilliland’s 11 years in Livingston, in which he has a record of 71-42 with seven winning seasons.

“We’re undefeated at home and our guys feed off of that energy,” said Gilliland, who was named Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year for 2024. “Our guys made a commitment in the spring that this stadium means something to them, so we need everyone in the stands (on Saturday). We need them loud and giving us a home field advantage because that’s what this team has earned.”

The 43-year-old Gilliland was a record-setting quarterback at UWA during his playing days, and he has a fine one on his team this year in junior Spencer Arceneaux. The Mobile native — who originally signed with Nebraska out of McGill-Toolen Catholic School — has thrown for 17 touchdowns with just four interceptions in 2024, while also rushing for four TDs and a team-best 6.3 yards per carry.

Tight end Caeleb Bass (30 receptions, 6 touchdowns) and offensive lineman Allen Jones made the All-GSC first team this year, but the Tigers mainly win with a defense that allows just 11.2 points and 253.4 yards per game. Five UWA defenders made first-team all-conference: defensive linemen Trevon Lambert (11 sacks), Cody Sigler (12 tackles for loss, 6 sacks) and Davonta Jackson (13.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks), linebacker Trevon Stanford (55 tackles, 11.5 TFLs) and defensive back Lamar Gray (3 interceptions, 6 pass breakups).

And if the game comes down to the wire, West Alabama has one of the top kickers in the country. Sophomore Elijah Guyton, also a first-team All-GSC pick, has made 15 of 17 field goals and 31 of 33 extra points this season.

The Tigers are certainly playing with a ton of confidence. Arceneaux credited the mindset instilled during the offseason by the West Alabama coaching staff, and well as the camaraderie throughout the roster.

“We’ve been in multiple situations where adversity hits, but nobody really panics, nobody really folds,” Arceneaux said. “Tension may get high or whatnot, but everybody knows in our heads and in our hearts, that ‘we’ve got this.’ “Also, the brotherhood. In high school or in college, I’ve never been on a team like this. … Everybody knows we’re trying to achieve one thing. We’ve all got our minds set on that.”

Saturday’s playoff game at Tiger Stadium will stream live via ESPN+. The winner will face either Wingate or Virginia Union in round 2 on Nov. 30.