Texas A&M-Commerce football coach Colby Carthel was "toasty warm" on his living room couch in Amarillo, Texas, on Dec. 11, 2010, when Minnesota Duluth played Northwest Missouri State in the Bulldogs' legendary ice bowl game.

Carthel watched the NCAA Division II national semifinal on television. It's hard to know what a 20-below wind chill feels like unless you're actually there, but Carthel got a feel for it by seeing Northwest Missouri State coach Mel Tjeerdsma bundled up on sideline, his face beaten red by windburn.

"He looked like a popsicle," Carthel said. "The two things that were impressive that night was the frigid cold, and the fact Northwest Missouri got beat. I was like, 'Holy Hanna, this Duluth team is something else, because nobody beats Northwest.' That was a very, very memorable game in Division II."

Now Commerce and UMD can write their own chapter. The teams square off in the first round of the NCAA playoffs at 1 p.m Saturday at Malosky Stadium.

Fifteenth-ranked Commerce (9-2) is seeded sixth and comes in as the defending champion but will be the underdog against fifth-ranked UMD (11-0), seeded third. Super Region 4 features six of the country's top 15 ranked teams.

"Whoever comes out of it is going to be tough to beat," Carthel said.

Last year that was Commerce, in improbable fashion. The Lions won 20-6 at Winona State, 34-31 in double overtime at Central Washington and then 31-21 at top-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato en route to a 14-1 season and the Lone Star Conference's first national football title since future Minnesota Gophers coach Jim Wacker led Southwest Texas State to back-to-back titles in 1981-82.

The three teams Commerce beat in the region were a combined 35-1 before the losses, something Carthel called the "biggest gauntlet run in NCAA history." But that wasn't the only challenge the Lions were facing.

"I think 16 players we started the playoffs with in Winona didn't play for us in the national championship game," Carthel said. "So between injuries and this, that and the other, we just found a way to get it done each week. It was a fun year and really a special run. I really don't think we were the best team in the country. We just got hot at the right time. It was unbelievable. I still don't know how we did it."

Commerce is a city of 8,078 located about 60 miles northeast of Dallas, and it gets cold there. Carthel pointed out Commerce was only about eight degrees warmer than Duluth on Wednesday.

Both of the Lions' losses this season were at home, and they clearly showed last year that they can win in Minnesota.

"We're a focused team when we play on the road, and obviously, that showed some last year and we did luck out," Carhel said. "Trust me, it's always better to be lucky than good, and we were plenty lucky last year. In fact, the day we played in Mankato it was warmer in Mankato than it was in Commerce. The stars aligned for us."

That team was led by Harlon Hill Trophy winner Luis Perez, a quarterback who didn't play high school football but threw for 5,001 yards and 46 touchdowns for Commerce as a senior last fall.

The Lions are not quite like that this season.

Commerce has outscored opponents by an average of 33-19 and is balanced. The Lions average 380 yards per game, with 154 on the ground and 226 through the air. Quarterback Kane Wilson isn't a running quarterback but Commerce likes to use the 6-foot-4, 230-pound junior in short yardage, where he has nine rushing touchdowns.

"I feel like we can run the ball until I see Duluth," Carthel said, laughing. "I look at them on film and see their stats, and holy mackerel, those guys can play some defense. Whoever controls the run game on Saturday, that's going to be huge."

Carthel, 42, graduated from Angelo State and has more than 20 years of experience in the Lone Star Conference as a player and coach. He's a student of the Division II game. While a lot of eyes will be on the Grand Valley State-Northwest Missouri State matchup on Saturday, with 10 national titles between them, this one is pretty good.

Carthel said the Bulldogs, who won national titles in 2008 and 2010, have a Paul Bunyan-like aura in other parts of the country, thanks in part to that 2010 national semifinal.

"Ultimately people think every game is like that, with the wind howling off Lake Superior, and it's brutally cold," Carthel said. "Instead of three yards and a cloud of dust, it's three yards and a plow of snow. It'll be an interesting game, and I'm just tickled to be a part of it."

NO. 15 TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE (9-2) AT NO. 5 UMD (11-0)

What: NCAA Division II football playoff opener

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Malosky Stadium
Forecast: Sunny with a high of 22 and 10 mph wind

Internet: portal.stretchinternet.com/umd

Radio: KDAL-AM 610/KDAL-FM 103.9