By Jim Fenton, The Enterprise (Brockton)

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University football team will make a 450-mile bus trip to take part in the NCAA Division 3 tournament this week.

The Bears are headed to Alfred, N.Y., located 70 miles south of Rochester, where they will face undefeated and 14th-ranked Alfred University on Saturday.

Bridgewater State players and coaches gathered on campus early Sunday night to watch the NCAA selection show, one day after finishing the regular season with an eighth straight victory.

This marks the fourth appearance in the NCAAs for the Bears, who earned an automatic berth by winning the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference championship with an 8-0 record.

It will be the third postseason meeting between Bridgewater State and Alfred (which is 10-0 and went 8-0 to win the Empire 8 championship).

The Bears traveled to Alfred in 1989 and were edged, 30-27, in the ECAC North championship game.

In 2011, the Saxons visited Bridgewater State and earned a 41-10 win over the Bears in the ECAC Northeast championship game.

BSU held a 10-0 lead in the second quarter in that game before getting outscored, 41-0, the rest of the way.

Alfred, which started playing football in 1895, went through the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1981 this fall. The Saxons had never gone undefeated in the conference before this season.

They have outscored opponents by an average of 37.6-19.1, and gained 436.1 yards of offense per game.

Senior quarterback Tyler Johnson scored 19 rushing touchdowns, gained 789 yards on the ground and completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,906 yards and 20 touchdowns in the regular season.

Junior running back Maleke Fuentes (793 yards) and senior running back Casey Bright (767) are also featured in a balanced running game.

Bridgewater State is one of three New England teams in the 32-team NCAA field. The other two, Western New England and Husson, are playing in Springfield Saturday.

The Bears (8-2) opened the season by losing two non-conference games by five points, then swept through the MASCAC.

They are led by running back Alex McLaughlin (1,068 yards), Malik Garrett (441 yards, 10 rushing touchdowns) and quarterback Danny Higgins (2,067 passing yards and 17 TD passes).

Dukens Léon, who has 54 catches, Travis Bassett (47) and Jack Lavanchy (45) all have more than 500 receiving yards.

BSU’s last appearance in the NCAAs was in 2012 when it received an at-large bid and lost to Widener, 44-14, in Chester, Pa.

The Bears lost at Hobart, 25-0, in Geneva, N.Y., in 2000 and dropped a 43-38 decision at home against Ursinus College in 1999.