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OGDEN -- For the second straight season, Head Coach Ron McBride and his Weber State Wildcats will be making an appearance in the FCS Division 1 Football Playoffs.
Wildcat coaches, players, and fans all joined together at the Marriott Hotel in Ogden Sunday afternoon to watch the announcement of the playoff brackets on ESPN News.
The Wildcats will travel to Williamsburg, Virginia to take on the Tribe of William & Mary, which has a record of 9-2; their only two losses coming to FCS playoff teams Richmond and Villanova. The Tribe is in the playoffs for the first time since 2004 and the eighth time overall.
The Wildcats make their fourth overall appearance in the playoffs.
After a 26-21 loss to Montana State on October 3rd, the Wildcats playoff hopes were in jeopardy each and every week. The Wildcats kept their hopes alive by winning five of their final six games, the only loss coming against the Big Sky Conference Regular Season Champions, the Montana Grizzlies.
Joining Weber State in the FCS playoffs will be two more teams from the Big Sky Conference; the Montana Grizzles and the Eastern Washington Eagles. Montana, which was awarded the number one seed overall, will host South Dakota State. Having the number one overall seed, the Grizzlies are guaranteed home field through the semifinals.
The Grizzlies are making a record 17th straight playoff appearance and their 20th overall, which is also a record. South Dakota State, representing the Missouri Valley Conference, is making an appearance in the playoffs for the first time.
The Eastern Washington Eagles are making their sixth appearance in the FCS playoffs as a member of the Big Sky Conference. At the beginning of the season the Eagles were facing a postseason ban from the NCAA are part of a three-year probation, but the ban was overturned on October 27th, making them eligible for post season play.
The Eagles have a reputation for making some noise in the playoffs, having defeated two top seeds- Southern Illinois in 2004 and McNeese State in 2007. The Eagles square off against a team making its first playoff appearance since 1995, Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks won the Southland Conference's automatic bid.
This is the first time since 2003 and the fifth time since 1988 that three Big Sky Conference teams will be competing in the Division 1 Football Playoffs. All three teams will play their first round playoff games Saturday November 28th.
Game times have yet to be announced.
Montana will be playing at home, while Eastern Washington and Weber State will be on the road.
If Montana and Eastern Washington were to win their first round games, the two teams would square off against each other in the quarterfinals. If the Wildcats win then they will play the winner of the Southern Illinois/Eastern Illinois game.
