Quarterback Nic Baker runs for a first down against Western Illinois this season. Baker and the Salukis will face Nicholls in the FCS playoffs Nov. 25. (Photo by SIUSalukis.com)
By Barry Bottino
November won’t be remembered in Carbondale for Southern Illinois’ 1-2 record to finish the regular season.
But what the Salukis did in September helped convince the FCS playoff committee that they belonged in the postseason.
On Sunday, SIU learned that it was selected for the FCS postseason for the third time in the past four seasons, thanks in part to a 4-0 September that included a blowout victory against fellow playoff participant Austin Peay and a road victory at FBS Northern Illinois.
The Salukis (7-4) will host Southland Conference champion Nicholls (6-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 25 in Carbondale.
“I don’t think there’s any denying that if there’s 14 at-large teams, that we’re one of those 14 teams,” SIU head coach Nick Hill said a day before the bracket was released. “If they’re going to go on trying to put the best field together, then we deserve to be in. I don’t think there’s any question with that.”
Southern was the only Illinois FCS team selected.
Despite winning six more games this fall than in 2022, Eastern Illinois (8-3) narrowly missed the field.
EIU, seeking an at-large bid, was listed among the “First 4 Out” in an ESPNU graphic during the bracket reveal show Sunday morning.
“In the six years I’ve been on this committee, this was by far the most difficult to get the 14 at-large teams together,” FCS playoff committee chairman Kent Haslam, the athletic director at Montana, said during the ESPNU broadcast. “There were so many really good seven- and eight-win teams. We got to the point late last night where we were literally scrubbing them and trying to do our very best to get those very best teams in. It was difficult.”
SIU, ranked No. 16 in this week’s STATS Perform FCS media poll, was one of six Missouri Valley Football Conference teams to qualify for the field, matching the MVFC’s own record for most postseason bids. MVFC members South Dakota State (No. 1) and South Dakota (No. 3) earned top-eight seeds.
Only one team from EIU’s league, the Big South-OVC Association, made the field. That was league champion Gardner-Webb (7-4). EIU and UT Martin, which both had eight wins, were left out.
The Salukis punctuated their 7-4 season Saturday at home with a dominant 38-9 victory against Indiana State.
The winner of SIU’s first-round matchup with Nicholls will travel to face No. 4 seed Idaho (8-3) in the second round.
This season marks the 40th anniversary of SIU’s 1983 NCAA Division I-AA national championship and marks the 11th time the Salukis have earned a playoff bid.
Haslam said Southern’s 14-11 win against FBS NIU was a deciding factor. The Salukis also started the season with a dominant 49-23 win against Austin Peay, which finished 9-2 and made the field as the United Athletic Conference champion.
SIU lost to four teams that made the field. “The Missouri Valley was the deepest conference this year in FCS football,” Haslam said. “Their path to getting to seven wins … they were securely in the field.”
Eastern turnaround doesn’t include playoffs
Missing the playoffs as one of the First 4 Out stung the Panthers, who played an all-Division I schedule this season, and head coach Chris Wilkerson.
“While we are disappointed that we were not selected, I am very proud of our players and coaches,” Wilkerson said. “We had one of the best regular-season turnarounds in FCS football this fall. We will start our preparation for next fall with our heads held high and a chip on our shoulder.”
Eastern’s disappointment centered on being one of only six teams since the field expanded to 24 teams in 2013 to be left out of the playoffs with at least eight wins. Along with EIU and UT Martin (8-3) this fall, Florida A&M (9-2 in 2022), Monmouth (8-3 in 2018), McNeese (9-2 in 2017) and Austin Peay (8-4 in 2017) also did not make the postseason.
Haslam said arriving at the last four at-large teams in the field was the most difficult part of the process. “There was a (big) group that was very similar,” said Haslam, who said the committee leaned on comparing strength of schedule, common opponents and difficulties of each conference.
On the Big South-OVC, Haslam said UT Martin’s loss Saturday to Samford hindered the Skyhawks. According to MasseyRatings.com’s FCS strength of schedule rankings, UT Martin ranks 59th and EIU is 82nd nationally.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
Find us on social media!
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSPigskin
Facebook: Prairie State Pigskin
Instagram: Prairiestatepigskin
Prairie State Pigskin 
Leave a comment