BIG SKY CONFERENCE PRESS RELEASE
Four teams will represent the Big Sky Conference in the FCS playoffs.
League co-champions Eastern Washington and North Dakota, along with at-large bid Cal Poly and Weber State, will represent the Big Sky, as the conference tries to capture its eighth national championship in football.
The Eagles will receive the No. 2 seed, after a 10-1 season, and a perfect 8-0 run through conference play. Eastern Washington’s lone defeat came in overtime at North Dakota State, who earned the tournament’s top seed as the five-time defending national champion. The Eagles’ last postseason berth came in 2014, and they will host the winner of Central Arkansas and Illinois State.
The benefit of the second seed is the Eagles will be able to play at Roos Field through the semifinals, contingent on continued success. Eastern Washington won the Big Sky’s last football national title, winning in 2010 over Delaware.
A year after missing out on the postseason, with some controversy, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks made a goal to leave no doubt and there is no doubt the Fighting Hawks will represent the university for the first time ever in the FCS playoffs. The 9-2 Fighting Hawks will receive a seven-seed, and will have a bye in the first round of the tournament. North Dakota will play the winner of Richmond-North Carolina A&T. UND shared the conference championship with EWU with an 8-0 league record.
The Cal Poly Mustangs haven’t qualified for the FCS postseasons since 2012, and earn an at-large bid in the tournament, the third all-time postseason appearance for Mustangs coach Tim Walsh. Cal Poly finished the season with a 7-4 record, and will host San Diego in the opening round of the tourney, at 4 p.m. PST, Saturday.
A San Diego matchup should be familiar to the Mustangs, as they earned a 38-16 win over the Toreros earlier in the season. That game was part of Cal Poly’s strong non-conference schedule, which included a win at Missouri Valley champion South Dakota State, along with an overtime loss to FBS Nevada. The winner of the Cal Poly- San Diego game will advance to play North Dakota State.
Weber State will join the FCS postseason for the first time since 2009, and will travel to play Chattanooga, of the Southern Conference, at 12:00 p.m. MST on Saturday. The Wildcats had their best season since 2009, going 7-4, and finishing solo third in Big Sky play, at 6-2, in Jay Hill’s third season in Ogden. In his tenure, Weber State has improved from 2-9 to 6-5 to 7-4, and an FCS playoff qualifier.
The Big Sky Conference has had six programs win national championships, with six of the titles being FCS national titles: Boise State (1980); Idaho State (1981); Montana State (1984); Montana (1995, 2001); and Eastern Washington (2010).
