NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoff Glance
First Round
Saturday, Nov. 27
Western Illinois (7-4) at Coastal Carolina (6-5), 1 p.m.
Lehigh (9-2) at Northern Iowa (7-4), 1 p.m.
South Carolina State (9-2) at Georgia Southern (7-4), 2 p.m.
Robert Morris (8-2) at North Dakota State (7-4), 7 p.m.
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Second Round
Saturday, Dec. 4
Western Illinois-Coastal Carolina winner at Appalachian State (9-2), Noon
Wofford (9-2) at Jacksonville State (9-2), Noon
Robert Morris-North Dakota State winner at Montana State (9-2), 2 p.m.
Villanova (7-4) at Stephen F. Austin (9-2), 3:30 p.m.
Southeast Missouri State (9-2) at Eastern Washington (9-2), 4 p.m.
Lehigh-Northern Iowa winner at Delaware (9-2), TBA
South Carolina St.-Georgia Southern winner at William and Mary (8-3), TBA
New Hampshire (7-4) at Bethune-Cookman (10-1), TBA
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Quarterfinals
Friday, Dec. 10
TBD
Saturday, Dec. 11
TBD
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Semifinals
Friday, Dec. 17
TBD, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 18
TBD, Noon
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Championship
Friday, Jan. 7
At Pizza hut Park
Frisco, Texas
TBD, 7 p.m.
Riding a three-game winning streak, Georgia Southern was selected Sunday to be part of the NCAA FCS playoffs. The Eagles return to the playoffs for the first time since 2005 and will face South Carolina State at 2 p.m. Saturday in Paulson Stadium.
It will be Georgia Southern's 17th appearance in the postseason as they seek a seventh national championship. If the Eagles beat the Bulldogs, who finished second to Bethune-Cookman in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, they will go on the road to face William & Mary. William & Mary is the second overall seed in the FCS playoffs and won the Colonial Athletic Conference.
After the Eagles fell Oct. 31 to Samford , 20-13, to fall to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the Southern Conference, and with top-ranked and undefeated Appalachian State up next, the playoffs seemed out of reach. But Georgia Southern rallied from 14-0 down to force overtime and then beat the Mountaineers, 21-14. The Eagles then went on the road the past two weeks and first beat Western Carolina, 28-6, and then arch-rival Furman on Saturday, 32-28, in Greenville. Georgia Southern overcame a 28-17 deficit to beat the Paladins.
South Carolina State is located in Orangeburg and the Bulldogs finished 9-2, with their two losses coming to Georgia Tech in the first game of the season and MEAC champion Bethune-Cookman.
The Bulldogs are making their fifth overall appearance in the FCS playoffs. SC State earned the MEAC's automatic berth in 1981 and 1982 and also in 2008 and 2009. This year marks' the first time the Bulldogs have received an at-large berth.
SC State has a 2-4 record in the playoffs. The Bulldogs defeated Tennessee and Furman in first-round games in 1981 and 1982, respectively, before losing in the next round. In both 2008 and 2009, SC State lost first-round games to Appalachian State.
Georgia Southern ranks first all-time with 38 NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff wins and six national championships. Georgia Southern last participated in the FCS playoffs in 2005 when it lost 50-35 to Texas State. GSU's last played host to a postseason game in 2004 when it fell to New Hampshire, 27-23.
For ticket information to Saturday's game, call (912) 478-9467.
