Weber State Will Host Southern Illinois In FCS Playoffs

OGDEN, Utah – The Weber State football team will host Southern Illinois in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on April 24 at Stewart Stadium.

Weber State will host the Southern Illinois Salukis from the Missouri Valley Conference in the FCS Playoffs on April 24 at 2 p.m. MDT.

The Salukis went 5-3 this season with wins over Southeast Missouri, then-No. 1 North Dakota State, Youngstown State, No. 4 Northern Iowa and No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana. Their losses came against North Dakota, No. 6 South Dakota State and Missouri State. They had games against Illinois State and Western Illinois canceled.

Let's get to work‼️#PurpleReign #WeAreWeber #BigSkyFB #FCSPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/yi8XSJqsjK

— Weber State Football 🏈 (@weberstatefb) April 18, 2021

The 16-team bracket was released on Sunday with the top four teams receiving seeds. South Dakota State is the No. 1 seed, followed by Sam Houston State at No. 2, James Madison at No. 3 and Jacksonville State at No. 4.

If Weber State can knock off Southern Illinois, they will face the winner of South Dakota State and Holy Cross. Eastern Washington is the only other Big Sky school to reach the FCS Playoffs.

THE BRACKET 😍🏆#FCSPlayoffs ➡️ https://t.co/0CXs30yPG4 pic.twitter.com/Ho5ZuMDRQx

— NCAA FCS Football (@NCAA_FCS) April 18, 2021

The Wildcats made their first playoff appearance under Jay Hill in 2016 when they lost to Chattanooga. They would reach the postseason every season after that. In 2017, Weber State knocked off Western Illinois and Southern Utah in the first two rounds before losing to James Madison in the quarterfinals. In the following season, the Wildcats beat Southeast Missouri in the second round and lost to Maine in the quarterfinals.

Fifth straight trip to the @NCAA_FCS Playoffs 🏈#PurpleReign #WeAreWeber #FCSPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/9AqjhXQVGg

— Weber State Football 🏈 (@weberstatefb) April 18, 2021

They went all the way to the semifinals in 2019 after beating Kennesaw State and Montana in the second round and quarterfinals respectively. James Madison eliminated them from the playoffs in the semifinals.

In a shortened 2021 spring season, Weber State finished with a 5-0 record with wins over Idaho State twice, UC Davis, Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. They won the Big Sky Conference championship outright for the first time in program history.