Weber State is headed back to the FCS playoffs, where the Wildcats will face Chattanooga in the first round.
The Wildcats (7-4) will play at the Mocs (8-3) on Saturday at noon MST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
“We’re really excited to make the playoffs and have our season continue,” Weber State head coach Jay Hill said in a statement. “This team, especially the group of seniors, deserves this opportunity so we are excited to go play Chattanooga. We felt we deserved to get in the playoffs by finishing third in the Big Sky and we’ve accomplished a lot this season and glad to keep playing.”
Weber State is making its fifth appearance in the playoffs, earning an at-large bid after finishing third in the Big Sky standings with a 6-2 league record. The Wildcats won their final two games of the season, including a win over playoff-bound Cal Poly in Weber State’s home finale and beating Idaho State on Saturday.
The Wildcats are ranked No. 25 in this week's STATS FCS Poll, the team's first ranking since 2010.
This is the first time Weber State has made the FCS playoffs since 2009, when the Wildcats lost to William & Mary 38-0. Weber State’s last playoff victory came in 2008, when the Wildcats beat Cal Poly 49-35 in the first round before falling to Montana in the second round.
The Wildcats made a strong case for the playoffs by winning their first five Big Sky games before a close loss at North Dakota, which was seeded seventh in the FCS playoff bracket. The Big Sky also had the second seed overall in Eastern Washington.
Four teams from the Big Sky made the FCS playoffs, with both Eastern Washington and North Dakota earning first-round byes. Cal Poly hosts San Diego on Saturday.
FCS Selection Committee Chair Brian Hutchinson told ESPNU during the bracket unveiling show that Weber State and Cal Poly were among the final four in the 24-team playoff bracket.
Chattanooga, ranked No. 11 in this week's STATS FCS Poll, earned an at-large bid after finishing second to The Citadel, the No. 6 seed in the FCS playoff bracket, in the Southern Conference with a 6-2 league record. The Mocs enter the contest on a two-game losing streak, including a 31-3 loss to the nation’s top-ranked FBS team, Alabama, on Saturday, as well as a loss to Wofford, another FCS playoff team.
This is the third straight playoff appearance for Chattanooga.
The winner between Weber State and Chattanooga will face No. 5 seed Sam Houston State on Dec. 3 in the second round. The Bearkats (11-0) are the lone undefeated team remaining in the FCS.
This is the second year a team from the state of Utah made the FCS playoffs. Last year, Southern Utah won the Big Sky championship and faced Sam Houston State in the first round, losing a 42-39 thriller. The T-Birds finished the 2016 season with a 6-5 record and were ranked earlier in the season.