The Illinois State football team earned a bid Sunday to the FCS [Football Championship Subdivision] playoffs for the second season year in a row and the seventh time under Brock Spack’s tenure as head coach.
The Redbirds received an at-large bid to the 24-team field and will play at No. 16 seed Southeastern Louisiana at noon, Saturday, Nov. 29, in Hammond, Louisiana.
The winner will play top-seeded and defending national champion North Dakota State in the second round.
ISU [8-4] ended the regular season Saturday with a 37-7 loss to Southern Illinois, snapping a four-game winning streak.
While the loss may have impacted seeding, it did not cost the Redbirds a home playoff game. ISU booked the Illinois High School Association football finals at Hancock Stadium next weekend, a move Spack said he supports for recruiting purposes, even if it means losing a potential home game.
The football team gathered Sunday morning with coaches and administrations gathered at the Aaron Leetch Stadium Club for a playoff selection show watch party.
The Redbirds advanced to the second round last season by defeating Southeast Missouri State, then falling to UC-Davis.
ISU is one of six Missouri Valley Football Conference teams to advance to the playoffs. Valley schools have won 12 of the last 14 national championships.
