UIW gets No. 7 national seed; Southeastern to host Idaho in first round of FCS Playoffs
FRISCO, Texas – Southland co-champions Southeastern Louisiana and UIW have been selected to participate in the 2022 NCAA Football Championship playoffs, as announced by the NCAA in Sunday’s selection show. This is the second consecutive season the Southland will be represented by UIW and Southeastern in the playoffs.
UIW (10-1) earned an at-large selection and is the No. 7 national seed, while Southeastern (8-3) will play in the first round after earning the conference’s automatic qualification. The teams tied for the conference title with 5-1 records, with SLU taking the AQ via a 41-35 win over UIW in the conference opener in September.
Southeastern will host Idaho (7-4) at 6 p.m. CST on Saturday, November 26 at Strawberry Stadium in the first round. The winner of this matchup will travel to take on No. 6 national seed Samford (10-1) in the second round.
UIW has a bye in the first round and will host the winner of the first round matchup between Elon (8-3) and Furman (9-2) at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday, December 3 at Benson Stadium
All games in the first two rounds will be streamed on ESPN+.
UIW is making its third appearance in the NCAA playoffs having previously qualified in 2018 and 2021. The Cardinals are 1-2 in the playoffs, with a 35-28 overtime win over Stephen F. Austin in the first round in 2021.
Southeastern is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA playoffs with a 3-4 record. The Lions’ previous appearances came in 2013, 2014, 2019, and 2021. The Lions advanced to the second round in 2021, defeating Florida A&M 38-14 at home in the first round last year.
Excluding the spring 2021 CoVID season, this is the sixth consecutive season the Southland has had multiple teams qualify for the FCS playoffs, and will be the 12th season overall a Southland team will play in the second round.