First time Eastern has met regional rival in postseason since 1985
The NCAA likes to seed teams into the initial rounds of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs with the geography — and face it, money — in mind.
With the potential of cross-country junkets in the future for teams that advance, college football’s sanctioning body does what they can to cut travel.
Past playoff match-ups in Cheney have prompted a “who’s that,” and “just where the heck are they from,” responses since 2010. So it’s hard to beat how things shook out for this year’s second-round game.
Saturday’s 1:35 p.m. second-round match-up at Roos Field comes between Big Sky Conference heavyweights, Eastern Washington and Montana.
“We know how good Montana is, their tradition and how well-coached they are,” Eastern head coach Beau Baldwin said when the pairings were announced Nov. 23. “We were in a battle again against them earlier this year.”
That “earlier,” was just a month ago when the Eagles used a Tyler McNanny 34-yard field goal with 28 seconds to play to seal a 36-26 win over the Grizzlies who rallied from a 33-10 deficit to make the contest a nail-biter.
The last such contest for Eastern where they faced a nearby rival, then as a I-AA independent team, was their first venture into postseason back in 1985 when they ventured down to Moscow, Idaho. The Eagles stunned the No. 11 Vandals with a come-from-behind 42-38 victory.
The No. 4 ranked, and No. 4 seeded Eagles are 10-2 overall and finished the league season 7-1, winning a third consecutive Big Sky title. The Eagles come off a first-round bye and are in the playoffs for the 11th time, including their eighth appearance in the last 11 seasons since 2004.
Montana, one of three Big Sky schools that earned playoff bids, improved its record to 9-4 following a 52-14 win last Saturday in Missoula over the University of San Diego. Montana State fell at home to South Dakota State 47-40.
Saturday’s winner will meet either Illinois State or Northern Iowa. If Eastern wins they would host the next round either Friday, Dec. 12 or Saturday, Dec. 13.
Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].
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