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Hens host Southern Illinois in NCAA football playoffs 9:13 a.m., Nov. 24, 2003--The Atlantic 10 Football Conference champion University of Delaware will host Southern Illinois University in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, it was announced Sunday afternoon. The 11-1 Fightin’ Blue Hens enter the 16-team tournament field as the No. 2 seed. UD is making its 12th tournament appearance and first since 2000. UD clinched a share of the Atlantic 10 title and the automatic conference tournament bid with a 20-17 victory at Villanova University on Saturday. Southern Illinois is 10-1 and the co-champion of the Gateway Conference, a tough Division I-AA conference that put four teams in this year’s tournament field. The Salukis had hoped for a first round game at home in Carbondale, Ill., but on Nov. 15 lost their season finale 43-40 to Northern Iowa.
Southern Illinois is coached by Jerry Kill. The team is led by a talented pair of running backs, seniors Tom Koutsos, the Gateway Conference all-time leading rusher who gained 941 yards this season, and Muhammad Abdulqaadir, who led the team with 954 yards. The quarterback, sophomore Joel Sambursky, threw for 1,561 yards and ran for another 332. The Southern Illinois defense allowed just 1,128 yards rushing and 2,211 yards passing in 2003. They caused 25 fumbles, intercepted 11 passes and gave up just 181 points. If the Hens defeat Southern Illinois, they will remain at home to take on the winner of the first-round game between Northern Iowa and Montana State on Saturday, Dec. 6. And a victory in that game would mean yet another home playoff game on Saturday, Dec. 13. The 2003 NCAA Division I-AA championship game is slated for 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 19, at W. Max Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tenn. McNeese State University (10-1), the 2002 national runner-up, is the tournament’s top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth as the Southland Conference champion. Wofford College (10-1), the Southern Conference champion, is the third seed and Colgate University (12-0), the Patriot League champion, is the fourth seed. Other first-round hosts include the University of Montana (9-2), Bethune-Cookman College (9-2), the University of Northern Iowa (9-2) and defending national champion Western Kentucky University (8-3). Other automatic qualifiers in the tournament include Montana State University (7-5), which earned the automatic bid from the Big Sky Conference after winning the tiebreaker over Montana and the University of Northern Arizona. Jacksonville State University (8-3), which is making its first postseason appearance since it won the Division II national championship in 1992, is the automatic winner from the Ohio Valley Conference. The University of Northern Iowa (9-2) earned the Gateway Football Conference's automatic bid and North Carolina A&T (10-2), from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, is the last automatic qualifier. Other teams in the field are Florida Atlantic University (9-2), Northern Arizona (8-3), the University of Massachusetts (10-2), the Western Illinois University (8-3) and Southern Illinois University (10-1). Following are the first-round games, all of which will be played Saturday, Nov. 29: Northern Arizona (8-3) at No. 1 McNeese State (10-1) To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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