Villanova Gets A 5th Seed, a Bye, and a Home Game in FCS Football Playoffs

Villanova Hosts the Winner of the Holy Cross – Sacred Heart First Round Game Under Friday Night Lights December 3rd, Kickoff at 7 PM

VILLANOVA, PA. 11/21/2021 –

The Villanova Wildcats, the Champions of the CAA, gathered to hear the Selection Show to learn of their seed and opponent. As the league titlists they would be the automatic qualifier. The big moment came when Villanova was announced as the #5 seed in the FCS Division 1 Football Playoffs. The Wildcats would receive a bye in the first round and would host the next round of games.

That opponent will be the winner of the Holy Cross (9 – 2), winner of the Patriot League, vs. Sacred Heart (8 – 3), from the Northeast Conference, contest. That game to be played on November 27. The first game for Villanova (9 – 2) is at home on Friday, December 3rd at 7 PM. Villanova Coach Mark Ferrante sees the benefit of a good seed, and is happy for the off week.

“I’m glad we got a bye in the first round,” Ferrante said. “That’s exciting. Our guys will get a couple of days off and be able to spend Thanksgiving with their families. I’m excited about a home game. We’ll go from there.”

For the players a few days of rest and healing will be a huge benefit.

“We get a week to rest our bodies and get our feet back,” said Villanova defensive lineman Malik Fisher. “You get that explosion back.”

This is the 14th time Villanova was given a tournament berth. The last time was in 2019 when they were defeated at Southeastern Louisiana in a close game. The team intends for the result to be different as they approach the game in a business-like manner.

“We went to Southeastern Louisiana, and it was a fun experience,” Fisher said. “Now, we’re here to handle business. We’re not here to have an experience and be excited by the bright lights. You need to handle business and we want to do it at home because that’s the most comfortable place to go. It feels good because deep down inside we got some type of respect to play a home game rather than going to someone else’s place.”

The Villanova team is experienced and has many fifth and sixth year players. Fisher and running back Malik Covington are amongst those players who see this as an opportunity to fulfill goals and expectations.

“Let’s do what we planned to do,” Covington said. “When we came here as freshman, win the CAA. One goal down. Now, it’s to lead to a national championship. We came back and are going to lead this team and win.”

The top eight seeds will get a first round bye and a home game in the second round. Sam Houston State is the overall number one seed. They are followed in seeding order by North Dakota State, James Madison University, Sacramento State, Villanova, Montana, East Tennessee State University, and Montana State.

But for this week the Wildcats will focus on the Wildcats.

“Our focus this week, a bye week, starts with us,” Ferrante said. “What we are doing is go back and reevaluate ourselves.”

“We are going to focus on what we’re doing, not who or what our opponent is doing. There’ll be time for that when we come back and know who we are playing.”

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com