CHENEY, Wash. — The Eastern Washington University Eagles are headed to the FCS playoffs after being named the #3 overall seed on Sunday.
The squad will play the winner of Nicholls State/San Diego on December 1st at 2 PM at Roos Field. The #3 seed is key for the Eags, as they receive a first round bye and will have home field advantage at least until the semifinals. Eastern comes into the game on a four-game win streak.
"We like to be at home – playing at home means you did a little bit more during the regular season," said Eastern head coach Aaron Best. "It's always fun to play at home and it's nice to have Thanksgiving off for our fans and our student-athletes to be able to enjoy some family festivities along the way. Then we'll ramp it up and play the winner of the Nicholls State and San Diego game we'll be watching on Saturday."
This is the Eagles 13th FCS Playoffs appearance and they have a 16-11 record in the tournament. EWU has made a postseason in 10 of the last 15 seasons. They are one of three FCS teams to achieve that feat (New Hampshire, Montana).
This is the first time Aaron Best has taken the Eags to the playoffs as a head coach, but he has done so in the past as an assistant for eight Eags postseason teams. He also went to the playoffs as a player in 1997.
Many Eastern fans will remember that the team was snubbed from the playoffs last year after finishing 7-4. This year the team came into Sunday in a much more comfortable position.
"The standard around here are Big Sky championships and playoff berths, so when we don't do that like last year it hurts," he explained. "I've been here 20-plus years and have been a part of a lot of victories, so it hurt when I couldn't tell those players last year why we didn't get in. The natural response is we didn't do enough on our resume to get in, but this year we didn't want to put it anybody else's hands. We weren't going to let a committee or people decide our fate. We decided our own fate, and here we are and being in the bracket and being allowed to play it out."
The deadline for current season ticket holders to claim their season seats and tailgate parking spots for all potential home playoff games is Wednesday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. Pacific time. Tickets for the general public will go on sale Friday, Nov. 23 starting at 8 a.m. Tickets may be purchased at www.goeags.com/tickets or 509-359-6059. Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 9 a.m. EWU students may pick up one ticket per student ID (one student ID per person), at the EWU Bookstore while supplies last.