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NCAA sends SIU packing to Delaware

Playoff bracket has Salukis facing No. 2 seed Delaware in opening round

Late Sunday morning, while most people were eating their family breakfast or going to church, the SIU Arena was buzzing.

A couple hundred Saluki fans, players and media gathered to witness the SIU football team being presented with its first ever Gateway Conference championship trophy.

Following a presentation that featured talks by Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole, SIUC Chancellor Walter Wendler and head coach Jerry Kill, those in attendance then sat back to watch the Division I-AA playoff brackets announced live on ESPNews on a giant projection screen on the Arena floor.

When Southern Illinois popped up on the screen, the fans went nuts and started hooting and hollering in celebration of SIU's first playoff berth since the national championship season of 1983.

That quickly died down when they realized where the Salukis had been placed.

Instead of hosting a first round game, as the 10-1 and No. 5 ranked Salukis were expecting, SIU instead got shipped out to face No. 2 seeded Delaware.

The cheers quickly changed to boos and the occasional bullsh*t chants.

"We're definitely disappointed that we didn't get a first round playoff game," SIU quarterback Joel Sambursky said. "It's not what we expected, but at the same time, we're still in the playoffs."

Now instead of playing one more game at McAndrew Stadium, where SIU is 6-0 this season, the Salukis must travel to Newark, Del., to face the No. 3 team in the country this Saturday at noon. It will be broadcast on College Sports TV.

SIU's players knew very little about the 11-1 Blue Hens and could not really say much about what they expect from their first round opponent.

"Were they ranked?" senior running back Muhammad Abdulqaadir asked. "I didn't get a chance to look at it. [The draw is] totally surprising."

In addition to the Salukis, three other Gateway teams received berths, marking the first time one conference had four teams in the 16-team field.

League co-champion Northern Iowa, who handed the Salukis their lone defeat this season, was granted a home game and will face Montana State. Should both the Panthers and the Salukis win their first round games, the two are scheduled to meet in the second round.

Defending national champion Western Kentucky and Western Illinois also made the field after having to sweat the selection out with 8-3 records.

Western Kentucky will host Jacksonville State, and Western Illinois will travel to play Montana.

The other first round games are No. 1 seed McNeese State hosting Northern Arizona, Bethune-Cookman hosting Florida Atlantic, No. 4 seed Colgate hosting Massachusetts and No. 3 seed Wofford hosting North Carolina A&T.

Though disappointed at not getting a home game, Kill simply looked at last year's playoffs for motivation.

"Western Kentucky didn't play at home last year, they played on the road," Kill said with a smile. "Right now it just comes down to playing football."