Things to Know About Grizzly Football’s First Playoff Opponent

While the regular season ended on a very humbling note for Montana Grizzly football, the "Second Season" will bring renewed excitement to Missoula.

The Griz earned a #6 seed and first-round bye for the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. On December 7 at 1:00 p.m., they will host the winner of the game between the Villanova Wildcats at Southeastern Louisiana Lions, who will play this Saturday afternoon.

Southeastern Louisiana, from Hammond LA, finished the season 7-4, and 6-3 in the Southland Conference, which will also be represented in the playoffs by Nichols and Central Arkansas. If you're looking for a quality loss on their schedule, the Lions dropped a 40-29 game at SEC member Mississippi, who is currently standing at 4-7. A noteworthy win would be their 34-0 shellacking of Central Arkansas, who, like Montana, earned a top 8 seed and first round bye in the playoffs.

If it ends up being Villanova that visits Washington-Grizzly Stadium, the Wildcats of the Colonial Athletic Association Conference are probably best known in Griz Nation for knocking off Montana 23-21 in the 2009 national championship game. Like Montana, they finished the year 9-3, starting the season 6-0. Of those six wins, none of the teams they beat will be in the FCS playoffs. Against tougher competition, the Wildcats proceeded to lose their next three games to James Madison, Stony Brook and New Hampshire. They then closed their season with a three-game win streak.

Whoever makes the trip to Missoula, here's hoping for a large loud and proud Griz crowd to welcome them!