Harvard Football Makes Postseason, Will Face Villanova on Saturday

The Harvard Crimson football team (9-1, 6-1 Ivy) is set to face the Villanova Wildcats (9-2, 7-1 CAA) in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Saturday after receiving an at-large bid for the 24-team tournament. The team will have to travel to Villanova due to dropping past the 16 seed. With a win, the Crimson would travel to Township, Pa. to face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in a second round matchup on Dec. 6th.

Harvard’s at-large bid was the first ever in Ivy League history, as this season was the first in which Ancient Eight schools were eligible to participate in the postseason. While it did manage to find its way in, the Crimson was one of the last four teams selected by the FCS Playoff Committee, squeaking in even with yesterday’s ugly loss to Yale.

According to committee chair Mark Wharton, Harvard’s play from the first nine weeks was strong enough to warrant it receiving a selection.

“We had them very early in the process,” Wharton said. “Looking at what they’ve done in their conference and nonconference, and obviously the loss yesterday had us really having a lot of conversations about where they stood, but we even thought with the loss to Yale that they warranted a selection. We’re excited to see how the Ivies do in the tournament.”

For the Ivy champion Yale Bulldogs, they will play in the tournament thanks to the automatic bid they received as conference champion following their win yesterday against the Crimson. The Bulldogs will travel to Youngstown, Ohio to face the Youngstown State Penguins on Saturday in their first round matchup, with a possible game in Bozeman, Mont. against the Montana State Bobcats on Dec. 6th if they win.

For Harvard Head Coach Andrew Aurich, he is relieved to see his team make the tournament and is ready to prepare for their game against the Wildcats.

“These guys are just excited to be able to play more football and you get to be together for another week,” Aurich said. “Hopefully we can extend it from there, but we’ve just got to focus on Villanova now and enjoy our time together as much as we have.”

— Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at connor.castaneda@thecrimson.com.