Playoffs? UCA to play at home

Central Arkansas' regular season had been over for less than an hour when Coach Steve Campbell when he started thinking about playoffs.

Standing outside his team's locker room Saturday in Huntsville, Texas, Campbell said he was looking forward to Sunday's FCS Playoffs selection show to see the Bears' draw in the 24-team field.

He said he was confident UCA would get a bid, even after a 59-23 loss to Sam Houston State cost it an outright Southland Conference title.

"We're going to bounce back and we're going to play better next week," Campbell said.

The Bears (9-2) on Sunday learned they'll get another game, at Estes Stadium in Conway, when they were selected to the FCS playoff field for the third time since joining the division in 2006.

UCA didn't earn one of the top eight national seeds and a first-round bye, but it will host Illinois State (6-5) in the first round of the playoffs at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Bears were shipped to Clarksville, Tenn., for a first-round victory over Tennessee State in 2011 and to Statesboro, Ga., for a first-round loss to Georgia Southern in 2012.

It's the first time UCA has hosted a national playoff game in any division since 2005, when it lost to North Alabama 41-38 in the Division II quarterfinals.

"To be able to play at home is big," Campbell said Sunday. "We're excited about the opportunity, understanding that Illinois State is a great football team. But we're excited about the opportunity to play again, and to play at home."

The Redbirds were one of four teams selected from the Missouri Valley Conference and enter the playoffs having won three consecutive games.

The Bears will enter the playoffs with one of the FCS' best defenses, even after Saturday's loss in which they allowed 500 yards of offense and 431 yards passing, their most in a game this season.

They lead the FCS in rushing defense (67.9 yards allowed per game) and are 14th in scoring defense (20.6 points per game).

Illinois State doesn't possess the FCS-leading offensive statistics of Sam Houston State. But receiver Desmond Smith said after the game that he was cautioning his teammates of the challenge posed by any playoff opponent.

"I don't want to say anybody was looking past it after we got down, or that we can't get past it," Smith said. "But, it doesn't get any easier. That's a playoff team. Another team will be a playoff team. ... These games aren't easy. They're not easy to win. These aren't regular conference games. These are the playoffs."

Sam Houston State (11-0) received the No. 5 overall seed despite being the only undefeated FCS team. Five-time defending national champion North Dakota State (10-1) earned the overall No. 1 seed.

If UCA beats Illinois State, it will play at No. 2 seed Eastern Washington (10-1), which won the Big Sky Conference and lost only to North Dakota State this season.

Illinois State, which was off in the final week of the regular season, is in the playoffs for a third consecutive year under Brock Spack. The Redbirds advanced to the FCS title game two years ago, and to the second round last year.

They started this season 2-0, including a victory over Northwestern of the Big Ten Conference. But they lost consecutive games to Eastern Illinois, Indiana State, North Dakota State and Youngstown State before winning four of their final five games.

Spack told the Pantagraph newspaper in Bloomington, Ill., that he wasn't sure if the Redbirds would get into he 24-team field. But, he had confidence in what his team had done down the stretch, beating South Dakota State, which earned a share of the Missouri Valley title and the No. 8 seed, Western Illinois and Missouri State to finish this season.

"I think if we do get in we would be a pretty dangerous team," Spack said. "We're playing pretty well right now."

Sports on 11/21/2016