Villanova Football Bearing Down On Top 5 in Coaches Poll

Villanova Football secured an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs on Sunday, Nov. 23, earning the No. 12 seed in the tournament field and a first round home date against the Harvard Crimson after finishing the regular season on an eight game winning streak.

Now that the Wildcats have punched their playoff ticket for the fourth time in the last five years, the rankings don’t matter as much as they did earlier in the season, but they still provide an idea of just how good Villanova is. The Wildcats checked in at No. 6 in the AFCA Coaches Poll published on Monday, Nov. 24, up one spot from last week for their best ranking of the season. They remained firm at No. 9 in the Stats Perform Poll.

Despite that lofty ranking, the Wildcats enter the bracket at No. 12 because they weren’t able to lock up the CAA Championship. That went to No. 8/No. 9 Rhode Island, who finished their conference schedule on an unbeaten run but wasn’t able to lock up a first round bye. No. 21/No. 16 Monmouth, who handed Villanova their lone conference loss, notably did not make the postseason despite their top 25 ranking. New Hampshire, ranked No. 22 in the Stats Perform poll but landed just outside the top 25 in the coaches poll, locked up the CAA’s final playoff bid.

Villanova will host the Crimson, who are making their FCS playoff debut after the Ivy League ended their two decade long abstention from the tournament, at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29. Harvard began the season on a 9-0 run before losing to Yale in The Game. The winner of that game will remain in Eastern Pennsylvania, traveling to face No. 5 Lehigh the following Saturday.