The University of New Hampshire football team had an interesting weekend.
After getting blanked in the team’s finale on Saturday 15-0 to the Albany Great Danes, the Wildcats’ playoff hopes were in doubt. The team finished with a 7-4 regular season record, and would need to earn an at-large invitation to compete in the Football Championship Subdivision tournament.
“You are sitting in that room and you are looking at that TV and waiting to see a name, and it’s a very anxious moment for everybody involved,” says Coach Sean McDonnell, describing what it was like on Sunday afternoon as his team gathered to watch the playoff announcement.
Then, boom. UNH’s name flashed on the screen: The Cats would be hosting Central Connecticut State University in the opening round on Saturday.
“It’s just the feeling of relief, and a feeling of excitement. It was an electric feeling in that locker room,” McDonnell said.
This is the 14th consecutive season UNH has secured a playoff birth, the longest streak in the nation.
They’re taking on a Central Connecticut team that’s on an eight-game winning streak, with the winner of that game to face the four-seed Central Arkansas.