FCS Playoffs - CCSU at Rhode Island

[CCSU97]

Central Connecticut will return to Kingston, RI for the second consecutive year to face 9-seed Rhode Island on Nov. 30 at Noon on ESPN+ in the first round of the 2025 FCS Playoffs. It is the program's fourth FCS Playoff appearance, the most of any team in NEC history and the most of any school from the State of Connecticut.

The Blue Devils, who won the NEC automatic bid, beat Mercyhurst 35-28 on Saturday to secure a league-leading eighth NEC Championship. The Blue Devils are 8-4 on the season and went 6-1 in NEC action.

CCSU and URI will meet for the sixth time, with Rams holding a 4-1 lead in the series. When the squads met last season at Meade Stadium in the FCS opener, the Rams prevailed 21-17. The Blue Devils defeated URI, 38-14, in 2014. The first meeting in the series came in 2004.

---

Also, Yale will travel to (15) Youngstown State.

2025 FCS football championship bracket announced

The field of 24 teams competing for the 2025 NCAA Division I Football Championship was announced today by the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee.

www.ncaa.com

 

[Waquoit]

I'll root for Central but I want whoever wins to go the whole way.

 

[JwittersPAC]

Are we basically going to see a repeat of last years FCS championship game? North Dakota State vs Montana State

 

[UConnDan97]

I'm rooting for Central and Yale the whole way. If both fail, I guess I'll get behind Rhody. We haven't been rivals for a while, so I can look past our past...

 

[businesslawyer]

Bulldog Bulldog bow wow wow. Very impressive win against Harvard (which got a bid as an at large) and now we’ll get to see if the Ivies can hold up against other FCS programs.

 

[Uconnalliance]

Ivy’s 1st ever invite??

 

[huskymedic]

Ivy’s 1st ever invite??

First time in 80 years the Ivy League is allowing their football teams to participate in the post-season.

 

[JwittersPAC]

First time in 80 years the Ivy League is allowing their football teams to participate in the post-season.

In the past the Ivy schools did not want to participate since they thought the timing interfered with Fall Final exams.

 

[ZooCougar]

Pulling for Yale but I won't be upset if Central does well. Good luck!

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Bulldogs vs Penguins at Youngstown for a trip to Bozeman to face the 2nd seed Montana State Bobcats.

 

[DoctorWho85]

I'm rooting for North Dakota, but I won't root against Yale and Central

 

[uconnbill]

I am rooting for any team that hasn't won it in the last 10 years. Would love CCSU or Yale, but again, anyone else but the usual NDST. Montana or Montana St would be nice

 

[Duncan Idaho]

One of the local TV stations mentioned The Game drew 52k.

 

[Alum86]

CCSU made the Deja Vu Bowl in Kingston?

 

[gioff2323]

URI has a great coach - all he does is win. Made sacred heart a really good team 2 decades ago but then left for a P coordinator role. Good to see him back in charge.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Are we basically going to see a repeat of last years FCS championship game? North Dakota State vs Montana State

My in-laws are NDSU alum and my wife's a Montana alum, so I'm rooting for a NDSU/Griz final, but there are a lot of fun wrinkles in this tournament. My mom went to CCSU, I go to more Yale games than any other team, if Rhode Island beats CCSU, no reason not to root for them, my dad lives near Lehigh, Villanova, New Hampshire, Harvard...overall, a very fun bracket!

 

[freescooter]

Go CCSU! But if not them, then Fight Fiercely Harvard!

 

[Purple Stein]

URI has a great coach - all he does is win. Made sacred heart a really good team 2 decades ago but then left for a P coordinator role. Good to see him back in charge.

They have a giant o line, an FBS running back, and a great QB.

URI got jobbed with the nine seed and having to go to UC Davis in the second round. Then likely seeing NDSU in the quarterfinals - a lot of disrespect for the CAA.

Not as bad as Monmouth though -- no way they committee should have left them out for Lamar.

 

[AllHusky]

In the past the Ivy schools did not want to participate since they thought the timing interfered with Fall Final exams.

Thought Ivies went home for Christmas and came back after New Year for fall finals. Long time ago??

 

[JwittersPAC]

Thought Ivies went home for Christmas and came back after New Year for fall finals. Long time ago??

Harvard final exams are December 10th through 19th

 

[CCSU97]

They have a giant o line, an FBS running back, and a great QB.

URI got jobbed with the nine seed and having to go to UC Davis in the second round. Then likely seeing NDSU in the quarterfinals - a lot of disrespect for the CAA.

Not as bad as Monmouth though -- no way they committee should have left them out for Lamar.

I don't know ... the 13-team CAA with unbalanced schedule this year means URI did not play top teams Villanova, Monmouth, New Hampshire, or William & Mary, padding their league wins against Albany, Bryant, Hampton, Campbell ... Non-conf wasn't impressive with wins vs LIU and Holy Cross, plus the loss to Brown.

Don't get me wrong the Rams are very good, but the committee has seen the fall of the CAA and the addition of the Ivy League to the party. MVFC got 6 teams in and SLC teams play more reach games in non-conf play.

Monmouth is simply not the same team without their QB, didn't have any great wins, and closed with an awful loss to Albany. I see why they are on the outside looking in.

While the New England region did well this year (CCSU, URI, UNH, Harvard, Yale) plus 'Nova and Lehigh in the Northeast, the power programs are in the Dakotas and the Deep South/TX.

 

[JwittersPAC]

I don't know ... the unbalanced schedule this year means URI did not play Villanova, Monmouth, New Hampshire, or William & Mary, padding their league wins against Albany, Bryant, Hampton ... Non-conf wasn't impressive with wins vs LIU and Holy Cross, plus the loss to Brown.

Don't get me wrong the Rams are very good, but the committee has seen the fall of the CAA and the addition of the Ivy League to the party. MVFC got 6 teams in and SLC teams play more reach games in non-conf play.

Monmouth is simply not the same team without their QB, didn't have any great wins, and closed with an awful loss to Albany. I see why they are on the outside looking in.

While the New England region did well this year (CCSU, URI, UNH, Harvard, Yale) plus 'Nova and Lehigh in the Northeast, the power programs are in the Dakotas and the Deep South/TX.

FCS Football Championship History | NCAA.com

The complete list of NCAA Football FCS champions from the first season to today.

www.ncaa.com

A Northeast team has not won the FCS since 2009- Villanova.

 

[king conn]

What I don't get is they are saying the Ivy League is good enough to get 2 teams in, but neither is seeded with a home game and URI is?

URI lost to one of the worst teams in the Ivy, Brown.