W&J draws Centre in first round of NCAA playoffs
Washington & Jefferson College’s football team will play Centre in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs Saturday.
That’s the good news.
The not-so-good news is that the Presidents will have to travel to Danville, Ky., a six-hour drive from downtown Washington to play the game.
Kickoff at Farris Stadium is noon.
Centre and Berry are co-champions of the Southern Athletic Association and W&J is champion of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Both teams have 9-1 records.
Centre received an at-large bid when the pairings were released Sunday because of a loss to Berry in September. It’s not common for an at-large team to receive a home game under these circumstances, especially against a conference champion with a prestigious program such as W&J.
“They were one of a bunch of teams we thought we might get,” said W&J head coach Mike Sirianni. “It’s not a surprise. It doesn’t matter to me (if we have to travel). I’ll get to watch some movies I’ve wanted to watch on the bus ride. Some teams have to play on the road and some have to play at home. We’re fine with it.”
The winner of this game plays either Denison or Mount Union, the defending national champion.
W&J is making its 26th appearance in the football postseason after disposing of Waynesburg, 33-14, at John F. Wiley Stadium Saturday to wrap up the PAC title.
“I told the team (Sunday) we get to play another game,” Sirianni said. “It’s like I’ve always said, we want to go 1-0 this week and see where we are from there. The goal for the program is to win a national title. We go in with the same mentality each week and that is to win this game and then see who we have next.”
This is Centre’s first trip to the playoffs since 2014 and second overall. The Colonels lost to John Carroll in the first round in 2014. Centre also appeared in the 2011 tournament, defeating Hampden-Sydney at home in the opening round before falling to Mount Union.
The championship game, the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, will be held Dec. 14 in Shenandoah, Texas.