IS LOOKING FOR A CORNERBACK
After the bids came out yesterday, however, the big question changed to: Why didn't Villanova get a bid?
The selection committee took an unprecedented five teams from the Colonial Athletic Association yesterday. But the fifth school turned out to be New Hampshire, which finished with the same overall record as Villanova (7-4) but was only 4-4 in the conference compared with 5-3 for the Wildcats.
The Blue Hens (8-3, 5-3) got in and will play Delaware State (10-1), the champion of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, on Friday at Delaware Stadium in Newark. It marks the first-ever meeting of the teams; both teams played football for the first time in 1924.
But Villanova, vying for its first playoff berth since 2002, will stay home after closing its season with a 16-10 home win over Delaware.
"We were surprised they took five from the CAA," Wildcats coach Andy Talley said last night. "I think we were under strong consideration for the spot, but it looks like they chose New Hampshire over us.
"I think our record and strength of schedule should have served us extremely well. We would have loved to have had a shot at going to the playoffs. I'm not sure what the rationale was. But any time you're on the bubble, you're in harm's way."
The UNH and Villanova results were remarkably similar. Both lost to CAA playoff teams James Madison and Richmond, and both defeated Delaware. Both beat Hofstra, a team that was nationally ranked most of the season.
Villanova played a Football Bowl Subdivision team (Maryland) and lost. New Hampshire played an FBS team (Marshall) and won.
However, UNH has a marquee player in quarterback Ricky Santos, one of the nation's top quarterbacks in the Championship Subdivision.
As for Delaware, the Blue Hens are paired against Delaware State, a historically black college located about 40 miles to the south in Dover, and playing a game both schools have managed to avoid for 80-something years. It's the first postseason game for Delaware State.
"Who knows why the game hasn't been played?" Delaware coach K.C. Keeler said yesterday. "I really never got an answer."
University president Patrick Harker, who took office last July, said he would like to make a Delaware-Delaware State game part of the annual football schedule, but Keeler said the Blue Hens were filled up through 2011, and after that, "we'll find a way to put them on the schedule."
Keeler did say, however, that his team is looking forward to playing the Hornets, and that his players have heard the Delaware State players wanted to go up against the Blue Hens.
"We do know one thing - they called us out," Keeler said. "They said, 'We want Delaware.' Our kids' thing is, watch out what you wish for."
The Friday date is a little unusual. Keeler said the Blue Hens didn't usually practice on Monday because of class schedules but because of the Friday game, he had to call practice for 6 a.m. today.
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