Florida A&M is back in the FCS Playoffs for thee first time in 20 years.
The FCS playoff committee announced that FAMU will travel to play Southeast Louisiana in the opening round. The game will take place on Nov. 27 at 7 PM EST.
FAMU defeated rival Bethune-Cookman 46-21 on Saturday in the Florida Blue Football Classic to finish the regular season 9-2. Its lone two defeats were to SWAC East champion Jackson State and FBS squad South Florida.
Southeast Lousiana finished the regular season 8-3, good for second in the Southland. It lost to FBS Lousiana Tech and Nicholls State, which got the conference’s automatic bid.
FAMU is the first HBCU to get an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs since 2016 when North Carolina A&T got a bid as a 9-2 as the MEAC runner up. It becomes the first SWAC team to make the playoffs since Jackson State accepted an auto-bid to the Division I-AA playoffs back in 1998.
The SWAC has never won a playoff game in 19 attempts, with Jackson State making Florida A&M, however, has been the most successful Division I HBCU in playoff history. It won the first-ever Division I-AA (now FCS) national title back in 1978. It has made seven playoff appearances, including six in a row from 1996 through 2001 and has a 5-6 record overall. It beat Troy State in 1998 and Appalachian State and Troy State in 1999 for its most recent wins.
The Rattlers head into the playoffs averaging 29 points per game while giving up just 15.1 points per game. That defensive average was second in the SWAC to Jackson State and among the best in FCS football