HAMMOND, La. – The No. 20/21 Southeastern Louisiana University football team will host Illinois State in the first round of the NCAA FCS playoffs, as the Lions earned the No. 16 national seed in the field.  
 
The game between SLU (9-3) and the Redbirds (8-4) will kickoff at noon Saturday in Strawberry Stadium. The winner of the first-round game will move on to face No. 1 seed North Dakota State Dec. 6 at noon in Fargo, N.D.
 
Southeastern will be making its sixth NCAA FCS playoff appearance in program history and fourth under eight-year head coach Frank Scelfo, having previously advanced to the postseason in 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2022.    
 
Southeastern was 9-1 in FCS play and won eight of those games by double digits, outscoring FCS competition by an average of just under 26 points per game (39.0 – 13.3) with the starters pulled from the game before the fourth quarter in seven of those wins.
 
SLU finished second in the Southland Conference standings for the second straight year, improving to 13-2 in league play over that stretch with the two losses coming by a combined five points.
 
Three Southland Conference teams will be in the field. Lamar will travel to face No. 10 national seed Abilene Christian Saturday. The winner of the Cardinals-ACU matchup will face league regular season champion and No. 7 seed SFA Dec. 6 in Nacogdoches, Texas.
 
Tickets will be available for purchase online at www.LionSports.net/tickets starting tonight at 8 p.m. SLU season ticket holders will have the opportunity to purchase their same seats through Tuesday at 4 p.m. Any tickets not reserved by season ticket holders by the Tuesday deadline will be made available to the general public.
 
The Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office is located in West Stadium. The ticket off will be open 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and Friday of this week.
 
Saturday's game will air on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow @lionupfootball on Instagram.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics observes a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.