Nov. 18, 2007

By Jeff Honza
www.SIUSalukis.com

Bracket

CARBONDALE, Ill. - Southern Illinois University clinched the No. 4 seed in the 2007 NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Championship earlier today. The Salukis (10-1) will host Eastern Illinois University (8-3) Saturday at 1:30 p.m., CST.

SIU secured its second national top-four seed under head coach Jerry Kill. The Salukis were a No. 1 seed in 2003.

As a top-four seed, the Dawgs are guaranteed at least two home games. If SIU beats EIU, it will face the winner of Massachusetts and Fordham.

Saluki players and coaches gathered at Copper Dragon to watch the Selection Show, which was aired live on ESPNU. Shortly after the first four teams were revealed, there was a commercial break. Then, SIU popped up on the screen.

A loud roar followed and head coach Jerry Kill was interviewed later in the show.

Here are some reactions from Coach Kill and selected Saluki players:

Coach Kill:

"We're excited about it. It's great for Southern Illinois, our football program and our University. Now we've got to take advantage of it. We have to play Eastern Illinois and I have a great deal of respect for Coach Spoo and his program. We're just excited and now we've got to go to work."

"We really didn't know and it's something that you can't control. The biggest thing we wanted, of course, was to have the opportunity to play at home and it worked out well and now we've got to take advantage of it."

"They're a very good football team and coach Spoo has built an excellent tradition there. The last time Eastern Illinois was on our field, Tony Romo was on it and we didn't fair too well. That was early in my coaching career. I have a great deal of respect for their program and we're going to have to play very well. When you get to this thing, when you get to the 16 teams you have to get on a roll at the right time and hopefully we can."

"We're excited to be in the playoffs and we're excited about the opportunity to play Eastern Illinois, especially at home. We're not looking past Eastern Illinois, they're a good team and we will be ready to go."

"It's real important. We got that first game at home and that's really important. We found out the past couple of years how important it is to play as many as you can at home. But, if you can't win that first one, you can't go on, so we're going to prepare for Eastern and be ready for them because they're a good team."

John Randle:

"We feel like we worked hard for it, but it was still kind of surprising that they gave it (top-four seed) to us over Appalachian State. We feel that we deserved it because our record is better. We feel like we deserved the four-seed. It will be good to play here at home in front of our fans. It's way more comfortable to play at home."

"We can sit in here and be comfortable for the next two weeks. We can sleep in our beds the night before the game and our families can come. When we play far away, it's hard for our families to come, but my family can come here and that's exciting for me."

"I've never played them. I've heard of them, but I've never seen them play. We should be able to match up well with them. It's good that we haven't played them so there are no mixed emotions about the team. It's a new team and we can go in and get their film and start breaking it down."

Justin Allen:

"Playing at home is definitely an advantage, it always is and I feel like we play great at home. We have to bring our "A" game every week because nothing is guaranteed here in the playoffs. We want to keep playing as long as we can. Us seniors especially want to keep playing because nothing after this is guaranteed. I feel that if we just take care of what we do, nobody can touch us."