Undefeated defending national champion Kentucky and seven challengers enter the DI-AA playoffs, as the Road to Houston begins this weekend with on-campus quarterfinals hosted by the higher seeds.
Visiting the Wildcats in Lexington, KY at 1 p.m. ET Saturday is seventh-ranked St. Joseph’s. The Hawks entered the MARC championship game a perfect 9-0, falling to Virginia Tech, 31-27. Kentucky remains perfect at 8-0, narrowly escaping Clemson in the SCRC final, 8-7. It was the Wildcats’ first one-score game of the season, as they’ve been otherwise dominant.
Awaiting either Kentucky or St. Joe’s in the semifinals December 7 at Penn State Berks will be either UMass or LSU. The fifth-ranked Minutemen swept the competition en route to the Liberty crown, going 7-0 in conference play. The Tigers were a surprise to come out of the SCRC, upsetting first Tennessee and then South Carolina to finish third in the conference. They traveled to NC State in the play-in round, triumphed, 40-10, and booked their lengthy tickets to the quarterfinals just days after.
2021 and 2022 national champion and sixth-ranked Virginia Tech hosts No. 8 Boston College at 11 a.m. Saturday in Blacksburg, VA. The lone blemish on an otherwise perfect fall for the Hokies was a 29-29 draw with James Madison at the beginning of October. Boston College’s fall has been far from perfect, with an early loss to Yale and a tie with Binghamton. The Eagles edged UConn by just one point before avenging the Yale loss in the Liberty semifinals, 28-25.
Drawing either Virginia Tech or Boston College in the semifinals will be the winner of a barn burner between Bowling Green and Clemson Saturday in Ohio. The Falcons twice put 2023 national runner-up Louisville to the sword in conference play, both times by a single point. In the conference final, the Falcons overcame a 21-point deficit to score the walk-off try at the death. Clemson has been lights out this Fall, losing only to top-ranked Kentucky in the conference final and Belmont Abbey, ranked No. 10 in DI, in the season opener.
