Tuesday, September 26, 2023

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Elon takes FCS playoff spot, will head to Furman next Sat.

By Bob Sutton

Special to The Alamance News

Elon is in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs as an at-large selection and assigned a road game against Furman to begin the national tournament.

The Phoenix (8-3) will carry a three-game winning streak into the game at noon Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina. It will be Elon’s first appearance in the tournament since 2018.

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“Excited about the opportunity to continue our season,” Elon coach Tony Trisciani said.

Furman (9-2), the runner-up in the Southern Conference, holds a six-game winning streak. The teams were once rivals when Elon was in the Southern Conference before moving to the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Elon-Furman winner will play December 3 at No. 7 seed Incarnate Word (10-1) of the Southland Conference.

Elon was one of five CAA teams selected for the 24-team FCS national tournament. Aside from the Phoenix, the other entrants from the CAA will have home games.

Elon went 4-1 this year against other teams in the playoffs.

CAA co-champion William & Mary, which suffered its only defeat with a home loss to Elon, received a first-round bye as the No. 5 seed.

Elon is one of three in-state teams in the field. Big South Conference champion Gardner-Webb (6-5), which lost a non-league encounter with Elon in September at Rhodes Stadium, goes to Eastern Kentucky (7-4). Davidson (8-3) received the automatic bid from the Pioneer Football League and goes to Richmond (8-3).

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