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.
“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).
