Nov. 20, 2005

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SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- For the first time since moving to Division I 12 years ago, Cal Poly has earned an NCAA Division I-AA football playoff berth.

The Mustangs, who defeated Idaho State 35-10 Saturday night to finish the regular season with an 8-3 record, will make a return trip to Missoula, Mont., on Saturday to play the University of Montana, also 8-3 and seeded fifth in the 16-team tournament.

Kickoff for the Cal Poly at Montana game will be at 12:05 p.m. Mountain Standard Time (11:05 a.m. Pacific).

Montana earned an at-large berth after falling to Montana State 16-6 in Bozeman, Mont., on Saturday. Eastern Washington (7-4) received the Big Sky Conference¹s automatic bid by virtue of Montana¹s loss to the Bobcats and will play at Northern Iowa (8-3) on Saturday.

"This is the culmination of a lot of work by an awful lot of people -- coaches, administrators and, most of all, the players, and not just this year¹s group," said fifth-year Mustang head coach Rich Ellerson. "A lot of people are celebrating this opportunity, but first for our players who have been working very hard for this. It¹s an exciting time."

Cal Poly, 9-2 a year ago and 10-1 in 1997 but denied playoff berths both times, finished 4-1 this season against Big Sky foes, including a 36-27 loss to the Grizzlies in Missoula on Oct. 22. Victories were posted over Eastern Washington, Montana State, Idaho State and Sacramento State, Cal Poly¹s most wins against Big Sky foes in one season.

The Mustangs played six teams that were ranked at one time or another in the Division I-AA polls, going 4-2 with wins over Montana State, Eastern Washington, North Dakota State and Idaho State and losses to Montana and UC Davis.

Montana is making a record 13th consecutive trip to the playoffs.

New Hampshire (10-1) tops the bracket as the top seed after capturing the automatic qualifying berth from the Atlantic-10 Conference. The Wildcats, who are making their fourth tournament appearance, will be looking to make it past the quarterfinal round for the first time in school history.

Appalachian State (8-3), which is making its 13th tournament appearance, is the No. 2 seed, followed by Hampton (11-0) and Texas State (9-2). Other first-round hosts include Furman (9-2) and Eastern Illinois (9-2).

The Cal Poly-Montana winner will face the Texas State-Georgia Southern survivor in the quarterfinal round on Dec. 3.