Eastern Illinois had one of the best turnarounds in FCS football this season as the Panthers went from 2-9 last season to 8-3 this year under second year head coach
Chris Wilkerson.
The Panthers won their fourth straight game on Saturday with a 28-14 win at Robert Morris, but on Sunday the season came to an end as the Panthers were not one of the 14 at-large teams selected for this year's FCS playoffs.
"While we are disappointed that we were not selected I am very proud of our players and coaches," said Wilkerson. "We had one of the best regular season turnarounds in FCS football this fall. We will start our preparation for next fall with our heads held high and a chip on our shoulder. Brick by brick we will continue to restore our tradition rich program."
The win total was the highest for EIU since the 2013 season and marked the 18th time in the program's history it has posted eight or more wins. It was the first winning season since the 2017 season and earlier this when EIU was ranked in the FCS Top 25 it was the program's first ranking since the 2016 season.
According to the NCAA Selection Show Graphic posted during the broadcast, EIU was one of the first four teams left out of the field joined by fellow Big South-OVC member UT Martin (8-3), UC Davis (7-4) and Holy Cross (7-4).
