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OGDEN — Weber State head coach Jay Hill couldn’t sit down all morning.
Pacing in the back of Weber State’s Wildcat Theater inside the Union Building on campus, the former University of Utah assistant spoke briefly with his team the day after clinching back-to-back Big Sky titles with a 26-13 win at Idaho State.
The victory pushed Weber State into its third-straight FCS Playoffs, and a No. 3 national ranking foreshadowed good tidings for a high seed in the postseason.
But even Hill couldn’t imagine how high that ceiling would be.
Weber State will open the 2018 Football Championship Subdivision playoffs as the No. 2 overall seed Dec. 1 at Stewart Stadium in Ogden. The Wildcats will face the winner of Southeast Missouri State (8-3) and Stony Brook (7-4), and — should they keep winning — won't have to leave Ogden until the FCS title game Jan. 6 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.
"I saw North Dakota State, which everyone knew would get the one-seed. Then when our flag started flying (on the ESPN broadcast), I thought, 'could it be?'" Hill recounted after the bracket unveiling. "That was a huge deal. We really thought we could get a top-four (seed), but didn’t know exactly where it would fall.
"Man, that's an awesome deal. It gives us home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and now we’ve got to take care of business."
A big deal, and the cheers in Ogden made it apparent.
Weber State (9-2, 7-1 Big Sky) has won eight-straight home games, dating back to last season when the Wildcats used its first home playoff game in school history and a 30-13 upset win at rival Southern Utah to propel themselves into the FCS quarterfinals against James Madison, where they fell 31-28.
The Wildcats' 11-win season was the best in program history a year ago. But 2018 could prove to be even better — if they just take care of business at home, as they’ve done all year.
"I feel like there is definitely a higher standard," said Weber State linebacker Landon Stice, who is second on the team with 64 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and a team-high four interceptions. "Hopefully we can uphold it, and the teams after us can uphold. But first we’ve got to go as far as we can."
The Big Sky received four bids to the annual FCS playoffs, including three teams ranked among the top-eight overall seeds. Beyond Weber State, Eastern Washington was awarded the No. 3 seed in the tournament — meaning a potential semifinal matchup at Stewart Stadium could await the Wildcats, who beat the Eagles 14-6 back on Oct. 13.
Co-Big Sky champ UC Davis took the No. 6 seed, and the winner of Montana State and Incarnate Word will play Nov. 24 for the right to go to the top-seeded Bison.
"I've always felt that the Big Sky is one of the top conferences in the nation," said Stice, a Stansbury High product. "Having three teams in the top-eight is big. I think they are placed correctly. We’ve got two of them on our side, too, so it’s not unfamiliar territory.
"The Big Sky is really, really good, and hopefully we show that in the playoffs."
A top-five ranked team in the country for most of the season, Weber State is no stranger to the postseason. The Wildcats earned a playoff bid in 2016 for the first time under Hill, who is now in his fifth season. Even with a 45-14 loss at Chattanooga, Weber State laid a foundation for the future of the program.
They followed up that loss with a co-Big Sky championship — shared with rival Southern Utah — in 2017, and won the team’s first-ever playoff home game, 21-19 against Western Illinois.
But they didn’t stop there.
The Wildcats went on the road and toppled SUU in Cedar City, 30-13 in a series that has decidedly favored the road team in the most recent meetings. Even a 31-28 quarterfinal loss at James Madison could hardly dampen Weber's season; the Wildcats had put together the best season in school history, with the deepest playoff run and best overall record in just the third season under Hill.
"After last season, we always knew how good we could be," fullback Brady May said. "But it was then that we realized we are right there — that we are just a couple of steps from being where we want to be. That really motivated everyone.
"We went from thinking to behaving and believing that we can be a top-tier team. It's absolutely motivated us throughout the season so far."
Now the Wildcats have a chance to take it even further — and the potential home-field advantage to create even more history, all the way to Frisco.
"We need as many people in that stadium as we can get," Hill said. "We need that atmosphere. Our players thrive on it, and quite frankly, why would you miss this? This is an opportunity that Weber State fans have never had yet.
"This has never happened here, so why would you want to come out and join us? It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere."
