PHOTO GALLERY / NCAA Championship Release

NCAA Division I Football Championship Bracket

Seahawks Reaction Video

Staten Island, NY – The VIP Room on the second floor of the Spiro Center was filled with Seahawks, overfilled to be more accurate, as the entire team, players and coaches alike, gathered to watch the NCAA Selection Show on a large projection screen.
 
The Seahawks decided to  find out together who would be their first round opponent and where the game would take place.
 
The mood was festive, anticipation high. Players began filtering into the large room that overlooks mid-court at around 1:00 pm. Soon, the Wagner at No. 8 Syracuse men's basketball game, being aired on SNY, was projected onto the big screen. After 20 minutes of cheering on their Green & White brethren some 200 miles to the north, the channel was switched back to ESPNU for the selection show.
 
Wagner was guaranteed a berth in the field by virtue of winning its league title, unlike a host of schools across the land who were hoping against hope for an at-large berth. Even so, the room grew still and quiet. As the show began, the players leaned in to hear their school's name called and learn their fate.
 
Approximately 11 minutes into the 30-minute show, the questions were answered. Opponent? The Patriot League Champion Colgate Red Raiders. Location? Staten Island, NY, specifically Hameline Field at Wagner College Stadium. Cheers, hugs and hoopla ensued, heightened by the word that was slowly sinking in among the team that, yes, the Seahawks had received a home game.
 
“I think it's fabulous, I think it's a great opportunity for our program and our institution to host an NCAA game and be on ESPN3,” said Seahawk athletic director/head coach Walt Hameline. “It's great for our kids. When you look at what the Island has gone through with the Hurricane, I think this is a great thing for Staten Island that we have the ability to host a playoff game.”
 
Wagner, champions of the Northeast Conference (NEC) and owners of the nation's longest winning streak of eight games, will host Colgate in a Noon kickoff on Sat., Nov. 24.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 in what will mark the first NCAA football game that Wagner will compete in since Nov. 19, 1988 when the Seahawks dropped a 34-31 overtime decision at Ithaca.

It also marks the first home NCAA game for the Seahawks since Nov. 21, 1987, when Wagner defeated the University of Rochester 18-14, in the first round of the Division III Playoffs en route to claiming the National Championship.
 
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