With a week to rest and savor its first Ohio Valley Conference Championship, Eastern’s football team found out Sunday morning what they’ll be up against when the Division I-AA playoffs begin this Saturday.

Eastern (9-1, 6-0) secured an outright OVC Championship with a 37-6 win over Murray State Nov. 17. Panther football players, coaches, family and friends watched the NCAA selection show anxiously in the university’s Student Rec Center Sunday afternoon as the 16-team field was announced. The group quickly erupted in applause when Eastern Illinois appeared as the No. 4 seed in the tournament’s pairings.

“It was a great feeling to see us up there on the screen,” senior wide receiver Frank Cutolo said.

But when Eastern’s opponent, Gateway Conference champion Northern Iowa, was revealed, the mood in the room quickly turned from suspense to surprise.

“We thought it would be Western Kentucky. We thought they’d pair a team who finished No. 1 (in their conference) with a team who finished No. 2 in another conference,” Panther head coach Bob Spoo said.

“I’m a little surprised we’re going against the top team from the Gateway, but it’s not for me to say.”

The national tournament’s format is different from past years, as the top four seeds are selected and the rest of the matchups are determined by geographic location. Because of their No. 3 national ranking, the Panthers were expecting a matchup with Western Kentucky, because of their second place finish in the geographically-close Gateway.

“This was a surprise. We’ve been watching film on Western Kentucky,” Spoo said.

“In fact, we exchanged film with them last week. So, they threw us a curve, but our coaches will go ahead right now and call Northern Iowa and try to get some film exchanged