How each FCS seeded first-round team has performed at home this year and in past playoff games

First-round FCS playoff games will have teams seeded Nos. 9-16 for the first time, allowing the seeded teams to host home playoff games. Home-field advantage matters in sports, especially in football. Here's a look at how past home performances — this season and all-time in the postseason — could impact the 2024 playoffs.

No. 9 Richmond

Home record this year: 5-1
Home record in playoff games: 10-3

Richmond is 5-1 at home this year but is on a five-game home win streak since losing in Week 2 to Wofford. Regarding home playoff games, Richmond has won back-to-back home first-round games the last two years, scoring an average of 45 points per game in those matchups. The Spiders have only lost one first-round home playoff game (1998 vs. Lehigh), but are undefeated at home in the first round in the 21st century. Richmond's most memorable home playoff game might've been a 2008 first-round win that kicked off a run to a national title.

No. 10 Rhode Island

Home record this year: 6-0
Home record in playoff games: 2-0

Rhode Island is 6-0 at home this year, but no team Rhode Island beat has a record above .500. This season will be the first time the Rams are in the FCS playoffs since 1985 — a year where Rhode Island's most recent home playoff victory came with a 35-27 win over Akron. URI also won a home playoff game in 1984 over Richmond.

CRYSTAL BALL: Stan Becton's Predictions and picks for every FCS playoff game

No. 11 Villanova

Home record this year: 6-0
Home record in playoff games: 11-3

Villanova hasn't lost at home this year, no matter if it faced Youngstown State out of the MVFC or Delaware in the Battle of the Blue. The Wildcats also picked up a win over No. 16 seed New Hampshire at home in October. 

Villanova has won its opening playoff game at home each of the last two times it made the postseason (2021 and 2023), but both came as a top-eight seed in the second round. Villinova's last first-round home playoff win came in 2016, and the Wildcats are 6-0 in home first-round playoff games all-time.

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No. 12 Illinois State

Home record this year: 4-2
Home record in playoff games: 4-1

Illinois State won't host a playoff game as a seeded team this year, but it's still worth looking at what could've been. The Redbirds lost homecoming and a whiteout game to North Dakota State and Missouri State, the best two FCS teams it played this season.

Illinois State is 4-1 at home in the playoffs with a 1-0 record in the first round thanks to a 1999 win over Colgate. Illinois State's best performance at home in the postseason was in 2014. That's when it won two home games en route to the national championship game as a five-seed. The lone loss came as a two-seed in the 2015 quarterfinals.

BRACKET: See the official 2024 FCS playoff bracket

No. 13 Tarleton State

Home record this year: 4-2
Home record in playoff games: 0-0

It's Tarleton State's first year of being eligible for the FCS playoffs, so this will also be its home playoff debut. In the regular season, the Texans are 4-2 at home, but both losses came to the only playoff teams on their schedule — Eastern Kentucky and Abilene Christian.

SEEDS: The importance of a top seed in the FCS playoffs, explained

No. 14 Montana

Home record this year: 5-2
Home record in playoff games: 35-7

Montana is 5-2 at home this year, its worst home record since 2018. The Grizzlies have only lost four home games since 2019, with a 35-4 record at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in the last six years. It's one of the best home-field advantages in sports. That home-field advantage increases at night — the same time the Griz play in Round 1 in 2024 — where Montana is 9-0 after 6 p.m. since 2019. 

Montana has played an astounding 42 games in the postseason at home, winning 83 percent of their games. The Griz went 3-0 last postseason at home en route to a championship game berth and are 8-0 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium in the postseason across the previous decade.

HISTORY: Schools with the most FCS titles | 9 winningest FCS programs all time | Championship history

No. 15 Abilene Christian

Home record this year: 4-1
Home record in playoff games: 0-0

Abilene Christian is 4-1 at home this season, with its only loss coming by three points to No. 4 Idaho. At home, the Wildcats picked up notable wins over a then-top-five Central Arkansas, playoff-bound Eastern Kentucky and bubble team Southern Utah.

Abilene Christian has never played in the FCS playoffs before. The last team to host an opponent in its first-ever FCS playoff appearance was Mercer in 2023. The Bears won 17-7.

🏆: FCS Championship Game info

No. 16 New Hampshire

Home record this year: 4-1
Home record in playoff games: 7-5

New Hampshire has beaten Stonehill, Bryant, Monmouth and Stony Brook at home this year while losing to Rhode Island. The Wildcats are 2-1 against teams that finished with a winning record, including a win over Stony Brook that likely got them into the playoffs. 

New Hampshire is 7-5 in home playoff games, with a three-game win streak dating back to 2017. In the first round, the Wildcats are 5-3 overall at home. Twice, New Hampshire has advanced to the semifinal round after winning its first game at home. UNH is 1-1 in the second round, 1-0 in the quarterfinal round and 0-1 in the semifinal round at home. 

Southeast Missouri State

Home record this year: 5-0
Home record in playoff games: 1-1

Southeast Missouri isn't a seeded team, but they will host a first-round game instead of Illinois State. The Redhawks are undefeated at home this year ahead of the playoffs.

Southeast Missouri State hosted Stony Brook in the 2018 playoffs where it won 28-14, but SEMO lost to Illinois State at home 24-6 in 2019.