The Holy Cross football team will host Sacred Heart in the first round of the NCAA D-I football championship subdivision (FCS) playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 27. Kickoff is scheduled for noon at Fitton Field.

The contest will mark the first home playoff game for Holy Cross in nearly 40 years. The Crusaders have only hosted one home playoff game in program history, when Western Carolina defeated Holy Cross, 28-21, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs on Dec. 3, 1983 at Fitton Field. 

Holy Cross (9-2, 6-0 Patriot League) clinched the Patriot League's autobid to the 2021 FCS playoffs after winning its third consecutive Patriot League title. The Crusaders finished a full Patriot League schedule undefeated for the first time since the 1991 season, and the six Patriot League wins were the most in program history. In nonconference play, the Crusaders secured wins over an FBS foe in the University of Connecticut, while also defeating Yale and Monmouth.

Holy Cross will be playing in the postseason for the sixth time in school history and the NCAA playoffs for the fifth time. The first postseason appearance for the Crusaders came in the 1946 Orange Bowl, when they lost 13-6 to Miami (Fla.). The previous NCAA appearances for Holy Cross came in 1983, 2009 (38-28 loss at Villanova in the first round), 2019 (44-27 loss at Monmouth in the first round) and Spring 2021 (31-3 loss at South Dakota State in the first round).

Ticket information for the opening round will be made available soon.