Weber State football enters the final game of the regular season needing one last win to finalize its resume before the FCS playoff field is set.

With an 8-2 record that includes an FBS win, the Wildcats are a virtual lock to make the playoffs regardless of Saturday’s result at Northern Arizona. But for more, WSU absolutely needs a win.

The Wildcats are currently sitting with a profile that puts them close, but not assured, of a top-eight playoff seed. Such a selection would give WSU a first-round bye and a second-round home game.

“Every game from here on out is a playoff game. We’re 0-0 at this point,” sophomore linebacker Garrett Beck said after a 45-7 win over Idaho State. “That’s the mindset that we have to think about going into this next game. We don’t need to think about our record because every game is important. We need to finish the season strong and NAU is the next target. We’ve got to have all of our focus on that.”

Every week is a playoff game — that’s the mantra that once delivered Weber State four straight Big Sky Conference championships. While a conference crown is not possible with a win this week, the importance of a win is effectively the same with how it sets up WSU’s postseason path. A loss this week may see Weber play a home playoff game, but in the first round and without a bye.

“We know how to win at the end of the year. We had to do it four straight years to win four straight conference championships, we needed wins at the end of the year to do it. So it’s no different this year than we’ve had all the previous years,” WSU head coach Jay Hill said. “We’ve got to win. We know the process that it takes to win. We don’t need to make stuff up.”

The competition for a playoff seed is stiff.

The top three teams nationally — South Dakota State, Sacramento State and Montana State  — seem assured of a seed, even if the two Big Sky teams were to slip up this week.

Sacramento State (10-0) is undefeated with an FBS win and Montana State (9-1) is undefeated against FCS opponents. South Dakota State (10-1) finished the regular season undefeated against FCS teams with its only loss a 7-3 defeat at Iowa in which the Hawkeyes did not score a touchdown.

Weber State seems to be grouped with six teams vying for the final five seeds: North Dakota State (8-2), Incarnate Word (9-1), Holy Cross (10-0), William & Mary (9-1) and Samford (9-1).

North Dakota State (8-2) seems assured to stay off the seed bubble if it can hold off ranked North Dakota (7-3) this week. NDSU took a close defeat to Arizona and lost to No. 1 SDSU.

Weber State would be hoping its 35-7 blowout of Utah State early in the season is enough to compensate for the non-Division I victory it took to open the season, which doesn’t count on the resume.

But Holy Cross, Incarnate Word, and William & Mary all defeated FBS teams themselves this season. Samford is unbeaten against FCS teams but does not have an FBS win in its ledger.

With a win at Northern Arizona, Weber State would be banking on two things if all six teams vying for the final five seeds claim victories this weekend: one, that its FBS win appears to be the most impressive of any of the eight FCS teams to claim one and two, that the Big Sky’s reputation and performance boost the Wildcats into a seed.

Of those teams with an FBS win this season who are also in the hunt for a playoff seed, only Sacramento State has a larger margin of victory than Weber’s 28 over Utah State (Sac State beat Colorado State by 31). But Utah State is 5-5 and playing for bowl eligibility this week, beat CSU head to head, and CSU itself is 2-8 this season.

The next-most impressive FBS win probably goes to Holy Cross, a six-point win over a 5-5 Buffalo team. Given that Holy Cross would be an undefeated conference champ with such an FBS win, it seems the Crusaders might have an inside track to a seed with a win over lowly Georgetown this week.

The FBS wins for William & Mary and Incarnate Word are close to the same: W&M beat 2-9 Charlotte by 17 and UIW beat 2-8 Nevada by 14.

If all five teams behind North Dakota State win, Samford (playing a ranked Mercer this week) would be left as the only one without an FBS win. Despite the relatively improved strength of the SoCon this season, that might put the Bulldogs on the outside of a seed looking in — but, Samford would also be an undefeated conference champ.

So there are plenty of data points for the selection committee to consider. A win this week doesn’t necessarily guarantee Weber State a playoff seed, though the prospects seem good enough with a victory.

But the Wildcats won’t find out unless they take care of business against Northern Arizona. That’s not a guarantee either — WSU is 8-18 all-time in Flagstaff and it’s the only place in the Big Sky that Hill has yet to win.

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