Southern Illinois Football Tickets
Without question, the Southern Illinois Salukis are one of the great overlooked programs in college football. As an FCS program, it’s usually easy to find cheap Southern Illinois football tickets. But that doesn’t do justice to SIU’s proud history. The Salukis have defeated FBS programs on multiple occasions and once spent 99 consecutive weeks ranked in the FCS top-25. They even have an FCS national championship on their resume and have sent more than two dozen players to the NFL. In short, the Salukis are not your average FCS program, which is why last-minute Southern Illinois football tickets have long been a hot commodity for a dedicated fanbase.
Almost Perfect
The 1983 season is easily the greatest in Southern Illinois football history. At that point, the Salukis were more than two decades removed from their last conference title. But Southern Illinois raced to a 10-0 record, climbing to the no. 1 spot in the FCS polls. Unfortunately, the Salukis lost their regular-season finale to Wichita State, spoiling their perfect season. But Southern Illinois bounced back in the playoffs, beating Indiana State and Nevada to reach the national championship game, where the Salukis dominated Western Carolina 43-7 to claim the program’s first national title.
The Saluki Way
Somehow, it would take 20 years after that national championship for the Salukis to return to the FCS playoffs and win another conference title. However, starting in 2003, Southern Illinois reached the playoffs in seven straight seasons, winning five conference championships during that stretch. The Salukis reached the FCS semifinals in 2007, their best finish since 1983, doing so behind quarterback Nick Hill. In 2016, Hill returned to Southern Illinois as the head coach of the Salukis. Despite inheriting a struggling program, Hill led the Salukis back to the FCS playoffs in his fifth season at the helm, getting Southern Illinois back on track and once again making the Salukis a force inside the Missouri Valley Conference and a mid-major for fans to take seriously.
