CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard Football, the back-to-back-to-back Ivy League champions, has received an at-large berth to the 2025 NCAA FCS Playoffs, it was revealed today. The Crimson will face 12^th-seeded Villanova in the first round on Saturday, Nov. 29, at noon ET on ESPN+.
 
Harvard advances to the postseason in the first year the Ivy League has made its membership available for the 24-team national tournament. When the Crimson takes the field on Saturday, it will be making its first postseason appearance since the 1919 campaign when it defeated Oregon at the 1920 Rose Bowl.
 
Facing Villanova will be Harvard's first step in its search for an eighth national championship, with the last one coming during the aforementioned 1919 season. The Crimson also won national titles in 1890, 1898, 1899, 1910, 1912 and 1913.
 
The Wildcats, meanwhile, finished its 2025 regular season with a 9-2 record and a 7-1 mark in the CAA. After opening the campaign with a 1-2 record, Villanova went on to win eight consecutive outings to end the year.
 
Harvard completed its regular season on Saturday with a 9-1 record (6-1 Ivy) after spending the final three weeks ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Top 10, rising to as high as No. 7. The Crimson's nine wins overall and its six conference victories were its most since hitting both of those totals in 2015.