VILLANOVA, Pa.—Postseason honors are starting to roll in for Villanova and they start at the top with head coach Mark Ferrante being named by Stats Perform as one of 20 finalists for the 2023 Eddie Robinson Award which is given annually to the national coach of the year in Division I FCS college football and presented by FedEx Ground. The award, first presented in 1987 and in its 37^th season, is named for legendary Grambling State coach Eddie Robinson.
 
All 13 FCS leagues, comprised from 15 conferences overall, are represented by a Robinson Award finalist. The winner, to be selected by a national voting panel, will be announced on December 7 and honored at the FCS National Awards Banquet on January 6 in Frisco, Texas – the eve of the FCS championship game. Ferrante is one of two CAA Football head coaches among the 20 finalists and is joined by UAlbany's Greg Gattuso.
 
Villanova was picked to finish seventh in CAA Football this year in a preseason poll of league head coaches but instead compiled a 9-2 record and a 7-1 mark in conference play to earn the CAA Football automatic bid to the Division I Football Championship which begins this week. Ferrante guided the Wildcats to a share of the regular season conference title along with UAlbany and Richmond, with Villanova's point differential in conference games giving it the tiebreaker over the other two teams for the automatic bid.
 
This is the second time in the last three years that Ferrante has earned postseason coaching honors. He was previously the AFCA FCS Region I Coach of the Year and the CAA Football Coach of the Year in 2021. Along the way to winning their second CAA title in the last three seasons, Ferrante led the Wildcats to their eighth season with at least seven conference wins and the program's sixth time with no more than one loss in conference play.
 
Villanova is headed to the FCS playoffs for the 15^th time overall and the ninth time in the last 16 seasons. The selections for the 24-team field to the Division I Football Championship were announced on Sunday afternoon with the Wildcats earning the No. 8 seed and a first round bye. Villanova will host a second round playoff game on December 2 against the winner of a first round game between Duquesne and Youngstown State.
 
During their current six-game winning streak, the Wildcats have outscored their opponents by a 219-77 margin and are averaging a +23.7 margin of victory. Villanova's six-game winning streak is its longest since starting 6-0 in 2019. It came as no surprise to see the Wildcats finish the regular season on a strong note, as Ferrante has guided his teams to a 13-7 (.650) record in the month of November in his seven seasons as head coach.
 
The full list of 20 finalists for the 2023 Eddie Robinson Award includes Mark Ferrante (Villanova); Greg Gattuso (UAlbany); Bobby Hauck (Montana); Clay Hendrix (Furman); Tre Lamb (Gardner-Webb); Tim Murphy (Harvard); Bob Nielson (South Dakota); Trei Oliver (North Carolina Central); Tim Rebowe (Nicholls); Danny Rocco (VMI); Jimmy Rogers (South Dakota State); Pete Rossomando (Lamar); Jerry Schmitt (Duquesne); Larry Scott (Howard); Willie Simmons (Florida A&M); Todd Stepsis (Drake); John Troxell (Lafayette); Scotty Walden (Austin Peay); Todd Whitten (Tarleton); and Chris Wilkerson (Eastern Illinois).
 
Former Villanova head coach Andy Talley was the Eddie Robinson Award Winner in 1997 when he guided the Wildcats to an undefeated regular season.