The Pioneers have been to the NCAA tournament 10 times since 1975, winning the national championship in both 1977 and 1981. This is their first trip to the national event since 1995 and their first trip under fourth-year head coach Bill Zwaan.
Widener won the Middle Atlantic Commonwealth championship, their conference-leading 14th title, with a 5-0 record and finished with an overall mark of 9-1. Widener is averaging 474 yards and 37.4 points. The Pioneers have scored 15 touchdowns on the ground and 33 through the air. Their defense has chipped in with three scores on interceptions returns and one TD on a fumble return. They also have a punt return for a score and have connected on five of six field goals with 38 PAT kicks and one pass completion for a two-point conversion.
Defensively the Pioneers are giving up 365.5 yards a game and 22.2 points. The opposition owns a rushing average of 105 yards (with 12 touchdowns) while averaging 260.5 yards a game through the air with 20 touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Mike Granato has completed 123 passes for 2,802 yards and 31 touchdowns this season and is the Pioneers' all-time leader in yards (7,824) and touchdowns (72). His two favorite targets are junior wideouts Jim Jones and Mike Coleman. Jones caught a single-season record 62 passes in 2000 for 1,439 yards
and 14 touchdowns while Coleman has pulled in 46 passes for 1,274 yards and a school-record 18 scores.