For the 16th time in the last 20 seasons, UNH is heading to the FCS postseason.

The Wildcats brought the Brice-Cowell Musket back to Durham with a convincing win over Maine on Saturday and were the first at-large team called on Sunday during the selection show. The 16th-seeded Wildcats even got a home game this Saturday against UT Martin.

During Monday’s CAA call, head coach Rick Santos – who has been a massive part of this run both as a player and coach – credited those before him and those helping him now with being able to keep this run going.

“I’ve got to give most of the credit – if not all of it – to Coach (Sean) McDonnell and the foundation that he put into place,” he said. “The guys that he recruited, this streak started with our class. He just recruited gritty, tough, hard-nosed players that were under-recruited and played with a chip on their shoulder and an edge about ’em. That’s kind of been the blueprint we’ve looked for in the recruiting process. The assistant coaches that we’ve had here too over the last couple of decades. What those guys have gone on to do in their careers has been remarkable.

“I love our staff right now as well. We’ve got really good continuity. So, yeah…I just think the foundation was in place. Myself and the coaches work to build off that successful blueprint and then we have really good leadership, in particular this year. I think that was our edge. We might not be as talented as some of the teams in the past, but I think our leadership rivals any team I’ve ever been a part of.”

Now, both the staff and that older leadership will try to do what the 2022 team last did…win a home playoff game.

The 2022 squad earned a win at Wildcat Stadium before coming up just short in the second round against Holy Cross on a miserable weather day. UT Martin is obviously not a team the program has done much work on, which makes preparation tough.

Or does it? Simplicity is king this time of year and the Wildcats know playoff success starts with a look in the mirror.

“I think it’s us vs. us,” Santos said. “I think we’ve got to find ways to play clean. We’ve got to start faster than we have in the last few weeks. I think it’s cleaning up some of the things that we haven’t done well in the last month and then really leaning on the thing that have allowed us to get on this hot streak. This is a very good team watching them (Sunday) night and into (Monday). Their coach has done a phenomenal job recruiting. He’s been there for nearly two decades. They have a lot of transfers and a lot of home grown guys from that area down there that they’ve brought on the roster.

“They’re tops in the conference in a lot of statistical categories. This is going to be a really tough content.”

So, the run continues this weekend and there isn’t much slowing down in sight.

“Just so happy for the seniors to be able to do it,” Santos added. “This season certainly wasn’t easy for us. Some ups-and-downs. At times, we looked like we could compete and play with anybody in the country. At times, we were stagnant, in particular on the offensive side of the ball.

“The resolve. The mental toughness. The ability to have your backs against the wall…4-4 and basically the playoffs started a month early for us. So, to go undefeated in November so far has been tremendous and I think it shows a lot about our program, who we are.

“16 out of 20 years in the postseason, that’s pretty special and I think you could put that against anybody in terms of our legacy.”