The 2006 Southern Illinois Salukis football team represented Southern Illinois University as a member of the Gateway Football Conference during the 2006 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Jerry Kill and played their home games at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Illinois. The Salukis finished the season with a 9–4 record overall and a 4–3 record in conference play. The team received an at-large bid to the FCS playoffs, where they defeated Tennessee–Martin before losing to Montana in the quarterfinals.^[1] Southern Illinois was ranked No. 7 in The Sports Network's postseason ranking of FCS teams.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 31	Lock Haven*	No. 17	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 49–0	9,636	[3]
September 16	at Indiana*	No. 16	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	W 35–28	31,156	[4]
September 23	at Arkansas–Pine Bluff*	No. 10	Golden Lion Stadium Pine Bluff, AR	W 48–16	3,910	[5]
September 30	Indiana State	No. 10	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 55–3	13,524	[6]
October 7	Western Illinois	No. 9	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 31–24	13,721	[7]
October 14	at No. 5 Illinois State	No. 7	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	L 10–37	17,237	[8]
October 21	Western Kentucky	No. 13	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	L 24–27	11,024	[9]
October 28	at Missouri State	No. 19	Plaster Sports Complex Springfield, MO	W 27–17	10,180	[10]
November 4	at Youngstown State	No. 12	Stambaugh Stadium Youngstown, OH	L 24–31	14,095	[11]
November 11	Northern Iowa	No. 14	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 47–23	7,422	[12]
November 18	Southern Utah*	No. 11	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 59–0	5,535	[13]
November 25	No. 12 Tennessee–Martin*	No. 10	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL (NCAA Division I First Round)	W 36–30	5,694	[14]
December 2	at No. 2 Montana*	No. 10	Washington–Grizzly Stadium Missoula, MT (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal)	L 3–20	18,883	[15]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game