(NCAA.com, GoYotes.com, GoJacks.com) – The field of 24 teams competing for the 2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship was announced Sunday by the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee.
Sam Houston (10-0), the defending champions and winners of the ASUN/WAC Conference, earned the top seed in their 13th appearance in the championship. The Bearkats have won 21 straight contests.
North Dakota State (10-1) is the number two seed earning the automatic qualifying berth from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison are making their 12th overall appearance with the highest all-time FCS Championship winning percentage (.925).
James Madison (10-1) is the number three seed after securing an at-large bid. The Dukes will make their eighth consecutive appearance in the championship and 18th overall.
Sacramento State (9-2) rounded out the top four seeds after going undefeated in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets will make just their second trip to the FCS Championship.
Villanova (9-2) secured the number five seed after earning the Colonial Athletic Association automatic qualifier. The Wildcats will make their 14th appearance in the FCS Championship.
Montana (9-2) will be the sixth seed as an at-large selection out of the Big Sky Conference. The Grizzlies finished the season winning their final five games and will be making their 25th appearance in the FCS Championship.
East Tennessee State (10-1) clinched the seven seed. The Buccaneers won the Southern Conference title and will be making their third FCS Championship appearance and first since 2018.
Montana St. (9-2) rounds out the top eight seeds receiving first round byes. The Bobcats are an at-large selection after earning nine Division I wins in the regular season.
The University of South Dakota football team earned a home game against Southern Illinois in the first round of the FCS playoffs, its first ever home contests in the FCS postseason. Kickoff is set for 5p Saturday inside the DakotaDome.
This is the program’s second FCS playoff appearance and sixth NCAA playoff appearance overall. The Coyotes first competed in the FCS playoffs in 2017 and beat Nicholls in Louisiana in round one before falling to Sam Houston State in Texas in round two.
The DakotaDome has seen three NCAA Division II playoff games, but none since December of 1986 when USD topped Troy State 42-28. Saturday will mark South Dakota’s first home FCS playoff game.
“I’m excited for our football team,” said USD coach Bob Nielson. “Making the playoffs in the FCS is a tough thing, particularly in this league, and it’s a representation of your work over the last 12 weeks.
“I certainly felt our football team was deserving with their body of work, and I am excited for them to have the opportunity to play in the playoffs and to play in the playoffs at home.”
Nielson is taking his 12th team to the NCAA playoffs in 29 seasons as a head coach. He won national championships with Minnesota Duluth in 2008 and 2010. This is his third time leading a team to the FCS playoffs. He first appeared with Western Illinois in 2015 where he also advanced to the second round.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference has a record six teams in the 24-team field. The Valley earned five of the 13 available at-large bids. The South Dakota-Southern Illinois matchup was possible because the two teams did not meet during the regular season. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since 2019.
Like South Dakota, Southern Illinois enters with a 7-4 overall record and a 5-3 finish in Valley play. The Salukis started 6-0 against FCS opponents, but enter the playoffs having lost three of their last four including a 35-18 setback at home Saturday. Southern Illinois is in the playoffs for the second time in 2021. They beat Weber State last April in the first round before losing to South Dakota State in the quarterfinals.
“We know we’re going to be facing a really good football team because we’re playing a team out of the Valley,” said Nielson. “Even though we haven’t played them this year, we have seen them a lot on film. We understand how good they are. We understand what we have to do.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will take on North Dakota State, the No. 2 overall seed, at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 4 inside the Fargodome in North Dakota. The Coyotes just lost to the Bison 52-24 Saturday in Fargo. Southern Illinois and North Dakota State did not meet this season, but Southern Illinois beat the Bison 38-14 in Carbondale, Illinois, back in February during the spring season.
South Dakota State will host UC Davis in the opening round of the 2021 Football Championship Subdivision playoffs Saturday afternoon at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 2p Central Time.
Both teams enter the matchup with 8-3 records and received at-large selections to the 24-team field. Television coverage of all playoff matchups for the first two rounds will be available through the ESPN+ streaming platform (subscription required).
The winner of Saturday’s matchup between SDSU and UC Davis will advance to face fourth-seeded Sacramento State on Dec. 4.
South Dakota State is making its 10th consecutive appearance in the FCS playoffs and 11th overall. The Jackrabbits reached the semifinal round in both 2017 and 2018 before advancing to the national championship game during the 2020-21 spring season.
The Jackrabbits and UC Davis have met seven previous times in the regular season, with SDSU holding a 5-2 series advantage. The two programs met twice as NCAA Division II schools and were later charter members of the Great West Football Conference during the transition to Division I competition (2004-07). The squads last met during the 2012 season, when the Jackrabbits recorded a 12-8 victory at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium.
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