FCS Results for First Round of PLayoffs

[DyedBlue]

I just love the truly national spirit of the FCS playoffs. Every conference across the nation gets its champion into the field so we have something like Lehigh earning a 5 seed based on a strong regional performance and getting a home game. Strong leagues are rewarded with multiple entries but not at the expense of lower profile leagues completely losing access. Harvard rolled through the Ivy League until losing its last game to Yale. Yale is NOT in the field if it loses THE GAME, but surprisingly, it wins on the road while Harvard is crushed.

Sooner or later, we will get back to Big Sky, CAA, Southland or SoCon teams winning the Division I National Championship. The MVFC run won't last forever because of the open access, earn it through multiple playoff rounds structure.

First Round: Five Valley teams played; 2 won at home; 2 won on the road and YSU suffered a stunning home loss. 4-1.​

FIVE OF THE REMAINING 16 TEAMS ARE VALLEY TEAMS. Next weekend is telling; The Valley only got 1 top 8 seed so how many teams will remain in the final 8. For sure, the winner of NDSU vs Illinois State, but what of the other three who are all on the road. The Committee admitted 6 teams, but did it no favors with the seeding.

• Saturday, November 29 on ESPN+
  • No. 9 URI 27 over CCSU 19
  • No. 12 Nova over Harvard 52-7. Are the Ivies REALLY better than most of FCS?
  • Yale 43 over N0 15 YSU 42. Stunning comeback from 35-7 halftime deficit. George H.W. Bush & Yogi Berra are smiling somewhere
  • No. 10 ACU 38 over Lamar 20 Impressive margin
  • No. 11 USD 38 versus Pioneer's Drake 17 Bulldogs of Drake gave a respectable showing. Most probable Valley Win
  • North Dakota 31 over No. 13 Tennessee Tech 6. Valley dominates on the road
  • No, 14 SDSU 41 over New Hampshire 3....Could the Jacks be back on the golden path?
  • Illinois State 21 over #16 SEL 3...Total domination by the Redbirds who were demolished by SIUC a week earlier3

Second Round - A couple of nice regional/conference rival matchups: Nova & Lehigh, ACU & Mercer, ISU & NDSU​

Some chances for the Valley to travel and advance: South Dakota vs Mercer, ND vs Tarleton, SDSU at Montana
Some cold weather teams getting to enjoy a warmer climate: SD, ND and URI hopefully will enjoy more than the warmer weather
Yale & SDSU have the unenviable task of playing in brisk Montana in December. They had best take along their grimoires

• Saturday, December 6
  • #12 Villanova travels to #5 Lehigh.....Can the upstart Patriot League justify its ranking?
  • #11 South Dakota at No. 6 Mercer...Coyotes losses are 55-7 to Iowa State, 20-13 at Lamar, 51-13 At NDSU, 21-13 at home to Ill St,
  • |#10 Abilene Christian at No. 7 Stephen F. Austin | ESPN+ The battle of the SW
  • North Dakota at No. 4 Tarleton State | ESPN+ I won't be surprised if the Fighting Hawks figure out a way to win this one to set up a probable match with NDSU in the Fargo Dome
  • Illinois State at No. 1 North Dakota State | ESPN+ These two teams know each other well. NDSU prevailed 33-16 in Normal, but the Redbirds led 16-15 late in the third quarter. Which flock of Redbirds will land in Fargo?
  • Yale at No. 2 Montana State | ESPN+ Hard to see how Yale can create another miracle versus the Bobcats
  • No. 14 South Dakota State at No. 3 Montana | ESPN+ We shall find out if the Jacks are REALLY back on track
  • 110 pm No. 9 Rhode Island at No. 8 UC Davis | ESPN2 - A mainline cable game of two under the radar programs. Good matchup