4 minute read
IN FCS FINAL FOUR, IT'S ALL DAKOTAS (and a Bobcat)
Top seeds face off for a shot at the FCS title
BY MATT ZIMMER | SIOUX FALLS LIVE
BROOKINGS — Jackrabbits. Coyotes. Bison. Bobcats.
The FCS Final Four is set, and there’s little doubt these are the four best teams in the country. All four squads spent the entire 2024 regular season proving as much, but it was pretty clear these four would be among the last ones standing all the way back in late July when training camps kicked off.
The Jackrabbits are the two-time defending champions, and while they had to retool and reload following the graduation of a huge class of star players, they’ve maintained a championship level of play and are now playing easily their best football of the season. They just destroyed a No. 6 Incarnate Word team that was teeming with talent.
Ever since their 2021 semifinal loss at Montana State the Jacks have been a playoff juggernaut, going 10-0 in the FCS tournament with all 10 wins by at least two scores and most of them one-sided blowouts. They’ve outscored those 10 foes 404-113, meaning the average score of their playoff wins has been 40-11.
The Bison are just three years removed from their last national championship and two years from their last trip to Frisco. New coach Tim Polasek has rekindled a flickering fire, leading the Bison to reclaim the Dakota Marker and earn home field advantage throughout the playoffs. They routed an underrated Mercer team in the quarterfinals, and will be at home for the semifinals against the rival Jacks. SDSU has never won a playoff game in Fargo.
As much as the Jacks look like the hottest team in the country, it’s hard to be playing much better than Montana State. The Bobcats are 14-0, with an FBS win over New Mexico and two blowout wins over Idaho including Friday’s 52-19 quarterfinal thrashing. (Incidentally, Idaho’s coach, former SDSU assistant Jason Eck, was hired as New Mexico’s new coach after the game.)
In their last four, Montana State has a 30-28 road win over No. 5 UC-Davis, a 34-11 win over Montana (SDSU’s first playoff victim) in the Brawl of the Wild rivalry game, followed by 4917 and 52-19 playoff wins.
The Bobcats are steamrolling, and they’ll have the best homefield advantage in the country on their side on Saturday against USD.
Speaking of the Coyotes, they’re the newbie in this foursome, but no less deserving. The Coyotes’ rise from 3-8 to 10-3 last year was one of the biggest stories in the FCS, but a convincing quarterfinal loss to NDSU (at home) indicated they were still second-tier.
The Yotes have spent most of this season making the case that’s no longer so, and if an OT loss in Brookings and dramatic comeback win over NDSU didn’t do the trick, Saturday’s rough-and-tumble win over a legit UC-Davis team made it official. The Yotes are in uncharted territory. The Final Four. After years of seeing their season end around Thanksgiving (and often then watching their rivals play for another month), it’s still football season in Vermillion as Christmas approaches. Enjoy it, Yotes fans.
We’re going to have at least one Dakota school in the national championship, and possibly two. Possibly two from South Dakota.
A Jackrabbit-Coyote title tilt in Frisco would be the pinnacle for sports in our state, and even if it ends up being NDSU vs Montana State, having the Jacks and Yotes both extending their season almost to Christmas break serves as a reminder of how far football in South Dakota has come. Of how successful the move to Division I has turned out to be.
South Dakota isn’t just a football state, it’s a great football state. It’s been the most incredible, unlikely and enjoyable development within South Dakota sports that I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I’ve lived here for more than 40 years.
We should get two fantastic semifinal games, but for now, a tip of the cap to the four remaining teams. From the mountains of Bozeman to the I-29 corridor, the best football in the FCS level is being played up here where it’s cold, and it’s not particularly close.
