The 24-team bracket for the NCAA Division I Football Championship will be unveiled on the FCS Selection Show at 11:30 a.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 24, on ESPNU. There are 10 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large selections. The top eight seeds will have a bye in the first round, which is next Saturday, Nov. 30. The Committee will seed the Top 16 teams in the 24-team bracket. The MVFC tied an FCS record (set previously by the CAA and the MVFC) with six bids last year.
Our AQ determination is as follows:
• NDSU is AQ with a win (outright MVFC champion at 8-0)
• NDSU is AQ with an NDSU loss at South Dakota and a MoState win vs. SDSU – NDSU wins three-way tiebreaker between MOST-USD-NDSU at 7-1
• SDSU is AQ with an NDSU loss at South Dakota and an SDSU win at Missouri State – SDSU earns tiebreaker between SDSU-NDSU-USD at 7-1 (SDSU is highest-rated in Sagarin)
WEEK 12 SCHEDULE
Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024
* North Dakota at #14/13 Illinois St.
(ESPN+) 12 pm CT
* Murray State at Southern Illinois
(ESPN+) 12 pm CT
* #1/1 North Dakota State at #4/4 South Dakota
(ABC ND/Midco/E+) 1 pm CT
* Indiana State at Northern Iowa
(PSN/ESPN+) 1 pm CT
* #3/3 South Dakota State at –/#18 Missouri State
(MC22/ESPN+) 2 pm CT
MVFC NOTEBOOK
Clinched
North Dakota State earned at least a share of the 2024 MVFC crown with its win last weekend against Missouri State. The Bison hold a one-game lead in the standings and can earn an outright crown with a win against South Dakota. If South Dakota beats NDSU, the MVFC will have tri-champions for the third time in the league’s 40-year history (2005, COVID Spring 2021, the others).
Three of the Top 4, Again
For the fifth time this season, the Missouri Valley Football Conference has three teams ranked among the Top 4 in a national poll. Top-ranked North Dakota State is joined by No. 3 South Dakota State and No. 4 South Dakota in this week’s Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches polls. Notably, the league has had two of the top three spots in the top-25 rankings 69 times in its 40-year history, including all 13 weeks this season. Three league teams have been ranked among the nation’s Top five the same week 23 times, including 10 times this year. The MVFC has had three of the Top 4 positions in a national poll seven times in its history, including five times this year.
5 MVFC Teams Ranked
Five league teams are ranked the Coaches poll and four are ranked in the Stats Perform poll this week. The league has three of the Top 4 (NDSU, SDSU, USD) in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches poll. All FCS ranked teams are in action on Saturday, which features four games that have two top-25 teams facing one another. Two of those top-25 matchups involve MVFC teams. Illinois State — the league’s other ranked team this week — hosts previously ranked North Dakota in its home finale.
MVFC: 2 of Top 3 Seeds
Since 1985, a league member has been seeded No. 1-4 in the FCS Championship a total of 32 times (nine different league members have been seeded in the Top 4 in league history.) Only four times have two MVFC teams been seeded in the Top 4 in the same tournament – and a Missouri Valley Football school won the title in three of those four seasons (2014, 2022, 2023).
Margin Call
Entering games of Nov. 23, there have been 241 games in which two ranked MVFC teams played one another. No. 1 North Dakota State’s 59-21 win over No. 14 Missouri State on Nov. 16 marked one of the ‘biggest’ wins in league history. The 38-point margin tied for the 6th-most in MVFC history in games involving two Top 25 league teams. Missouri State had a 34-point win at Illinois State earlier this year.
Winning Against No. 1
On Nov. 23, South Dakota will be looking to post the league’s 21st all-time win vs. a No. 1-ranked team when it faces top-ranked NDSU. Eleven of the previous 20 MVFC wins against a No. 1 team have been league games. The Yotes are 0-5 all-time against No. 1 ranked FCS teams (four times that game has been against No. 1 NDSU.)
Ranked vs. Ranked
This week, two league games (#1 NDSU at #4 USD; #3 SDSU at #18 MoState) feature matchups of two top-25 MVFC programs. In Conference history, there have been 241 games in which two league teams ranked in the top 25 played one another. Of those 241 games, 69 times the meeting involved teams that were both ranked in the Top 10 at the same time. Nineteen meetings have occurred in the playoffs. The home team is 135-104 in those games; the higher-ranked team is 153-87. Those figures include two neutral-site games, and one game in which the teams were both No. 25.
Players of the Week
Offense Player of the Week
RB Charles Pierre Jr., South Dakota 5-10, 205, R-So., Orlando, Fla. (Ocoee HS)
Pierre Jr. accounted for 48 percent of the South Dakota’s 512 total offensive yards (248 total yards, two touchdowns). The sophomore set new career-highs in rushing yards (173), receiving yards (75), and longest reception (53) as the Coyotes erased a 14-0 early deficit to down North Dakota 42-36 for their first-ever win in the Alerus Center and first win in Grand Forks since 1985
Offense Player of the Week
QB Beau Brungard, Youngstown State 6-0, 215, So., New Middletown, Ohio
Brungard threw for two touchdowns and ran for a pair in the Penguins’ thrilling season-ending 39-38 win over UNI at Stambaugh Stadium. He completed 31-of-36 passes (86 percent) for 256 yards and two scores and rushed 16 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns. In OT, he connected with Austin Bray for the game-winning two-point conversion.
Defense Player of the Week
S Matthew Durrance, South Dakota State 6-2, 215, Jr., Lutz, Fla. (Steinbrenner HS)
Durrance intercepted two passes and registered four solo tackles in South Dakota State’s 41-10 victory over Southern Illinois. Durrance’s first interception was returned 12 yards to the SIU 20 early in the second quarter to set up the second of four Jackrabbit touchdowns in the period.
Newcomer Player of the Week
WR Xavier Loyd, Illinois State 6-2, 195, Jr., Blue Springs, Mo.
Loyd nearly tied a school single-game record in Illinois State’s big 31-19 win at Indiana State. He hauled in 13 receptions, one catch shy of the school single-game mark of 14. Loyd finished the game with 94 yards and scored the Redbirds’ first touchdown.
Special Teams Player of the Week
K Griffin Crosa, North Dakota State 6-1, 184, Sr., Dublin, Ohio (Dublin Scioto HS)
Crosa became NDSU’s all-time leading scorer with 11 points in North Dakota State’s 59-21 win over Missouri State. He kicked eight extra points and a 32-yard field goal to move his career total to 404 points, breaking the NDSU record of 399 points set by Cam Pedersen from 2015 to 2018. Crosa ranks third in MVFC history behind South Dakota State running back Zach Zenner (416) and Northern Iowa kicker Matthew Cook (413).
