South Dakota State nabs No. 5 seed in FCS playoffs
Matt Zimmer
BROOKINGS – South Dakota State, as expected, will spend Thanksgiving weekend with family.
The Jackrabbits were announced as the No. 5 seed in the FCS playoffs on Sunday morning during the NCAA selection show on ESPNU. That means they’ll have a first round bye, and will host the winner of Northern Iowa and Monmouth on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Northern Iowa was the last team to beat the Jacks, back on Oct. 14 in Brookings.
Defending national champion James Madison earned the top seed, followed by North Dakota State, Jacksonville State and Central Arkansas.
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There wasn’t much drama for the SDSU players, coaches and the couple hundred fans that gathered at Club 71 to watch the selection show – after Saturday’s 31-28 win over South Dakota the Jacks knew they’d secured a seed, it was just a matter of which one.
SDSU finished the season 9-2, with a five-game winning streak that included four straight wins against ranked teams to close the season.
For a season that began with talk of a national championship and then endured some bumps in the road, it was a satisfying day.
“We were expecting probably a four or five, but it’s really nice to be where we wanted to back when the season started,” said running back Isaac Wallace. “It feels like the momentum is building at the right time. It feels like since the Missouri State game (the start of the winning streak) we’ve been coming up and really attacking every game. We’re excited to keep this rolling.”
“Our confidence never wavered,” added nose tackle Kellen Soulek. “Beating four ranked teams to finish – that’s not easy to do in the Valley, but the toughest challenge is still ahead of us.”
The rest of the seeds after SDSU were Sam Houston State, Wofford and Southern Utah. Five teams from the Missouri Valley Football Conference earned playoff bids, with Western Illinois and South Dakota joining SDSU, NDSU and UNI.
In past years Valley teams have often been bunched together and/or placed on the same side of the bracket, but the committee appeared to take pains to avoid that this year. Though the Jacks will have to play a 7-4 UNI team if the Panthers win their playoff opener, NDSU and USD are both on the opposite side of the 24-team bracket, so SDSU would only face one of them in the national championship.
“That’s good for our players because those are emotional games,” SDSU coach John Stiegelmeier said of avoiding rivalry rematches. “Kyle Moats (Missouri State’s athletic director and the Valley’s league representative on the selection committee) and (SDSU athletic director) Justin Sell did a phenomenal job of (lobbying) for the fact that it’s not really a national tournament when you’re playing your rival in the second round. Great job by the committee.”
But while SDSU ultimately made 2017 the most successful regular season in program history, Stiegelmeier was still quick to point out the Jacks’ highest goal before the season had actually been a top four seed. They just missed it, which is why they’d have to face top-ranked and defending national champion James Madison if they advance to the semifinals.
“We know why we’re not a 4-seed,” Stiegelmeier said. “There’s two reasons (losses to Youngstown State and Northern Iowa), and that’ll stick in our craw and motivate us.”