You should watch the FCS playoffs. It’s not the College Football Playoff, but it’s still serious, high-stakes, Division I football, all in front of actual campus crowds, rather than NFL stadiums far from universities.
The full 2018 FCS playoffs bracket is here. Can anybody stop You Know Who?
Division I’s other playoff is already upon us. The full bracket is out below.
Below is the 2018 playoff bracket, released in full. A few notes first:
The setup is much bigger than FBS’ minuscule and very sad Playoff: 24 teams, with first-round byes for the eight top seeds. The NCAA tries to keep games local, and in the first round, host privileges often go to the team with better attendance. Higher seeds host the rest of the way, until the Jan. 5 title game in Frisco, Texas, which has hosted the FCS championship since 2010.
The reigning champ, North Dakota State (yes, again), enters as the No. 1 seed (yes, again) and the favorite to win a seventh FCS title in eight years. The FCS level is prone to dynasties — Appalachian State pulled off a threepeat, Georgia Southern won three different back-to-backs, and Youngstown State once won four in seven years — but this is ridiculous.
The Bison might be better than ever before, in fact. They’re unanimous No. 1 in both major polls, and the Sagarin computer system ranks them among the top 25 teams in all of Division I, ahead of teams like Florida and Wisconsin. That’s not entirely unprecedented (Sagarin had 2013’s 15-0 Bison at No. 17), though.
The three other top seeds are Eastern Washington, Kennesaw State, and Weber State.
The whole thing kicks off Nov. 24 on WatchESPN, with a new round each weekend until the long break between the semis and the title game.
Here’s the full 2018 FCS playoffs bracket:
NCAA
No. 1 North Dakota State will host the winner of:
Incarnate Word at Montana State
No. 8 Colgate will host the winner of:
Delaware at James Madison
No. 4 Kennesaw State will host the winner of:
Elon at Wofford
No. 5 South Dakota State will host the winner of:
Duquesne at Towson
No. 2 Weber State will host the winner of:
Stony Brook at Southeast Missouri State
No. 7 Maine will host the winner of:
East Tennessee State at Jacksonville State
No. 3 Eastern Washington will host the winner of:
San Diego at Nicholls
No. 6 UC Davis will host the winner of:
Lamar at Northern Iowa
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