Playoff season is finally here! On Saturday, Nov. 24, the FCS playoffs will begin, and the Division II and III playoffs will also continue on. DII and DIII’s playoffs got going last weekend, and there are just eight teams remaining in each.
FCS football schedule 11/24: Watch Playoffs, Bayou Classic, and more
FCS, Division II, and Division III playoffs are under way, but the biggest non-FBS game of the day is a rivalry classic.
Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Also on Saturday, the Bayou Classic, the annual game between Grambling State and Southern will kick off for the 45th time from the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
FCS Playoffs
There are 24 teams in the FCS bracket, with the top eight seeds receiving byes into the second round. Last Sunday, the FCS Playoff bracket was revealed, with defending national champion North Dakota State receiving the No. 1 seed.
Here’s a full schedule for Saturday — all games will be available to stream on WatchESPN. All times ET.
- Towson vs. Duquesne, 2 p.m. ESPN3
- Wofford vs. Elon, 2 p.m.
- Southeast Missouri State vs. Stony Brook, 2 p.m
- Montana State vs. Incarnate Word, 3 p.m
- James Madison vs. Delaware, 3 p.m.
- Nicholls State vs. San Diego, 4 p.m
- Northern Iowa vs. Lamar, 5 p.m.
- Jacksonville State vs. East Tennessee State, 7:30 p.m.
Bayou Classic
As Bill Connelly wrote back in 2014, this game is a unique scene unlike any other in New Orleans:
When you see the smiles of two 70-something Southern supporters on the Superdome field after the game, asking “Did you have a good time?” and, knowing the answer to that question already, “You coming back next year?” ...
... you realize this is a special thing. The Bayou Classic is everything you fell in love with when you fell in love with college sports. It is rivalry. It is an important battle. It is players from the losing team unable to control the tears.
It is also a respite, a perfect oasis for a sports life that is, for the other 51 weeks of the year, challenging and frugal.
It is also a respite, a perfect oasis for a sports life that is, for the other 51 weeks of the year, challenging and frugal.
The Bayou Classic makes you a sports socialist. It makes you realize that this sport can be so much better, too big to hold just 60 or so major programs, too incredible to limit your own exposure to sports joy. At all times, we should make sure that there is always a place in college for healthy, historical rivalry, and that there is forever a pathway to health for those who want to make history.
- Grambling State vs. Southern: 5 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
DII Playoffs, second round
The first slate of games started last weekend in the DII Playoff, and there are a total of 16 teams remaining, including three No. 1 seeds in Notre Dame (Ohio), Valdosta State, and Montana State-Mankato. All of the games will stream live on Watch ESPN. All times ET.
- No. 1 Notre Dame (Ohio) vs No. 5 Hillside: Noon
- Slippery Rock vs. New Haven: 1 p.m.
- Ferris State vs. NW Missouri State: 1 p.m.
- No. 1 Valdosta State vs. No. 4 Bowie State: 1 p.m.
- Ouachita Baptist vs. Indianapolis: 2 p.m.
- No. 7 Wingate vs. No. 3 Lenoir-Rhyne, 2 p.m.
- No. 1 Montana State-Mankato vs. No. 5 Colorado St. Pueblo, 2 p.m.
- No. 2 Tarleton State vs. No. 6 Texas A&M Commerce, 2 p.m.
DIII Playoffs, second round
In the DIII bracket, there are just 16 teams left, so there will be eight games played on Saturday. Unlike the DII bracket, 26 conferences get automatic, qualifying berths, followed by Independent or non AQ teams. All of the action can be live-streamed on WatchESPN, too. Below is the schedule for Saturday’s slate of games. All times ET.
- Mount Union vs. Centre, Noon
- Randolph-Mason vs. Muhlenberg, Noon
- Brockport vs. Rensselear, Noon
- Frostburg State vs. Johns Hopkins, Noon
- St. John’s (Minn.) vs. Whitworth, 1 p.m.
- Mary Hardin-Baylor vs. Berry, 1 p.m.
- Wisconsin-Whitewater vs. Norbert, 1 p.m.
- North Central (Ill.) vs. Bethel (Minn.), 1 p.m.
Should be a fun day of football all day!
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