The NCAA Divison 1 football playoffs continue this weekend with the quarterfinal found.
- Weber State is taking on No. 1 seed James Madison Friday at 6 p.m.
- No. 7 seed Wofford is taking on No. 2 seed North Dakota State Saturday at 11 a.m.
- New Hampshire is taking on No. 5 seed South Dakota State Saturday at 2 p.m.
- Kennesaw State is taking on No. 6 seed Sam Houston State Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Tuning In
Friday’s tilt and Saturday’s first game will be on ESPN2, while all four quarterfinal contests are available on ESPN3 via the WatchESPN app and at WatchESPN.com.
Unfamiliar Foes
After a second round that featured four intraconference games among the eight played, there are none this week. Only one game features two top-eight seeds: No. 7 Wofford, representing the Southern Conference, travels to Fargo to take on No. 2 seed North Dakota State of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The other three matchups feature Big Sky-Colonial Athletic Association Football (Weber State/James Madison); CAA Football-MVFC (New Hampshire/South Dakota State); Big South-Southland (Kennesaw State-Sam Houston State).
Six for Eight
Six conferences have teams among the final eight vying for a spot in the championship game in Frisco on Jan. 6. The MVFC, who had five teams selected for the 24-team field, has two teams alive, while two of the four CAA entrants are still standing. The Big Sky, Southern and Southland each have a team remaining from its three entrants apiece, while the Big South has one of its two members still in competition.
Streakers
James Madison’s 26-7 triumph in the Second Round last week marked a program-record 24th consecutive victory. The two dozen wins includes last year’s championship-game conquest in Frisco. Last weekend’s result extended the CAA record and longest mark in all of Division I. The win also tied the Dukes for second all-time in FCS history, matching Penn (1992-95) and Montana (2001-02). JMU is one of two teams remaining in the FCS playoff field withdouble-digit win streaks. Upstart Kennesaw State, which heads to Sam Houston this week, has won 12 straight. The Owls’ opponent, Sam Houston, has reeled off eight straight wins, while fellow playoff teams Weber State has won seven consecutive games and South Dakota State has claimed six wins in a row.
Sam and Streaks
If the Bearkats defeat Kennesaw State on Saturday night, Sam Houston would extend its win streak at Bowers Stadium to 20 games, setting a new mark for the second longest home win streak in school history. The streak is the longest current streak in the FCS with the last loss at Bowers coming to Southland Conference foe Lamar on Sept. 19, 2015. Since the start of 2011, the Bearkats have been nearly perfect on the Bowers Stadium turf, having won 46 of their last 48 games overall at home. The current school record for consecutive home victories is 23 in a row that stretched from 2010 to 2014. The Kats would move to 13-0 all-time in playoff games played in Huntsville. Sam Houston has played, and won, at least one home playoff game in each of the last seven seasons.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Semi Regulars
Sam Houston would advance to the semifinals of the FCS playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons. SHSU’s win over South Dakota made it only the Bearkats and North Dakota State to have been in the FCS quarterfinals each of the past four seasons including 2017. North Dakota State’s run of five championships stalled in last year’s semifinals when eventual champion James Madison topped the Bison 27-17 in Fargo. Last year, Sam Houston fell the week before in a quarterfinals loss to the Dukes in Harrisonburg.
The semifinal round will be played Friday and Saturday, Dec 15-16. This season’s FCS Championship is set for Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018 at 11 a.m. CT at Toyota Stadium. The stadium and city of Frisco will host the annual game through 2020.
