FCS Playoffs: Round #2

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Playoffs Round 2
December 6, 2025

Illinois State @ NDSU Bison*

• Bison -13
  Total 55
  Mythical Score NDSU 34-21

Last meeting NDSU 33-16; Streak: NDSU 14 consecutive wins; Over all: NDSU 16-2; Rinse & Repeat. Coach says stay humble.

Rhode Island* @ UC Davis

• Rhode Island -6
  Total 56
  Mythical Score Rams 31-25

The Rams have the superior defense. UCD and Rhode Island both bring 400+ yd offenses. If the Rams are for real they should win.


Villanova @ Lehigh*

• Lehigh -5
  Total 51
  Mythical Score Lehigh 28-23

Villanova has surprised me. Looking them over I see a good FCS team, not elite. Lehigh isn’t elite either but they have the better defense & a good running game.



UND @Tarleton*

• Tarleton -5
  Total 53
  Mythical Score Tarleton 29-24

Tarleton beat Army, they might be able to go toe-to-toe with these guys. They both have elite offenses but the defenses are soft. Everywhere we look we see a close game with a Tarleton win. I would like to see an upset keeping un_ on a Fargodome path.

Update 12/2: GAM guides to und +6.5. In a defensive battle, Tarleton -1. If offenses open up Tarleton -11. On the perfect day where historic balance prevails Tarleton -4. With a good D It looks like 6.5 should do it for und. Gam guides to under fanduels projected 59.5 The GAM only has Over if it turns into an open game These defenses are good. Tarleton should win but 2.2 for 1 is not a good ML deal.



SDSU @ Montana*

• Montana -4
  Total 56
  Mythical Score Montana 30-26

What a clash. Montana has a powerful, elite offense. They need it the defense is weak. SDSU beat New Hampshire but a lot of playoff teams did. If it turns into a defensive battle The Jacks could win. Montanas offense will probably carry the day


USD @ Mercer*

• Mercer -8
  Total 58
  Mythical Score Mercer 33-25

USD has been playing good ball. Mercer has the better team. This could be a fun high scoring game.


Abilene Christian @ Stephen F Austin*

• SFA -9
  Total 51
  Mythical Score SFA 30-21

Looks exactly like the Mercer game. Two good teams SFA is better. Abilene has some good wins SFA should pull away with the win.


Yale @ Montana State*

• MSU -11
  Total 47
  Mythical Score MSU 29-18

The Ivy comes to the Big Sky. The 27 time national champion Yale Bulldogs visit Bozeman. Yale is really smart, they have a good defense too. The offense looked good in that wild game with Youngstown. They can’t afford to start slow against the Bobcats. If Yale is up to it in a defensive battle they can stay within 2. It’s likely MSU will pull away.

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FanDuel has opened an NDSU vs The FCS field for the National Championship

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[kevin]

So usd/mercerhurst over right?

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Good look at Tarleton from a UND fan. It’s likely Tarleton is on the trail to the Fabulous Fargo Dome.

AI condensed version? YES. NO.

Tarleton should be a good test for UND and a good game. On both sides of the ball they feature good size, athletic ability and experience. Tarleton plays football in the D1A WAC. Throughout each season They play various teams from the WAC and other conferences. Readers were impressed with Tarleton’s win over Army this season. Some expressed doubt in Tarleton’s ability.

FULL TEXT:

Tarleton will be a great test.

Offensively they have multiple weapons. They use two qbs, three RBs, four WRs and one TE. The starting qb looks to be a good passer but doesn't like to run. The backup qb is big ..6’5” 230. Decent numbers. The starting rb is an absolute burner. Backing him up is a qb/rb. Very shifty and athletic very similar to Jericho McKinnon in his build and game. I assume he’s more rb than qb as he hasn’t thrown a pass. Two of the three starting WRs are Oklahoma sooner transfers . The one is a four star and was the 6th best wr in the class. Speed speed speed. Four guys average over 17 yards/ catch so they like to go deep. The TE has 10 catches 6 tds. He is their red zone factor. The OL is big and experienced. Not sure that will affect Und as they are used to big OL playing in the Mvfc.


The D is all over the place with fronts. The last three games they have started a 3-5-3, 4-4-3 and 5-2-3. They are absolutely massive on the DL. When they go 3 man …6’3” 290, 6’4” 315 and 6’4” 285 Oregon st transfer. They will substitute in 6’1” 295, 6’4” 265 and 6’3” 265 (leads team with 9.5 sacks). Being big doesn’t guarantee of being good but they seem to have held their own this season.

It’s their LB that looks to be their bread and butter tho. Six of the top 8 tacklers for Tarleton are LBs . There are two smaller LBs look to drop back often and help the secondary. Passing, by way of stats, looks to be very difficult against Tarleton as the LB assist and assist very well. They go six deep and combine some big size with speed. 6’4” 240 (8 sacks) 6’2” 230 6’0” 220 (speed, 3 INTs) 6’2” 235 6’2” 225 and 6’2” 190 (speed) Their two cbs are very slim but again speedy. Both 5’11” 175 ( 5 INTs for the left comer ) The safety is 6’4” 195.


Tarleton has a lot of players with quality playing time. I would guess thats due to the fact they were blowing people out. Tarleton is winning on an ave 45-18. They have experience at every level.


This will be a tough game. Tarleton is rested and ready. They have size, speed and experience.

Or. Maybe this:

This Tart State outfit lost to Abilene Christian which NDSU beat by like 30 or 40 points in last year's playoffs. UND wins handily once again exposing a fraudulent team seeded no where near where it actually should be

I would agree if they hadn’t beaten Army.

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SAGARIN FCS TOP TEN:

G6 or the proud top of the FCS?

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Lots of D1A teams between #33 and #105 that would look good on NDSU’s schedule. None any better than the teams they play now.

A move to D1A might mean an annual Gopher opener. Pressure would be heavy on the Gophers to join in

Coach says stay humble

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Saturdays games today:

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BISON GAME NOTES:

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UND GAME NOTES:

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Rhode Island @ UC Davis Game Notes:

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