2024 - Around the FCS (Week 12)

[ST_Lawson]

All games on Saturday, 11/16 and on ESPN+ unless otherwise stated. FCS Rankings are from the STATS FCS Poll. For the fun of it, I'll also include what Massey predicts the result will be for the games.

Big South/OVC Games
12 PM - Charleston Southern (1-9) at Eastern Illinois (2-8), EIU by 5
12:30 PM - Tennessee State (7-3) at Gardner-Webb (4-6), GWU by 6
1 PM - Tennessee Tech (5-5) at UT Martin (7-3) - UTM by 13
Lindenwood is off this weekend

MVFC Games
11 AM - Northern Iowa (2-8) at Youngstown State (3-8), YSU by 4
12 PM - Illinois State (7-3) at Indiana State (4-6), ILSU by 12
12 PM - South Dakota (7-2) at North Dakota (5-5), USD by 7
12:30 PM - Murray State (1-9) at FBS Kentucky (3-6), UK by 42
2 PM - Southern Illinois (3-7) at South Dakota State (8-2), SDSU by 26
2:30 PM - Missouri State (8-2) at North Dakota State (9-1), NDSU by 14

There's a full playoff odds/chances breakdown over at AGS: https://www.anygivensaturday.com/showth ... ostication
But here's what they're saying about the BS/OVC and the MVFC, if you happen to be curious.

BS/OVC - SEMO should be in, but probably won't get a top 8 seed after the loss to Lindenwood. UT Martin will likely win out, putting them either as the autobid or as an at-large. Assuming SEMO wins this weekend (likely), and if Tennessee State is able to pull off a win over Gardner-Webb (less likely, but still possible), it will make an interesting matchup with 6-1 SEMO at 5-2 TSU as the regular season finale. It's unlikely the BS/OVC gets three teams in...more likely there'll just be two, but it'll come from the group of SEMO, UT Martin, and Tennessee State.

MVFC - NDSU (9-1) and SDSU (8-2) are both solidly in and are just working on getting the best seed they can. USD is at 7-1 and is favored this week against UND. If they lose both their last two games (the last is against NDSU), then being at 7-3 might put them on the "bubble". Illinois State is also unexpectedly in the hunt for a playoff spot, currently at 7-3 with a favorable game against Indiana State, then a "coin-flip" game against UND. They win both games and I think they are in. If they go 1-1, they're probably also on the "bubble".

In the projected playoff bracket, you have NDSU as the #1 seed, SDSU as #3, USD as #7, SEMO at #13, and UT Martin at #14. Then Illinois State as non-seeded team. This year is the first year of them seeding the top 16 teams, the top 8 get a first-round bye and 9-16 get to host a first-round game against a team in the non-seeded 17-24 group.
 

[ST_Lawson]

Game results - in bold if it's an upset based on Massey's predictions

Big South/OVC Games
Eastern Illinois won 16-13 in 1 OT
Tennessee State won 23-20
Tennessee Tech won 10-9

MVFC Games
Youngstown State beat Northern Iowa 39-38 in 1 OT
Illinois State beat Indiana State 31-19
South Dakota beat North Dakota 42-36
Kentucky beat Murray State 48-6
South Dakota State beat Southern Illinois 41-10
North Dakota State beat Missouri State 59-21