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The FCS Playoff is down to the quarterfinals, while the HBCU Championship will be determined in Atlanta.
Jackson State (11-2, 8-0) meets South Carolina State in the 9th Celebration Bowl. The Tigers captured the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship last Saturday by pulling away in the second half for a 41-13 romp. SC State (9-2, 5-0) clinched the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference on November 16 with a 54-7 romp on the road at Morgan State in Baltimore.
Chennis Berry is in his first season as the head coach in Orangeburg. He was 27-7 in 3 seasons at D2 member Benedict, leaving the Columbia, South Carolina school to replace Buddy Pough when the SC State alum retired after 22 seasons at the helm of the only team he ever led as head coach.
Former Jackson State QB T.C. Taylor (1998-2001) is in his second season as head coach, posting a record of 17-6 since taking over for Deion Sanders when he left for Colorado.
The Bulldogs are ranked 8th in the FCS Congrove Computer Rankings while the Tigers are ranked 9th. Kickoff is slated for a Noon kick-off (eastern time) with coverage on ABC.
SC State enters this game on an 8-game winning streak while JSU won its ninth consecutive contest in the SWAC title game. The Bulldogs' only losses came on August 31 at Florida A&M (22-18) and September 14 at FBS member Georgia Southern (42-14).
Likewise, Jackson State lost its opener at FBS member UL-Monroe (30-14), and fell 41-20 at Grambling State. Even though GSU is a SWAC member, that game was not counted as a SWAC matchup.
This is the third appearance for the Tigers in the Celebration Bowls, all of which have come in the last four years. They have yet to win the title with a 41-34 loss in OT to NC Central in 2022 and a 31-10 loss to SC State in 2021.
Jackson State likes to dominate on the ground behind Ivy Mulligan who has 1,174 yards and 11 TD's. The Tigers also boast the 5th-best defense in all of the FCS, but the Bulldogs rank 8th in that category and are 18th in rushing defense.
South Carolina State is led by HBCU+ Player of the Year Eric Phoenix who has thrown for 2,460 yards with 20 TD's, and is 7th in the nation in pass efficiency. He will be looking to operate against the 4th-best pass efficiency defense that has allowed 14 TD's (troublesome) while also intercepting 13 passes.
ODDS: South Carolina State (-2.5) - Jackson State had opened as a 3.5-point favorite.
COMPUTER: South Carolina State (-0.43).
The quarterfinals get underway Friday night at 9 P.M. eastern time on ESPN with 1-seed Montana State favored by 14.5 at home over 8-seed Idaho.by 14.5..
Friday - (8) Idaho at (1) Montana State, 9 PM, ESPN
Saturday - (6) UIW at (3) SDSU, Noon, ESPN
(5) UC Davis at (4) South Dakota, 3 PM, ESPN+
(7) Mercer at (2) NDSU, 3:30 PM, ABC
SEE: Odds, Computer picks, Scores
Home team on bottom
| 12/7 | 12/14 | 12/21 | C'ship (Frisco) (1/6, 7 PM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| UT-Martin 17 1 Montana St. 49 |
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| 8 Idaho 1 Montana St. |
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| Lehigh 13 8 Idaho 34 |
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| ? ? |
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| 12 Illinois St. 10 5 UC Davis 42 |
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| 5 UC Davis 4 So. Dakota |
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| 13 Tarleton 31 4 So. Dakota 42 |
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| ? ? |
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| 14 Montana 18 3 SDSU 35 |
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| 6 UIW 3 SDSU |
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| 11 Villanova 6 6 UIW 13 |
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| ? ? |
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| 10 URI 10 7 Mercer 17 |
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| 7 Mercer 2 NDSU |
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| 15 ACU 31 2 NDSU 51 |
All games December 7
Home Team in CAPS
Winner in BOLD
(14) Montana (9-5) 18, (3) SOUTH DAKOTA STATE (11-2) 35
(11) Villanova (10-4) 6, (6) UIW (11-2) 13
(10) Rhode Island (11-3) 10, (7) MERCER (11-2) 17
UT Martin (9-5) 17, (1) MONTANA STATE (13-0) 49
(13) Tarleton (10-4) 31, (4) SOUTH DAKOTA (10-2) 42
(15) Abilene Christian (9-5) 31, (2) NORTH DAKOTA STATE (11-2) 51
(12) Illinois State (10-3), (5) UC DAVIS (11-2) 42
Lehigh (9-4) 13, (8) IDAHO (10-3) 34
All games November 30
Home Team in CAPS
Winner in BOLD
UT Martin (9-4) 41, (16) NEW HAMPSHIRE (8-5) 10
Lehigh (9-3) 20, (9) RICHMOND (10-3) 16
(12) Illinois State (10-3) 35, SEMO (9-4), 27
Drake (8-3) 29, (13) TARLETON (10-3) 43
Tennessee State (9-4) 27, (14) MONTANA (9-4) 41
Eastern Kentucky (8-5) 17, (11) VILLANOVA (10-3) 22
CCSU (7-6) 17, (10) RHODE ISLAND (11-2) 21
Northern Arizona (8-5) 0, (15) ABILENE CHRISTIAN (9-4) 24
MONTANA STATE - Won 13 straight overall. Won 6 straight road games. Won 8 straight conference games (tied with UIW, Richmond, and Jackson State).
Last: No.1 over-all seed won 49-17 at home over unseeded UT-Martin on Saturday, December 7.
Next: Hosts Idaho on Friday, December 13
SOUTH DAKOTA STATE - 28-game home winning streak.
Last: No. 3 seed overall won 35-18 at home over 14-seed Montana on Saturday, December 7.
Next: Hosts 6-seed Incarnate Word on Saturday, December 14.
NW STATE - Lost 20 straight over-all. Lost 10 straight home games (tied with Northern Colorado)
Last: Lost 62-24 at Houston Christian on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
NORTHERN COLORADO - Lost 10 straight at home (tied with NW State, LA).
Last: Lost 45-13 at Portland State on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T - Lost 16 straight conference games.
Last: Lost 31-21 at home to Elon on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
MURRAY STATE - Lost 18 straight road games. Lost 15 straight conference games (second to NC A&T).
Last: Lost 62-0 at Southern Illinois on Saturday, November 23.
Next: Season complete.
FBS schools were 115-6 in FBS-FCS games this season, and are a cumulative 1,915-158 (.924) since we began tracking this in 2003.
In 2024, there were 121 matchups scheduled between FBS and FCS schools with 119 playing one such game, while Hawaii and UMass each play two.
15 schools were not scheduled to play a FCS opponent. Of those fifteen schools, 5 are in the B1G (Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State, USC and UCLA). Texas is the only school in the SEC that will not play a FCS program. The same is true for Virginia Tech in the ACC. In fact, Texas and Virginia Tech, along with Michigan and Houston, were repeats from the list of schools in 2023 that played all FBS programs.
2024 FCS wins vs. FBS:
August 24: Montana State 35, New Mexico 31
September 7: St. Francis (PA) 23, Kent State 17
September 7: Idaho 17, Wyoming 13
September 7: Southern Utah 27, UTEP 24 (OT)
September 21: Monmouth 45, FIU 42
September 28: UT-Martin 24, Kennesaw 13
In 2023, FBS schools were 114-4. These were the FCS wins last year:
September 9: Idaho 33, Nevada 6
September 9: Southern Illinois 14, Northern Illinois 12
September 9: Fordham 40, Buffalo 37
September 16: Sacramento State 30, Stanford 23