The FCS Playoffs 2024 are set to kickoff on Saturday with eight first-round games. The action begins at noon Eastern with two contests — Central Connecticut Blue Devils at (10) Rhode Island Rams and (12) Illinois State Redbirds at Southeast Missouri Redhawks.
It should be noted that Illinois State, seeded 12th, was supposed to host the first-round playoff game against Southeast Missouri. However, the Redbirds had to go on the road due to a previous commitment to host the Illinois high school state finals at their on-campus stadium in Normal, Ill.
The FCS Playoff Schedule continues at 1:00pm ET when the (16) New Hampshire Wildcats host the UT Martin Skyhawks. Two more games are slated to kickoff at 2:00pm ET — Lehigh Mountain Hawks at (9) Richmond Spiders and Eastern Kentucky Colonels at (11) Villanova Wildcats.
Two first-round FCS playoff matchups are slated to kickoff at 3:00pm ET. Those matchups include the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at (15) Abilene Christian Wildcats and Drake Bulldogs at (13) Tarleton State Texans. All seven of the previously mentioned contests will stream live via ESPN.
The first-round of the 2024 FCS Playoffs concludes with one contest at 10:150pm on ESPN2, which features the Tennessee State Tigers traveling to take on the (14) Montana Grizzlies.
Winners of the first-round contests will advance to the second-round where they will play at one of the top eight seeds. The top eight seeds, listed below, each received a first-round bye:
1. Montana State
2. North Dakota State
3. South Dakota State
4. South Dakota
5. UC Davis
6. UIW
7. Mercer
8. Idaho
Below is the complete schedule for the first two rounds of the 2024 FCS Playoffs:
FIRST-ROUND GAMES (NOV. 30)
*All games ET and streaming via ESPN+.
CCSU at (10) Rhode Island – 12pm
(12) Illinois St. at SE Missouri – 12pm
UT Martin at (16) New Hampshire – 1pm
Lehigh at (9) Richmond – 2pm
Eastern Kentucky at (11) Villanova – 2pm
Northern Arizona at (15) Abilene Christian – 3pm
Drake at (13) Tarleton State – 3pm
Tennessee St. at (14) Montana – 10:15pm (ESPN2)
SECOND-ROUND GAMES (DEC. 7)
*All games ET and streaming via ESPN+.
Tenn. St./Montana at (3) South Dakota St. – 2pm
CCSU/Rhode Island at (7) Mercer – 2pm
EKU/Villanova at (6) UIW – 2pm
UTM/UNH at (1) Montana State – 3pm
NAU/ACU at (2) North Dakota State – 3pm
Drake/Tarleton at (4) South Dakota – 3pm
Ill. State/SE Missouri at (5) UC Davis – 4pm
Richmond/Lehigh at (8) Idaho – 9pm
The FCS Championship Game for the 2024 season is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 6, 2025 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game will be nationally televised by ESPN at 7:00pm ET.
FCS Playoff Bracket (PDF)
2024 #FCSPlayoffs Bracket pic.twitter.com/Tyq6fHrUz1
— FBSchedules.com (@FBSchedules) November 24, 2024
For those looking for December weather games – Most games are expected to have perfect football weather sunny/partly cloudy in the low to mid 40s at kickoff. With ACU and Tartleton St expected in the 50s.
The one exception, TSU vs Montana, has Light Snow in the forecast for the nightcap