The fall regular-season is complete, and now it’s time for the 2021 FCS Playoffs! The 11 automatic qualifiers, full 24 team field, FCS Playoff Schedule, and bracket were announced today by the NCAA.
The 11 automatic qualifiers for the FCS Playoffs won their respective conference championships and are listed below:
- AQ7 – Sam Houston
- Big Sky – Sacramento State
- Big South – Kennesaw State
- CAA – Villanova
- Missouri Valley – North Dakota State
- Northeast – Sacred Heart
- Ohio Valley – UT Martin
- Patriot – Holy Cross
- Pioneer – Davidson
- Southern – ETSU
- Southland – UIW
Below are the top eight seeds for the fall 2021 FCS playoffs. The top eight teams receive a first-round bye and will host a second-round matchup on Saturday, Dec. 4:
1. Sam Houston
2. North Dakota State
3. James Madison
4. Sacramento State
5. Villanova
6. Montana
7. ETSU
8. Montana State
The remaining 16 qualifiers (13 at-large) open the FCS Playoffs with a First-Round matchup on Saturday, Dec. 4. Below is the schedule for the first two rounds of the fall 2021 FCS Playoffs:
FIRST-ROUND GAMES (NOV. 27)
*All games EST and on ESPN+.
Sacred Heart at Holy Cross – 12pm
Davidson at Kennesaw State – 2pm
Stephen F. Austin at UIW – 3pm
UC Davis at South Dakota St. – 3pm
Northern Iowa at Eastern Washington – 4pm
UT Martin at Missouri State – 4pm
Southern Illinois at South Dakota – 6pm
Florida A&M at Southeastern La. – 7pm
SECOND-ROUND GAMES (DEC. 3-4)
*All games EST and on ESPN+.
Sacred Heart/Holy Cross at Villanova – 7pm (Fri.)
UNI/EWU at Montana- 9pm (Fri.)
Davidson/KSU at ETSU – 2pm
FAMU/SLU at James Madison – 2pm
SFA/UIW at Sam Houston – 3pm
SIU/USD at North Dakota St. – 3:30pm
UTM/Missouri St. at Montana St.- 4pm
UC Davis/SDSU at Sacramento St. – 9pm
The fall 2021 FCS Championship Game is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The game will be televised by ESPN2 at 12:00pm ET.
@KevinKelley,
Exciting Playoff Season!
All 24 Programs Are seeded by Merit.
Regular Season Quality Play Merits Postseason Opportunity.
Now, let’s have some 1st Round Upsets…
The focusing climaxing Teams will Advance to the next level…
Except this is a real Game, not a PC or Game system fake action Adventure…