The 24-team FCS playoff bracket was revealed on Sunday with Montana State grabbing the No. 1 overall seed and two-time defending national champion South Dakota State seeded third.
The first-round games will be played this weekend.
The top 16 teams were seeded with eight teams receiving first-round byes: 1. Montana State, 2. North Dakota State, 3. South Dakota State, 4. South Dakota, 5. UC Davis, 6. Incarnate Word, No. 7 Mercer, No. 8 Idaho.
The 10 teams that earned automatic berths by winning their conference are Montana State (Big Sky), Southeast Missouri State (Big South-OVC), Richmond (Colonial), South Dakota State (Missouri Valley), Central Connecticut State (Northeast), Lehigh (Patriot), Drake (Pioneer), Mercer (Southern), Incarnate Word (Southland) and Abilene Christian (United Athletic).
The complete bracket can be found here.
Playoff schedule
The second-round games will be played on Dec. 7, with the quarterfinals set for Dec. 13-14. The semifinals will be played on Dec. 21 and broadcast by ABC.
The championship game will be played on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas, and will be broadcast by ESPN.
(Photo of Amar Johnson: Samantha Laurey / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
