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ursus arctos horribilis
December 16th, 2021, 08:15 PM
Three FCS games are on the schedule this weekend, including two playoff games and the Celebration Bowl.

ALL-AMERICA TEAMS ANNOUNCED TO DATE


Dec. 20 – Stats Perform (to come) – 11 am ET on Monday
Dec. 16 -- NACDA Announces 9th Annual FCS All-America Team -- Click Here (https://nacda.com/news/2021/12/16/div1aaada-fcs-ada-announces-2021-all-america-team.aspx)
Dec. 15 – CoSIDA Academic All-America Teams (15 in the FCS are honored) -- Click Here (https://academicallamerica.com/news/2021/12/14/2021-academic-all-america-ncaa-division-i-football-team-announced.aspx)
Dec. 14 – HERO Sports All-America Teams -- Click Here (https://fcsinsider.com/news/2021/12/14/football-2021-hero-sports-all-america-teams.aspx)
Dec. 14 – Associated Press All-America Teams -- Click Here (https://fcsinsider.com/news/2021/12/14/football-2021-associated-press-all-america-teams.aspx)

Celebration Bowl
[Craig Haley, Stats Perform, Game Preview -- Read More (https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/12/2021-celebration-bowl-preview-and-prediction-jackson-state-vs-south-carolina-state/)]
South Carolina State (6-5, 5-0 MEAC) vs. Jackson State (11-1, 8-0 SWAC)
Kickoff – Noon ET Saturday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta (ABC)

FCS PLAYOFFS
Notes for Semifinal Games
North Dakota State (https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/gobison.sidearmsports.com/documents/2021/12/13/NDSU_Football_Notes_20211213.pdf) | James Madison (https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/jmusports.com/documents/2021/12/14/JMU_Game_Notes_vs_NDSU.pdf) [Craig Haley, Stats Perform, Game Preview -- Read More (https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/12/fcs-semifinal-round-playoff-preview-james-madison-at-north-dakota-state/)]
South Dakota State (https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/sdstate.sidearmsports.com/documents/2021/12/16/SDSU_FB_Notes_12_15_2021.pdf) | Montana State Football Home Page (https://msubobcats.com/sports/football) | [Craig Haley, Stats Perform, Game Preview -- Read More (https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/12/fcs-semifinal-round-playoff-preview-south-dakota-state-at-montana-state/)]

Participating Conference Notes
Big Sky (https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/bigskyconf.com/documents/2021/12/16/FB_Weekly_Notebook_2021_12_18.pdf) | CAA Football (https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/gobison.sidearmsports.com/documents/2021/12/15/CAA_FB_Notes_20211215.pdf) | Missouri Valley (https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/mvfc.sidearmsports.com/documents/2021/12/15/MVFC_Playoff_Notebook_12_15_2021.pdf)

FCS Playoff Semifinals (Dec. 17/Dec. 18)
No. 3 James Madison at No. 2 NDSU, 8:15 pm CT (ESPN2) - Friday
SDSU at No. 8 Montana State, 1 pm CT (ESPN2) - Saturday
Numbers denote tournament seed, not national ranking


2021 FCS INSIDER -- KEY LINKS



NCAA Statistics – Click Here (https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fstats.ncaa.org%2frankings%2fch ange_sport_year_div&c=E,1,mRjnMdfJ923UgEz_6F_K71TPIgaYLBK4h14t4LGm20rq WWtqfAZgQSQTq6pntUD0a2pxmiKT48pAb9pE53zsA3uTxDpujS 57ux2QBVpU&typo=1) | Top-25 Polls -- Click Here (https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/fcs/fcs-coaches-poll) | Scoreboard -- Click Here (https://www.ncaa.com/scoreboard/football/fcs)



FCS Insider -- Click Here (https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2ffcsinsider.com%2f&c=E,1,3rB462R9KZ-aj2yNofuGFA9TqKQXYMRWX4Earw7riN3E_ztqOugup5gq2BwpL zt7KVV2pF5uyCpiAUfIkKrtUsBnLvSjTj6jHtoKYe9jgHKVuPp zXHxOEBrbksEt&typo=1) | Stats Perform -- Click Here (https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.fcs.football%2ffcsfront.asp&c=E,1,RNp9OmJwGyQPTgnEngU_v5QjJKoipACVxOqXwmSKZRyR PeqAHQOwZzl7U5GVxWDiwWUhGytnkLPvjVLVgWta1mTlttk6oK UmwhlQhdFYHjWZGXR8cFBDG7EaRw,,&typo=1) | HERO Sports -- Click Here (https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fherosports.com%2fcategory%2fco llege-football%2ffcs%2f&c=E,1,RCc8_tC95gi2TageeGldFZx1_AffWt8LvdZDJ5-vLbx7CSpI2r98jPXJkxrGsIvPuPexsxfl3iB5CLLsEx5otyGav hh87fPePZRbmbyDGzYYTi8Cp2mfP5A,&typo=1)



Links to previously announced all-league teams:



ASUN -- Click Here (https://asunsports.org/sports/fball/2021-22/releases/20211121w2byge) | Big Sky -- Click Here (https://bigskyconf.com/news/2021/11/22/big-sky-announces-2021-all-conference-football-teams-and-individual-awards.aspx) | Big South -- Click Here (https://bigsouthsports.com/news/2021/11/23/big-south-announces-2021-football-annual-award-winners.aspx) | CAA Football -- Click Here (https://caasports.com/news/2021/11/23/jmus-johnson-villanovas-rhyne-headline-2021-caa-football-all-conference-awards.aspx) | Ivy League -- Click Here (https://ivyleague.com/news/2021/11/23/ivy-league-announces-football-all-ivy-rookie-of-the-year-coach-of-the-year.aspx)



MEAC -- Click Here (https://meacsports.com/news/2021/11/23/meac-announces-football-postseason-honors-presented-by-townebank.aspx) | MVFC -- Click Here (https://valley-football.org/news/2021/11/24/missouri-valley-football-announces-specialty-honors.aspx) | NEC -- Click Here (https://northeastconference.org/news/2021/11/24/football-necfb-champion-sacred-heart-snags-two-major-awards-wagners-titus-leo-repeats-as-dpoty.aspx) | OVC -- Click Here (http://ovcsports.com/news/2021/11/22/ut-martins-howard-simpson-austin-peays-perry-murray-states-williams-headline-2021-ovc-football-honors.aspx) | Patriot -- Click Here (https://patriotleague.org/news/2021/11/23/patriot-league-football-2021-all-league-and-major-awards-announced-11-23-21.aspx)



PFL -- Click Here (https://www.pioneer-football.org/news/archives/2021/1719/pioneer-football-league-announces-29th-all-pfl-teams/) | SoCon -- Click Here (Coaches Team) (https://soconsports.com/news/2021/11/23/all-socon-coaches-football-teams-announced.aspx) | Southland -- Click Here (https://www.southland.org/news/2021/11/23/southland-announces-2021-all-conference-football-teams.aspx) | SWAC – Click Here (https://swac.org/news/2021/11/29/swac-announces-2021-football-postseason-honors.aspx) | WAC -- Click Here (https://www.wacsports.com/sports/fball/2021-22/releases/20211123loeus8)



Stats Perform Announces Finalists (Top 3) for Payton Award and Buchanan Award -- Buchanan Finalists / Voting (https://fcsinsider.com/news/2021/12/8/football-troy-andersen-isaiah-land-patrick-o-connell-invited-to-announcement-of-the-2021-buck-buchanan-award.aspx) | Payton Finalists / Voting (https://fcsinsider.com/news/2021/12/7/football-eric-barriere-quay-holmes-cole-kelley-invited-to-announcement-of-the-2021-walter-payton-award.aspx)
Southern Illinois’ ZeVeyon Furcron is 2021 Doris Robinson Scholar-Athlete Award Recipient -- More (https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/12/southern-illinois-zeveyon-furcron-is-2021-doris-robinson-scholar-athlete-award-recipient/)
Jackson State’s Deion Sanders is 2021 Eddie Robinson Award Recipient as FCS Coach of the Year | More (https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/12/jackson-states-deion-sanders-is-2021-eddie-robinson-award-recipient-as-fcs-coach-of-the-year/)
Jackson State QB Shedeur Sanders is 2021 Jerry Rice Award Recipient | More (https://theanalyst.com/na/2021/12/jackson-state-qb-shedeur-sanders-is-2021-jerry-rice-award-recipient/)



2021 Playoff Scorecard



CAA Football (2)
3-1
.750


Missouri Valley Football (6)
6-4
.600


Southern Conference (1)
1-1
.500


Big Sky Conference (5)
4-4
.500


Southland Conference (2)
2-2
.500


Big South (1)
1-1
.500


Ohio Valley (1)
1-1
.500


Patriot League (1)
1-1
.500


ASUN/WAC (2)*
1-2
.333


Northeast Conference (1)
0-1
.000


Pioneer Football League (1)
0-1
.000


SWAC (1)
0-1
.000


*both playoff participants from the ASUN/WAC AQ are from the WAC

All-Time Semifinal Trips
 Here’s a look at the leaders, by conference, since 1978 (first year of the playoffs).
33 - Big Sky Conference
31 - CAA Football
30 - Missouri Valley Football Conference
29 - Southern Conference
19 - Southland Conference
17 - Independents
10 - Ohio Valley Conference

Power Five
In the past 11+ playoffs (2010-21), five leagues (Big Sky, CAA Football, MVFC, Southern and Southland) have combined to win 213 of 253 total games.

Road Warriors
In the history of the FCS playoffs (since 1978) only 29 teams have won more than one road game in the playoffs during a single season, including South Dakota State this year. Only one team (James Madison in 2004) won three road games in the playoffs during the same season.

Same Season Semifinalists
Only six leagues have sent two teams to the semifinals in the same season, including the MVFC this year. The CAA has done it an FCS-record seven times, followed by the MVFC with six.
https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif


#FearTheFCS -- In Week 1, the Big Sky became first FCS conference to post three wins over FBS opponents in the same week since CAA Football in 2009. Montana knocked off No. 20 Washington, becoming just the sixth FCS school to post a win over a nationally ranked FBS foe. There have been 12 FCS wins over FBS programs this season, including four wins over teams from "Power 5" programs. In 2016, five FCS teams knocked off Power 5 teams (the last time as many as three-such wins have occurred in one season). The last time the FCS had more than 10 wins in one season against FBS schools was in 2013 (16 that year).

FCS Wins Vs. FBS (2021)
Eastern Washington 35, UNLV 33 (2OT)
UC Davis 19, Tulsa 17
South Dakota State 42, Colorado State 23
Montana 13, No. 20 Washington 7
Holy Cross 38, UConn 28
ETSU 23, Vanderbilt 3
Duquesne 28, Ohio 26
Jacksonville State 20, Florida State 17
UIW 42, Texas State 34
Northern Arizona 21, Arizona 19
Rhode Island 35, UMass 22
Maine 35, UMass 10

The FCS Championship Game will be played in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, on Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022.

FCS in the NFL – There were more than two full teams worth of FCS players on NFL opening-day rosters. Better than 130 former FCS players made teams' 53-man rosters. Despite low draft numbers this spring (6) and last (6 in 2019), the number of FCS players on NFL rosters has not altered much --- with more than 210 FCS players on NFL Opening Day rosters in each of the previous three seasons (that number includes 53-man rosters and practice squads). Research compiled by Craig Haley (Stats Perform) has the current number at 126 on active rosters and 199 overall. Read more: https://bit.ly/3BUurhe (https://bit.ly/3BUurhe)

The 2021 season marked the debut of two new FCS conferences. The ASUN has three members this season: Eastern Kentucky, Jacksonville State, and Central Arkansas. The WAC has four post-season eligible teams in the fall: Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, and SFA. The two leagues have agreed on a one-year scheduling alliance for this fall.


Mike Kern
Associate Commissioner