North Dakota State to represent the Missouri Valley Football Conference in the FCS Championship Game -- The MVFC is 13-6 in previous title-game appearances, although Youngstown State (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) and Southern Illinois (1983) both played in the championship prior to joining the league, recording a combined 4-1 record in those five championship games.
MVFC Playoff Notes - Championship Game (PDF)
This is North Dakota State's 38th postseason appearance and 15th straight dating back to 2010. The Bison have advanced to the quarterfinals or beyond all 15 years in the FCS playoffs. North Dakota State has an 85-18 record in the postseason, 80-17 in the NCAA playoff format since 1973, and the Bison own the record for FCS playoff victories with a 50-5 mark.
North Dakota State has won a record nine FCS national championships. The Bison are 14-3 overall in playoff title games with the only losses coming in 2022 to South Dakota State (45-21) and at the Division II level in 1981 to Texas State (42-13) and 1984 to Troy (18-17).
- The MVFC leads the FCS with 20 title-game appearances (counting this year) and 13 titles.
- An MVFC team has appeared in 14-straight title games (every year since 2011). No other FCS league has had more than four-straight trips to a title game.
MISSOURI VALLEY FOOTBALL
MVFC Stats –
Click Here | MVFC Composite Schedule --
Click Here | NCAA Statistics –
Click Here
Top-25 Polls --
Click Here | MVFC Records (prior to 2024 season) --
Click Here | MVFC Draft Database --
Click Here
FCS Insider --
Click Here | Stats Perform --
Click Here | HERO Sports --
Click Here | FCS Nation --
Click Here
| Monday, Jan. 6 – Championship Game |
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| #2 NDSU (3) vs. #1 Montana State (1) [ESPN] |
6:00 PM CT |
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| # - indicates tournament seed |
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| (xx) - indicates highest Top 25 rank in season-ending polls |
All-Time Title Game Trips -- The MVFC has 13 total titles, the most by an FCS league. The 2024 season marks the 20th title game for an MVFC member.
20 - Missouri Valley Football (13 titles)
17 - Big Sky Conference (6 titles)
16 - Southern Conference (8 titles)
13 - CAA Football (6 titles)
12 - Independents (9 titles)*
9 - Southland Conference (2 titles)
5 - Ohio Valley Conference (2 titles)
*includes 5 combined trips by YSU (4) and SIU (1), with 4 FCS titles when they played as independents.
MVFC: 2 of Top 3 Seeds -- Since 1985, a league member has been seeded No. 1-4 in the FCS Championship a total of 35 times (nine different league members have been seeded in the Top 4 in league history.) Four previous times have two MVFC teams been seeded in the Top 4 in the same tournament - and a Missouri Valley Football school won the title in three of those four seasons (2014, 2022, 2023).
Years w/Two Top 4 MVFC Seeds in the Playoffs
2007 -- #1 UNI, lost in quarters; #4 SIU, lost in semis
2014 -- #2 ILS, lost title game; #3 NDSU, won title
2022 -- #1 SDSU, won title; #3 NDSU, lost title game
2023 -- #1 SDSU, won title; #3 USD, lost in quarters
2024 -- #2 NDSU (3-0); #3 SDSU, #4 USD -- lost in semis
Against the Rest -- Counting this year, the MVFC is 154-92 in the NCAA FCS playoffs. Two MVFC teams faced one another in the playoffs for the 20th time when SDSU lost at NDSU on Dec. 21. MVFC teams are 32-23 (.582) against Big Sky teams in playoff action, including 2-2 this season.
Title Town -- The MVFC has 16 total title-game appearances since 2011, 11 of those by North Dakota State (9-1 in previous trips). This year’s championship marks the ninth time the top two seeds have met - the last six have involved an MVFC member.
FCS No. 1 vs. No. 2 Seeds in Playoffs (9)
12/19/81: No. 2 Idaho State 34, No. 1 Eastern Kentucky 23 (FCS Championship)
12/21/96: No. 2 Marshall 49, No. 1 Montana 29 (FCS Championship)
12/18/09: No. 2 Villanova 23, No. 1 Montana 21 (FCS Championship)
1/7/12 (2011 Season): No. 2 NDSU 17, No. 1 Sam Houston State 6 (FCS Championship)
1/6/18 (2017 Season): No. 2 NDSU 17, No. 1 James Madison 13 (FCS Championship)
1/11/20 (2019 Season): No. 1 NDSU 28, No. 2 James Madison 20 (FCS Championship)
5/16/21 (2020 Season): No. 2 Sam Houston 23, No. 1 SDSU (FCS Championship)
1/7/24 (2023 Season): No. 1 SDSU 23, No. 2 Montana 3 (FCS Championship)
1/6/25 (2024 Season): No. 1 Montana State vs. No. 2 North Dakota State (FCS Championship)
Title Games, Consecutive Years -- An MVFC school has appeared in an FCS-record 14-straight title game appearances for the league. The CAA (5 in a row) is next.
14 -- MVFC (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
5 -- CAA (2006, 07, 08, 09, 10)
4 -- Big Sky (2008, 09, 10, 23)
4 -- OVC (1979, 80, 81, 82)
4 -- SoCon (1998, 99, 00, 01)
3 -- Big Sky (1994, 95, 96)
3 -- Southern (1991, 92, 93)
3 -- SoCon (2005, 06, 07)
MVFC, Big Sky Dominate -- The Missouri Valley and Big Sky will account for 15 of the 23 playoff wins - that will match a record win total by two leagues: accomplished in 2016 and in 2023.
| 2024 Playoff Records |
|
|
| Missouri Valley (4) |
8-3 |
.727 |
| Big Sky (5) |
6-4 |
.600 |
| Southern (1) |
1-1 |
.500 |
| Southland (1) |
1-1 |
.500 |
| Patriot League (1) |
1-1 |
.500 |
| United Athletic (3) |
2-3 |
.400 |
| CAA Football (4) |
2-4 |
.333 |
| Big South/OVC (3) |
1-3 |
.250 |
| Northeast (1) |
0-1 |
.000 |
| PFL (1) |
0-1 |
.000 |
5 MVFC Teams Ranked -- Five league teams were in the final regular-season Coaches poll and four were ranked in the Stats Perform poll of Nov. 25. The league had three of the Top 4 (NDSU, USD, SDSU) in both the Stats Perform and AFCA Coaches poll. Illinois State was ranked in both polls (10 and 11), while MoState (21) was ranked in the AFCA poll. The MVFC is 10-5 against ranked FCS non-conference teams in 2024. MVFC schools are 28-9 against FCS opponents this year, with five of those nine losses to ranked FCS non-league teams. The 28-9 mark against peer FCS programs is the best of any FCS league.
Winning Against No. 1 -- NDSU will be looking to post the league’s 22nd all-time win vs. a No. 1-ranked team when it faces top-ranked Montana State. Thirteen of the previous 21 MVFC wins against a No. 1 team have been league games. MVFC schools are 8-15 all-time against non-conference No. 1-ranked teams. For the first time in MVFC history a league team faced a No. 1 team twice in the same season -- UNI (NDSU, SDSU), South Dakota (NDSU, Montana State), and NDSU (SDSU, Montana State) all did it this year.
MVFC Members for the Title -- The MVFC is 13-6 in previous title-game appearances, although Youngstown State (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994) and Southern Illinois (1983) both played in the championship prior to joining the league, recording a combined 4-1 record in those five championship games.
Illinois State (0-1): 2014-L
NDSU (9-1): 2011-W, 2012-W, 2013-W, 2014-W, 2015-W, 2017-W, 2018-W, 2019-W, 2021-W, 2022-L; 2024-
UNI (0-1): 2005-L
SDSU (2-1): 2020-L; 2022-W; 2023-W
Southern Illinois (1-0): *1983-W
Western Kentucky (1-0): 2002-W
Youngstown State (4-3): *1991-W, *1992-L, *1993-W, *1994-W, 1997-W, 1999-L, 2016-L
*indicates title game appearances prior to MVFC membership
.
We’ve Got Three -- For the first time in FCS history, one league has three semifinal teams in the same season. North Dakota State (13th semifinal trip), South Dakota (1st), South Dakota State (7th) represented the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2024.
All-Time Semifinal Trips
Here’s a look at the leaders, by conference, since 1978 (first year of the playoffs).
37 - Missouri Valley Football Conference
36 - Big Sky Conference
32 - CAA Football
29 - Southern Conference
20 - Southland Conference
Same-Season Semifinalists -- The MVFC has had two semifinalists in the same playoff in eight of the past 11 years and nine times overall.
9 - MVFC (99) (14) (16) (17) (18) (21) (22) (23) (24)
7 - CAA (2004) (2007) (2008) (2009) (2010) (13) (20)
5 - SoCon (1983) (1987) (2000) (2001) (2005)
4 - Big Sky (1981) (1990) (1994) (2019)
1 - OVC (1979); Southland (1995)
Title Town -- Breakdown of conference member appearances in FCS title game since 2011 -- last 14 seasons, including 2024):
16 -- Missouri Valley Football Conference
4 -- Big Sky
4 -- CAA
3 -- Southland
1 -- OVC
MVFC-Big Sky Challenge Series -- In an effort to publicize current matchups and promote future non-conference scheduling between two of the premier FCS conferences, the MVFC and the Big Sky Conference announced a Challenge Series between the two leagues before the 2017 season. (Only regular-season contests count in the series standings.) The MVFC won the 2024 series, with a 2-1 advantage. The MVFC has never lost a season series in the Challenge. All three games in the series this year have had a ranked team in the contest. Since the series began in 2017, the MVFC holds a 15-10 advantage in playoff meetings.
Series History (2017-24)
2017 (MVFC Wins Series, 5-3) | Playoffs: Big Sky 1, MVFC 0
2018 (MVFC Wins Series, 5-3) | Playoffs: MVFC 2, Big Sky 1
2019 (MVFC Wins Series, 6-4) | Playoffs: MVFC 1, Big Sky 0
20-21 (COVID - No regular-season games) | Playoffs: MVFC 2, Big Sky 0
2021 (MVFC Wins Series, 4-2) | Playoffs: MVFC 3, Big Sky 2
2022 (Series Tied, 3-3) | Playoffs: MVFC 2, Big Sky 1
2023 (MVFC Wins Series, 4-1) | Playoffs: MVFC 3, Big Sky 3
2024 (MVFC Wins Series, 2-1)
Missouri State at #3 Montana -- L, 24-29
#20 North Dakota vs. #4 Montana -- W, 27-24
Idaho State at #10 North Dakota -- W, 52-28
#6 South Dakota at Portland State, canceled
Playoffs: MVFC 2, Big Sky 2
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