FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 21, 2021) - The Big Sky Conference will send a league-record five football teams to the 2021 NCAA Division I Football Championship Playoffs, with three of those earning national seeds. The 24-team field was announced Sunday live on ESPNU.
FCS Playoff Bracket | FCS Playoff Bracket (PDF)
Big Sky Champion Sacramento State was slotted as the No. 4 overall seed to lead the league, while Montana earned the No. 6 seed and Montana State drew the final national seed at No. 8 to round out the conference's first-round bye teams.
Eastern Washington and UC Davis were also selected to the 24-team playoff field, with the Eagles hosting Northern Iowa this upcoming Saturday and UC Davis traveling to South Dakota State earlier in the day. EWU kicks off against UNI at 2 p.m. MT, while UC Davis will take on SDSU at 1 p.m. MT.
No. 4-seeded Sacramento State (9-2, 8-0)
2nd Round | vs. UC Davis/South Dakota State (Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN+)
Big Sky Champion Sacramento State capped its regular season with a 27-7 win at UC Davis this past Saturday. The victory improved the team to 9-2 overall and a perfect 8-0 in Big Sky games. The Hornets ended the season by winning their final eight games to match the longest win streak in school history.
No. 6-seeded Montana (9-2, 6-2)
2nd Round | vs. EWU/UNI (Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN+)
Montana snapped a four-game losing streak to Montana State in impressive fashion, as the Griz caged the Bobcats 29-10 on Saturday. Montana improved to 9-2 (6-2 BSC) with the win, which ended a program-record nine-game winning streak for Montana State. The Griz will be making the program's FCS-record 25th appearance In the playoffs.
No. 8-seeded Montana State (9-2, 7-1)
2nd Round | vs. UT Martin/Missouri State (Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. MT on ESPN+)
Montana State won nine of its last 10 games, but the Bobcats dropped a 29-10 loss to rival Montana to close out the regular season. The third-ranked Bobcats' only loss prior to Saturday came at the hands of FBS foe Wyoming, who MSU was leading late in the fourth quarter.
Eastern Washington (9-2, 6-2)
1st Round | vs. Northern Iowa (Nov. 27 at 2 p.m. MT on ESPN+)
Eastern Washington closed out its season with a 42-28 win at Portland State as the Eagles improved to 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the Big Sky. The victory also marked the fifth-straight win over Portland State, while EWU also finished an unblemished 6-0 on the road during the regular season as well, the best road record for the program since 1967.
UC Davis (8-3, 5-3)
1st Round | at South Dakota State (Nov. 27 at 1 p.m. MT on ESPN+)
UC Davis closed out the regular season with a loss to Sacramento State, as the Aggies dropped to 8-3 overall and 5-3 in league play. The Aggies previously made the postseason in 2018 when UC Davis defeated Northern Iowa at home 23-16 on Dec. 1 before falling to Eastern Washington in the quarterfinals.
The 2021 championship field consists of 11 automatic qualifiers and 13 at-large qualifiers. Team pairings are determined primarily according to geographical proximity.
Television schedules and game times for all rounds of the 2021 championship will be updated at NCAA.com. All rounds of the FCS playoffs can be seen on ESPN’s family of networks with first-round games taking place Saturday, Nov. 27 and concluding with the national championship game at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, Saturday, Jan. 8 at 10:00 a.m. MT on ESPN2.
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