The long-awaited Battle of the Dakotas will take place on Sunday in Frisco, Texas, as the South Dakota State Jackrabbits face the North Dakota State Bison in the FCS championship game.
The Bison (12-2) have almost made the FCS championship game an annual tradition as they seek their 10th title in the last 12 years. They are, however, 4.0-point underdogs to the Jackrabbits (13-1), who are riding a school-record 13-game winning streak into their second championship game in three years.
The top seed, SDSU, defeated Montana State 39-18 in the second semifinal game on December 17. This came a day after third-seeded NDSU won its seventh consecutive game, 35-32 in a shootout against No. 7 Incarnate Word.
The line opened at 5.5 points at BetMGM but has since dropped to 4.0, with the Bison receiving 55% of the spread bets and the Jacks receiving 55% of the money. The 4.0-point spread at DraftKings has seen similar action, with NDSU receiving 51% of the spread bets and SDSU receiving 58% of the money.
The 114th meeting between the rivals since 1903 will take place on Sunday, with the Bison leading the series 63-45-5, including the last three FCS playoff meetings. NDSU has also defeated SDSU 11 times since winning its first FCS championship in 2011. The Jacks, however, have won the last three meetings, including a 23-31 victory during the regular season. The Bison will try to avoid a four-game losing streak in the series for the first time since 1950.
Matt Entz has a 49-6 record as the head coach of NDSU, with half of his losses coming at the hands of SDSU. He has only defeated the Jacks once so far, in 2019, when Entz’s offense was led by future first-round pick quarterback Trey Lance. SDSU reached the FCS championship game in 2021, only to lose to Sam Houston State in a postponed season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Bison did not win at least 12 games during the shortened season for the first time since 2011. Less than a year later, NDSU added another title to its collection with a win over Montana State in last year’s championship game. The Bison are 44-3 all-time in the FCS playoffs and have never lost in the championship game, with six of their nine titles coming by double digits.
The game will begin at 2 p.m. ET on ABC on Sunday. This article was originally published on Field Level Media and has been syndicated with permission.