Big Sky champ Montana State gets No. 2 seed for FCS playoffs; Montana No. 3

Montana State has a home-field path through the FCS playoffs.

By virtue of its 31-28 victory over Montana on Saturday in the 124th Brawl of the Wild on Saturday, the Bobcats earned the No. 2 seed for the upcoming FCS playoffs. The announcement was made Sunday during the FCS Football Selection Show on ESPN.

With the No. 2 seed, Big Sky Conference champion MSU (10-2) has home-field advantage through the semifinal round. The Bobcats enter the playoffs on a 10-game winning streak.

Montana (11-1) received the No. 3 seed, meaning the Bobcats and Grizzlies could potentially meet in the semifinal round in Bozeman. Montana and Montana State have never met in the FCS postseason.

After a first-round bye, the Bobcats will host either No. 15 seed Youngstown State (8-4) or Yale (8-2) of the Ivy League in the second round at noon on Dec. 6. This is the first season the Ivy League is competing in the FCS postseason.

Montana, meanwhile, will host either No. 14 seed South Dakota State (8-4) or New Hampshire (8-4) in the second round, also at noon on Dec. 6

The No. 1 overall seed again went to defending national champion North Dakota State (12-0). The Bison, the most dominant program in FCS history, have won 10 titles since 2011, including last season against Montana State in Frisco, Texas.

UC Davis of the Big Sky Conference received the No. 8 seed. After a first-round bye the Aggies (8-3) will play either No. 9 seed Rhode Island or Central Connecticut State in the second round.

Just three teams from the Big Sky made the tournament.

The other first-round byes went to No. 5 seed Lehigh (12-0), No. 6 Mercer (9-2), and No. 7 Stephen F. Austin (10-2).

Other first-round matchups coming up this weekend are No. 10 Abilene Christian (8-4) hosting Lamar (8-4); No. 11 South Dakota (8-4) hosting Drake (8-3); No. 12 Villanova (9-2) hosting Harvard (9-1); No. 13 Tennessee Tech (11-1) hosting North Dakota (7-5), and No. 16 SE Louisiana (9-3) hosting Illinois State (8-4).

The FCS national championship game will be played Monday, Jan. 5, at FirstBank Stadium on the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

This story will be updated