Missouri State football is an FCS Playoff lock. Who and when could the Bears play?
Missouri State football is a lock to appear in the FCS Playoffs for the second season in a row. The mystery is now who and when the Bears will play.
The 24-team field will be announced on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. on ESPNU.
At 8-3 and with a second-place finish in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, the Bears hope they have done enough to earn one of eight national seeds and a first-round bye.
A first-round bye would guarantee the Bears a home game on either Dec. 3 or 4.
MISSOURI STATE FOOTBALL COVERAGE
Missouri State football, an FCS Playoff lock, cruises past Dixie State in regular season finale
3 takeaways: Missouri State football did what it was supposed to do at Dixie State
When is the FCS Playoff selection show? Here's how to watch the 2021 bracket reveal
"We finished in second place in supposedly the best conference in America in the FCS," Bears head coach Bobby Petrino said during his postgame radio interview. "I would think that we get a bye."
But many FCS bracketologists said following Saturday's results that the Bears are unlikely to earn one of the eight seeds. Many believe the Big Sky is bound for four of the bids while Sam Houston, North Dakota State, James Madison and Villanova earn the others.
That would leave Missouri State as one of the teams hoping for a favorable first-round opponent, a home game and a favorable second-round matchup when the brackets are drawn.
A first-round game would take place on Nov. 27. If the Bears are not one of the top eight seeds with a bye, they are not guaranteed a home game.
The expected opponent for the Bears has varied. Some expect the Bears to play South Dakota State in the first round at either Plaster Stadium or in Brookings, South Dakota. Since the two Valley foes didn't play each other in the regular season, the two can play in the first round of the playoffs.
Other predicted first-round opponents have varied between UT-Martin, Sacred Heart and Southeastern Louisiana.
Multiple bracketologists also have the Bears in a bracket that would match it up with Montana in the second round — which might have stolen a national seed with its surprising 29-10 beatdown of Montana State on Saturday afternoon.
The Bears could also be matched up with a team like North Dakota State — a perennial powerhouse that beat MSU 27-20 on Oct. 23 in Fargo.
The first round of the FCS Playoffs is regionalized for financial reasons. In an attempt to create bus trips, schools are matched up with other schools that are within a 400-600 mile radius. The committee sometimes goes outside of the radius.
After teams are matched up by proximity, they will be matched up with the top eight seeds — again, ideally with regionalization on the mind.
The home team in the first round is determined by who submitted the higher bid to host.
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Missouri State football: Who the Bears might play in the FCS Playoffs
