Missouri Valley Football Conference play gets into full swing this week and will feature a top-20 matchup Saturday afternoon as No. 1 South Dakota State hosts 11th-ranked North Dakota.
Kickoff before a sellout crowd is set for 2 p.m. at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium. Saturday’s game is the Precision Ag Bowl, as well as the annual Hall of Fame Game and Pheasant State contest.
Both teams are coming off their lone bye weeks of the regular season. SDSU posted a 70-7 victory over Drake in a game played at Target Field in Minneapolis on Sept. 16, while North Dakota fell 42-18 at Football Bowl Subdivision opponent Boise State two weeks ago.
South Dakota State, the defending Football Championship Subdivision national champion, has maintained its position atop both the Stats Perform media poll and the coaches’ poll conducted by the American Football Coaches Association throughout the 2023 season. The Jackrabbits enter Saturday’s game with a 3-0 record this season and are riding a school-record 17-game winning streak dating back to early in the 2022 campaign.
North Dakota holds a 2-1 overall record after starting the season with home wins over Drake (55-7) and Northern Arizona (37-22). The Fighting Hawks are ranked 11th by the FCS coaches and 12th by the media this week.