FCS Playoff Bracket: Schedule, Championship Odds and Predictions

The FCS playoff bracket is revealed on Sunday, November 22, and for the first time in over a decade, there’s no North Dakota State in it. The Bison have moved up to FBS, which leaves the FCS title as open as it’s been in years. South Dakota State are the betting favorites at +230, defending champions Montana State are +375, and the committee’s top two teams, Montana State and Tarleton State, are both priced to make a run.

This page has the latest FCS championship odds, the full playoff schedule, how the bracket works and our predictions, and we’ll add the complete bracket as soon as it’s announced.

Odds from BetOnline as of November 10, 2026.

FCS Championship Odds

Team	Odds
South Dakota State	+230
Montana State	+375
Youngstown State	+375
Tarleton State	+900
Stephen F. Austin	+1200
South Dakota	+1400
Illinois State	+1800
North Dakota	+2000
Austin Peay	+2500
Montana	+5000
Northern Arizona	+5000
Weber State	+5000
Tennessee Tech	+6600
Lehigh	+7500
Harvard	+10000

BetOnline will also price other teams on request.

FCS Playoff Bracket

The 24-team FCS playoff bracket will be revealed on the selection show on Sunday, November 22, at noon ET on ESPNU. We’ll add the full bracket, seeds and first-round matchups here as soon as it’s out.

Until then, the selection committee’s rankings give us a good idea of who’s in line for the top seeds. Montana State and Tarleton State have held the top two spots in both of the committee’s Top 10 releases, and Northern Arizona climbed to No. 6 in the latest update on November 5.

FCS Playoff Schedule

Round	Date	TV
Selection show	Sun, Nov 22	ESPNU
First round	Sat, Nov 28	ESPN networks
Second round	Sat, Dec 5	ESPN networks
Quarterfinals	Fri, Dec 11 and Sat, Dec 12	ESPN, ESPN+
Semifinals	Sat, Dec 19	ABC, ESPN2
Championship	Mon, Jan 11	ESPN

How the FCS Playoffs Work

The FCS playoffs are a 24-team bracket. Conference champions from 11 leagues get automatic bids, and the selection committee fills the other 13 spots with at-large teams. The top eight seeds get a first-round bye and host their second-round games, which is a big edge in a sport where home crowds in places like Bozeman and Brookings can swing a game.

Seeds 9 to 16 play first-round games at home against the unseeded teams, and every game until the championship is played on campus. The Ivy League is now part of the playoffs as well, which is why Harvard is on the betting board at +10000.

FCS Playoff Predictions: Our Picks

Best bet: Montana State (+375)

The defending champions are the team to beat. Montana State won last season’s title with a 35-34 overtime thriller over Illinois State in Nashville, their first championship since 1984, and they’ve sat at No. 1 in the committee’s rankings all fall. Top seeds don’t just get a bye. They get home games until the semifinals, and few places in the FCS are tougher to visit than Bozeman in December. At +375, the champions look a better bet than the favorites.

Value pick: Tarleton State (+900)

Tarleton State have been No. 2 in both committee rankings and are a perfect 10-0, including a 20-13 win at FBS Bowling Green, yet they’re only fourth in the betting. The market is still pricing them as the new kids on the block. Tarleton only became a full FCS member a few seasons ago, so they don’t have the playoff pedigree of the Dakota schools or the Montana programs. But an unbeaten top-two seed gets a bye and home field through the quarterfinals, and at +900, that’s a lot of value.

Why we’d swerve South Dakota State at +230

South Dakota State are favorites on reputation. The Jackrabbits won back-to-back titles in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, and with NDSU gone, the market sees them as the natural heirs. But they haven’t been at the top of the committee’s rankings, and at +230 you’re paying a favorite’s price for a team that may not even get a top-four seed. If they land a road path to Nashville, that price will look very short.

Why North Dakota State Isn’t in the FCS Playoffs

North Dakota State moved up to the FBS on July 1, 2026, joining the Mountain West as a football-only member. That takes the most dominant program in FCS history out of the bracket. The Bison won 10 national titles between the 2011 and 2024 seasons, including their last one over Montana State two seasons ago.

That’s why this season’s betting is so wide open. For years, backing the field against NDSU was a losing proposition. Now, five teams are priced at 12-1 or shorter.

FCS Championship Game

The FCS championship game is on Monday, January 11, at 7:30 PM ET at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, live on ESPN. Last season was the first title game in Nashville, after more than a decade in Frisco, Texas, and it delivered one of the best finishes in FCS history.

FCS National Champions

Season	Champion	Beat
2025	Montana State	Illinois State, 35-34 (OT)
2024	North Dakota State	Montana State, 35-32
2023	South Dakota State	Montana, 23-3
2022	South Dakota State	North Dakota State, 45-21
2021	North Dakota State	Montana State, 38-10
Spring 2021	Sam Houston	South Dakota State, 23-21
2019	North Dakota State	James Madison, 28-20

How to Bet on the FCS Playoffs

BetOnline is our top pick for FCS betting, with odds to win the FCS championship plus spreads, totals, and moneylines on every playoff game. Sign up, make a first deposit to claim the welcome bonus, then find the FCS markets under college football.

The best time to bet the futures market is before the bracket comes out. Once the seeds are set, the prices on teams with a bye and home field shorten fast.