This season’s FCS national championship features two rivals from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. North Dakota State has won nine FCS titles since 2011. South Dakota State has built itself to beat the Bison.
How do the two heavyweights stack up on paper?
Here’s a tale of the tape breakdown of the teams statistically:
| NDSU | Stat | SDSU |
| 12-2 | Record | 13-1 |
| 14th | Massey SOS | 3rd |
| 0.516 (6th) | 3rd down Conv % | 0.468 (12th) |
| 0.403 (58th) | 3rd down Conv % D | 0.337 (14th) |
| 5.00 (31st) | Fewest Penalties Per Game | 6.29 (82nd) |
| 16 (t4th) | Def. Interceptions | 16 (t4th) |
| 126.1 (120th) | Passing Offense | 198.3 (77th) |
| 168.9 (5th) | Pass Defense | 180.6 (12th) |
| 12.34 (50th) | Yards Per Completion | 11.72 (72nd) |
| 0.875 (106th) | Red Zone Defense | 0.714 (11th) |
| 0.906 (7th) | Red Zone Offense | 0.967 (2nd) |
| 147.9 (45th) | Rushing Defense | 83.0 (1st) |
| 273.3 (3rd) | Rushing Offense | 177.6 (34th) |
| 2.71 (t17th) | Sacks Per Game | 2.71 (t17th) |
| 0.86 (5th) | Sacks Allowed Per Game | 1.29 (19th) |
| 18.4 (5th) | Scoring Defense | 15.4 (3rd) |
| 35.3 (18th) | Scoring Offense | 33.4 (23rd) |
| 5.6 (t69th) | TFLs Per Game | 5.6 (t69th) |
| 31:39 (24th) | Time of Possession | 32:32 (15th) |
| 316.7 (8th) | Total Defense | 263.6 (2nd) |
| 399.4 (41st) | Total Offense | 375.9 (60th) |
| 25 (6th) | Turnovers Gained | 23 (14th) |
| 12 (14th) | Turnovers Lost | 10 (8th) |
