The great thing about the FCS is the 24-team playoff bracket. While the format has its flaws, it does crown a true national champion.
So what would it look like if we did an ultimate 24-team bracket of teams in the 2010s? Well, we're all in some need of distractions, so I took the time to build one out.
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The Teams
To hit 24 teams, every national champion and runner-up from 2010-2019 are automatic qualifiers. Then there will be four at-large bids from very deserving semifinal teams.
| Team | Finish | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 NDSU | Champ | 16-0 |
| 2019 JMU | Runner-up | 14-2 |
| 2018 NDSU | Champ | 15-0 |
| 2018 EWU | Runner-up | 12-3 |
| 2017 NDSU | Champ | 14-1 |
| 2017 JMU | Runner-up | 14-1 |
| 2016 JMU | Champ | 14-1 |
| 2016 YSU | Runner-up | 12-4 |
| 2015 NDSU | Champ | 13-2 |
| 2015 JSU | Runner-up | 13-2 |
| 2014 NDSU | Champ | 15-1 |
| 2014 Illinois St. | Runner-up | 13-2 |
| 2013 NDSU | Champ | 15-0 |
| 2013 Towson | Runner-up | 13-3 |
| 2012 NDSU | Champ | 14-1 |
| 2012 SHSU | Runner-up | 11-4 |
| 2011 NDSU | Champ | 14-1 |
| 2011 SHSU | Runner-up | 14-1 |
| 2010 EWU | Champ | 13-2 |
| 2010 Delaware | Runner-up | 12-3 |
| 2016 EWU | No. 2 seed, lost 40-38 to YSU in semis | 12-2 |
| 2016 NDSU | No. 1 seed, lost 27-17 to JMU in semis | 12-2 |
| 2014 UNH | No. 1 seed, lost 21-18 to ISU in semis | 12-2 |
| 2012 Georgia Southern | No. 5 seed, lost 23-20 to NDSU in semis | 10-4 |
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The Format
I'll stick with the FCS playoff bracket that we all adore so much. (Because if I seed 1-24, it'd be hard not to go chalk, right?) So that means there will be eight seeds with first-round byes. And there will be 16 unseeded teams who play in the first round. First-round matchups will be based on the geographical factors that we all adore so much, BUT the same programs cannot be matched up against each other in the first round.
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The Bracket
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Final Thoughts
"Yay, just another way to recognize NDSU's dominance!" you're probably sarcastically typing on your keyboard right now.
Well, yes, this is hard to do without it being NDSU heavy. But what else do you think about when it comes to FCS football in the 2010s? It was a decade of dominance.
So there's a lot of "NDSU" throughout this bracket. But it's also interesting to see which runner-ups could have beaten past NDSU title teams. For example, and this is all my opinion, of course, I think the 2019 JMU team would have beaten the 2012 NDSU team.
Figuring out which NDSU teams should be seeded and where was the hardest. But I like the Top 4 seeds there and how it played out in the bracket. The 2013 team, to me, is the best team during this run. Just so incredibly loaded at every position. The 2018 team isn't far behind, but I'd take the 2013 squad in a fantasy matchup scenario.
The 2019 squad went 16-0 and statistically was as dominant as any other Bison team. I give the edge to 2018 and 2013 due to experience. And you have to throw in the 2019 JMU team in the Top 4. The Dukes were right there with the 2019 Bison, a team that's in the discussion for top FCS teams of all team.
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