SDSU continues to raise its profile

There was excitement to be sure. How could there not be? It was the summer of 2003 and the decision had been made. South Dakota State football was about to make the move, stepping up from Division II to Division I.

With it came the promise of more visibility, more scholarships, more of just about everything. But coach John Stiegelmeier admits there were mixed emotions.

"There was excitement about moving up," Stiegelmeier said. "About being a part of the move, building that foundation. But there was also the uneasiness of, 'Where are we going? Who will we play? What are we doing?'"

Six-plus years later, so many answers.

Where are they going? More than likely to the NCAA FCS (formerly Division I-AA) playoffs for the first time ever.

Whom do they play? Opponents in the traditionally strong Missouri Valley Conference.

What are they doing? Heading to Minneapolis this weekend to take on an FBS (formerly Division I-A) opponent in the Gophers.

Another step.

"It's exciting," said senior defensive end Danny Batten, a cornerstone of the Jackrabbits defense. "Everybody has been talking about the stadium, all that. We're just trying to win a football game. It will be a tough game, a real tough game. We're just going in there trying to get a win."

SDSU's first stab at an FBS team was a 44-17 loss at Iowa State in the 2008 season opener.

This season, the Jackrabbits are 7-2 and ranked 12th in the FCS. With a regular-season finale against MVC cellar-dweller Western Illinois, an eighth victory seems likely, one way or another. In the 25-year history of the MVC, no conference team with eight victories over Division I teams has failed to make the playoffs.

SDSU's only playoff appearance was in 1979 when Stiegelmeier was a student assistant.

Stiegelmeier credits his players for the smooth transition.

After all, as the program began to gradually expand its scholarship limit and looked to start putting together future schedules, all Stiegelmeier could promise was a chance to play and an opportunity to help the school make the move. The Jackrabbits played a mix of Division I and II teams in 2004. For three seasons SDSU played in the Great West Conference, winning the conference title in 2007. It wasn't until SDSU joined the Missouri Valley last season that the school was eligible for the playoffs, part of the five-year transition period the NCAA mandates. The Jackrabbits came up one victory short of qualifying.

Not that there weren't road bumps. On opening day in 2004, SDSU lost to California-Davis 52-0.

"The fans were excited," Stiegelmeier recalled, chuckling, "because they could see the score on the ESPN [crawl]. That wasn't exactly the first score I wanted to see like that. But even then, that year, I could feel that our players had a phenomenal commitment, a backbone."

Three weeks later, SDSU won its first game against a Division I opponent, Southern University.

It was the opportunity to help put the Jackrabbits on the map that brought Batten from Arizona. A four-year starter, he leads the Jackrabbits this season with five sacks and 12 1/2 tackles for loss.

In many ways, Batten embodies the team. South Dakota State was his only D-I offer out of high school, and many players from his high school conference went to the university and had good things to say about it.

By his own description, Batten plays with a chip on his shoulder. "There wasn't a lot of choices," he said of his college decision. "That's kind of why I play ticked off. I'm trying to prove something to teams that passed up on me."

It appears a lot of players on the team play the same way, and it makes Batten proud to be part of a senior class that has the Jackrabbits on the verge of the playoffs.

"We've been together for four, five years," he said of the seniors. "We've just jelled. It's a good feeling. You're out there with your brothers, your family. ... We have established something here, a good framework for a program heading in the right direction. We've earned the respect that a lot of people didn't want to give us. We're turning some heads this year."