For the second time in three seasons, South Dakota State has earned the top seed in the Football Championship Subdivision playoff field.
The 24-team field was announced Sunday. South Dakota State (10-1) will be making its 11th consecutive appearance in the postseason. The Jackrabbits, who lost to Sam Houston in the 2020 championship game, earned an automatic bid as winners of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.
The No. 2 seed is Sacramento State (11-0), with North Dakota State (9-2) — the winner of nine of the past 11 national titles, including last season — the No. 3 seed. Both South Dakota State and North Dakota State will have a first-round bye and play their first playoff game on Dec. 3 — the Jackrabbits would play either St. Francis (Pa.) or Delaware, while the Bison would play either Southeast Missouri State or Montana.
North Dakota (7-4) also made the field and will play at Weber State on Saturday. The winner faces No. 4 seed Montana State the following weekend.
Vols' Hooker out for season
Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker will miss the rest of the season after injuring his left knee in the fourth quarter of the Volunteers' loss to South Carolina on Saturday night.
Tennessee announced Sunday that Hooker had a torn anterior cruciate ligament and thanked the fifth-year senior transfer from Virginia Tech for being part of the Volunteers' resurgence.
Hooker has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country and a leading Heisman Trophy contender, with 27 touchdown passes to only two interceptions this season, as he directed the nation's highest-scoring team at 46.5 points per game.
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• Following its thrilling victory over rival UCLA, Southern California moved into the top five of the Associated Press poll for the first time in five years. Georgia set a school record with its 10th appearance at No. 1 this season.
