BILLINGS — On the heels of a perfect regular season and a 34-11 victory over rival Montana on Saturday, Montana State received the No. 1 overall seed for the playoff bracket of the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship .

The installment was announced on Sunday. With the No. 1 seed, the Bobcats (12-0) have a first-round bye and the opportunity to play at home until the semifinals.

“We had a lot on the line (Saturday),” Montana State coach Brent Vigen told ESPN during the FCS Selection Show. “We are so excited to be in this position and have it all come through Bozeman.”

Montana State, which clinched the outright Big Sky Conference title on Saturday, will face the winner of a first-round matchup between No. 16 seed New Hampshire (8-4) and UT Martin (8-4). for a second round. match on December 7 at 1 p.m.

Meanwhile, Montana (8-4) received the No. 14 seed and will host a first-round matchup against Tennessee State (9-3), coached by former NFL star Eddie George. This match will be played this Saturday at 8:15 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

The winner will travel to two-time defending state champion South Dakota (10-2) in the second round the following week.

Per a decision by the NCAA Board of Governors last offseason, the 24-team FCS playoff bracket increased the number of seeded teams from eight to 16, with the top eight teams receiving byes in the first round.

This year’s top seed highlights the supremacy of the Big Sky and Missouri Valley conferences, while the other four seeds include No. 2 North Dakota State (10-2), No. 3 South Dakota (10-2) – the two-time defending national champion – and No. 4 South Dakota (9-2).

The top eight remaining are No. 5 UC Davis (10-2), No. 6 Incarnate Word (10-2), No. 7 Mercer (10-2) and No. 8 Idaho (9-3). .

The FCS National Championship Game will be played on Monday, January 6, 2025 at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas.