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Two Ohio Valley Conference football teams, Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky, have been selected to participate in the 2014 NCAA Division I Football Championship.
OVC champion Jacksonville State received the No. 3 overall national seed and a first round bye (and will have home field advantage through the quarterfinals) and will not play until Saturday, December 6 while Eastern Kentucky was selected as at-large team and will play a first round game on Saturday, November 29.
This year marks the second of an expanded 24-team field playoff field. In 2010 the FCS Playoffs expanded from 16 teams to 20 teams, the first expansion since the field grew from 12 to 16 teams in 1997. The OVC has placed multiple teams in the playoffs (which began in 1978) in 20 of the 37 years; the OVC has now had multiple teams in the field in four of the last five and six of the last nine years.
Jacksonville State (10-1, 8-0 OVC) enters the playoffs ranked No. 3 nationally in the Sports Network Top 25 and having won 10 games in a row since a season-opening loss to nationally-ranked FBS foe Michigan State. The Gamecocks rank No. 4 nationally in total offense (510.5 yards/game) and 14th in total defense (309.7 yards/game) entering the playoffs. The team was a perfect 8-0 in the OVC for the first time since joining the league in 2003 and are the 10th overall team to go a perfect 8-0 in OVC play all-time.
Jacksonville State is appearing in its fifth overall Division I playoffs, having also appeared in the event in 2003, 2004, 2010 and 2013. The Gamecocks are 2-4 all-time in the event, having topped Samford and McNeese State a season ago on its way to the FCS Quarterfinals.
By being the No. 3 overall national seed the Gamecocks receive a first round bye, marking the fourth time an OVC has received a first round bye since the field expanded above 16 teams in 2010 (JSU and Southeast Missouri received byes in 2010 as did Eastern Illinois in 2013). Jax State will play the winner of the first round matchup between Sam Houston State (8-4, 7-1 Southland) and Southeastern Louisiana (9-3, 7-1 Southland); the two teams shared the Southland Conference Championship this season but did not play each other in the regular season. JSU's second round game will be played at 1:00 p.m. CT and televised on ESPN3.
Eastern Kentucky (9-3, 6-2 OVC) started the season 6-0, the program's best start since 1990. During that stretch the team topped Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent Miami (Ohio), the program's first win over a FBS team since the 1985 season. The Colonels are ranked No. 16 in this week's Sports Network poll. In the NCAA statistics rankings EKU is second nationally in turnovers gained (31) and 16th in rushing offense (229.4 yards/game).
Eastern Kentucky is appearing in its 21st NCAA Division I playoff, the second-most all-time behind only Montana (who is appearing in its 23rd FCS playoff this season). The team has also appeared in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2007, 2008 and 2011. It marks the third time they have been an at-large selection since automatic qualification began in 1993 (prior to 1993 all selections were at-large); the Colonels were also at-large choices in 1995 and 2011. Overall Eastern Kentucky is 16-18 in the playoffs having claimed the 1979 and 1982 national titles.
EKU will host Indiana State (7-5, 4-4 Missouri Valley Football Conference) in the first round; the game will kickoff at 1 p.m. ET and be broadcast on ESPN3. All-time the two teams have played six times with EKU holding a 5-1 advantage (having won five in a row); the two teams have not played since the 2002 season. The winner will advance to play No. 8 national seed and Southern Conference Champion Chattanooga in the second round.
This year the top eight seeds received byes to the second round while the first round features 16 teams in eight total matchups. The first round of the playoffs will be played on November 29, with the second round taking place on December 6. For the fifth-straight year the championship game will be played in Frisco, Texas at Toyota Stadium. The Southland Conference will serve as the host of the championship, which will be held on Saturday, January 10 (12 p.m. CT, ESPN2).