Each year, 24 teams make the FCS playoffs, but only 8 earn the title and first-round bye. Getting seeds is an advantage in itself, but there are even bigger benefits that come with seeds. Here’s why getting the top two in the FCS playoffs is important.
Why the seeds of the first two?
Any team that qualifies for the FCS playoffs is guaranteed a second-round bye in the first round. After the 2nd round, the top-performing team hosts each game until the neutral site tournament for the FCS championship.
The four seeded teams are split into brackets, so the No. 1 and No. 2 teams get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
More than home field advantage
Even with home advantage alone, a home win for the top two means nothing.
However, home field advantage means more in the FCS playoffs. The No. 1 and No. 2 seed in the FCS playoffs have had tremendous success at home in recent years.
16 of the last 18 appearances in the FCS championship game have only been at home in the FCS semifinals. If you extend this number to 2015, it will be 22 to 18. Only one year in that span, 2016, had two teams not play exclusively at home during the playoffs.
In the last 10 years, 16 of the 20 athletes who could participate in the national championship took 1st or 2nd place. Three No. 3 seeds — 2022 North Dakota State, 2018 Eastern Washington and 2015 North Dakota State — advanced to the FCS semifinals with home-court advantage.
| Year | Team | Seed | The end of the FCS playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|
| The year 2025 | Montana | #2 | National champion |
| North Dakota State | No. 1 | Second round | |
| The year 2024 | North Dakota State | #2 | National champion |
| Montana | No. 1 | Won second place | |
| The year 2023 | South Dakota State | No. 1 | National champion |
| Montana | #2 | Won second place | |
| The year 2022 | South Dakota State | No. 1 | National champion |
| North Dakota State* | No. 3 | Won second place | |
| Sacramento County | #2 | Made it to the quarterfinals | |
| 2021 | North Dakota State | #2 | National champion |
| Sam Houston | No. 1 | Made it to the quarterfinals | |
| 2020-21 | Sam Houston | #2 | National champion |
| South Dakota State | No. 1 | Won second place | |
| 2019 | North Dakota State | No. 1 | National champion |
| James Madison | #2 | Won second place | |
| 2018 | North Dakota State | No. 1 | National champion |
| Weber County | #2 | Made it to the quarterfinals | |
| Eastern Washington* | No. 3 | Won second place | |
| 2017 | North Dakota State | #2 | National champion |
| James Madison | No. 1 | Won second place | |
| 2016 | North Dakota State | No. 1 | Semi-final |
| Eastern Washington | #2 | Semi-final | |
| 2015 | North Dakota State* | No. 3 | National champion |
| Jacksonville County | No. 1 | Won second place | |
| State of Illinois | #2 | Made it to the quarterfinals |
*Eastern Washington and North Dakota State (twice) lost in the quarterfinals from the No. 2 seed to the No. 3 seed only at home.
Top two = championship?
Since the expansion of the FCS playoffs in 2013 and the addition of eight bowl games, home-only teams in the playoffs have won 12 of 13 FCS championships. 11 of those 12 are seeds numbered 1 and 2.
While the games have to be played on the field, the correlation between a top two finish and FCS playoff success is undeniable.
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