STEPHENVILLE – Tarleton State Football is playoff bound.
The NCAA announced on Sunday that Tarleton State has made the 2024 FCS Playoffs, one of 24 teams in the postseason tournament and one of 14 in as an at-large team. The Texans earned the No. 13 seed, and will host Drake on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.
Following reclassification, Tarleton makes the playoffs eligible in its first year, becoming the first team to do so since 2009 (South Dakota State).
Tickets are now available for the game, priced at $35 for reserved seating, $18 for west side general admission, and $10 for north end zone general admission. Season ticket holders have the first opportunity to claim their seats, simply needing to log into their accounts online or call 254-968-1832 to purchase by Monday at 5 p.m. And for Tarleton State students, staff and faculty, tickets will be covered by the university so those groups can attend the game for free. Tickets can be purchased here.
Tarleton State is the highest seeded United Athletic Conference team, ahead of No. 15 Abilene Christian and unseeded Eastern Kentucky. The Texans and Wildcats are the lone teams making their FCS Playoffs debut.
This marks Tarleton’s first playoff appearance since 2019, when the Texans were mainstays in the playoffs at the end of their NCAA Division II days. They earned a spot in the postseason in their final three seasons (2017-19), playing in the Corsicana Bowl in 2017, advancing to the quarterfinals in 2018, and hosting a playoff game in 2019. In Tarleton’s NCAA era, the Texans have played in the playoffs five times (2019, 2018, 2009, 2003, 2001) and have received five bowl invitations.
The Texans finished the regular season 9-3 overall, 6-2 in United Athletic Conference play. They set a new record for wins in a season in their D1 era, surpassing the eight wins last season. The Texans’ 6-2 conference mark is also a new program D1 best.
Drake finished the regular season 8-2 overall and 7-1 in conference play, winning the Pioneer Football League for the second straight year.
The field of 24 teams competing for the 2024 NCAA Division I Football Championship was announced by the NCAA Division I Football Championship Committee. For the first time in its history, 16 teams were seeded in the bracket with each earning the ability to host their first playoff game. The top eight receiving byes are: Montana State (12-0), winners of the Big Sky Conference, earned the top seed in their fourth consecutive appearance in the championship. North Dakota State (10-2) is the number two seed as an at-large from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. South Dakota State (10-2) is the number three seed after securing the automatic qualifier from the Missouri Valley Football Conference. South Dakota (9-2) rounds out the top four seeds following a three-way tie for first place in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. UC Davis (10-2) secured the number five seed after a second-place finish in the Big Sky Conference. Incarnate Word (10-2) will be the sixth seed after winning the Southland Conference title with a 7-0 record. Mercer (10-2) clinched the seven seed. Idaho (9-3) rounds out the top eight seeds receiving first round byes.
The remaining seeded teams include No. 9 Richmond, No. 10 Rhode Island, No. 11 Villanova, No. 12 Illinois State, No. 13 Tarleton State, No. 14 Montana, No. 15 Abilene Christian and No. 16 New Hampshire. The eight unseeded teams are Central Connecticut State, Drake, Eastern Kentucky, Lehigh, Northern Arizona, Southeast Missouri, Tennessee State and UT Martin.
During the previous 47 years of the championship, 23 schools have won a national title,
seven of which earned a place in this year’s bracket. The 2024 championship field consists of 10 automatic qualifiers and 14 at-large qualifiers. Unseeded teams are paired in the first round with teams seeded 9-16 primarily according to geographical proximity. Teams from the same conference will not be paired for first round games (except for teams from the same conference that did not play against each other during the regular season; such teams may play each other in the first round).
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