The 2017 South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represented

South Dakota State University South Dakota State University is a public land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually-operating university in South Dakota. The ...

in the

2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The FCS Champions ...

. They were led by 21st-year head coach

John Stiegelmeier John Stiegelmeier (born February 7, 1957) is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at South Dakota State University, a position he has held since 1997. Stiegelmeier was hired as the 20th head coach of the South Dako ...

and played their home games at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium in

Brookings, South Dakota Brookings is a city in Brookings County, South Dakota, Brookings County, South Dakota, United States. Brookings is South Dakota's List of cities in South Dakota, fourth largest city, with a population of 23,377 at the 2020 United States census, 20 ...

as members of the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

. The Jackrabbits finished the season 11–3, 6–2 in MVFC play to finish in a tie for second place. They received an at-large bid to the

FCS Playoffs The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was k ...

where they defeated

Northern Iowa Iowa () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wiscon ...

in the second round and

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

in the quarterfinals before losing in the semifinals to

James Madison James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...

Previous season

The

Jackrabbits Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...

finished the 2016 season 9–4, 7–1 in MVFC play to earn a share of the MVFC title. Due to their head-to-head victory over

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

, they received the MVFC's automatic bid to the

FCS playoffs The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was k ...

where they defeated Villanova in the second round before losing in the quarterfinals to North Dakota State.

Schedule and results

*Source

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Ranking movements

Jackrabbits drafted

References

{{2017 Division I FCS playoff navbox 2017 Missouri Valley Football Conference season, South Dakota State South Dakota State Jackrabbits football seasons

South Dakota State South Dakota State University is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Brookings, South Dakota. Founded in 1881, it is the state's largest and most comprehensive university and the oldest continually ...

South Dakota State Jackrabbits football The South Dakota State Jackrabbits football team represents South Dakota State University in college football. The program competes at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level as member of the Missouri Valley Football C ...