Tennessee Tech football will host North Dakota in FCS playoffs

Tennessee Tech football earned the No. 13 seed in the FCS playoffs and will host North Dakota on Nov. 29 after the Golden Eagles posted their best record in school history and won the Big South/Ohio Valley Conference championship.

Kickoff is set for noon at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium.

By winning the conference championship, the Golden Eagles (11-1, 8-0) earned an automatic berth in the 24-team playoff field. They clinched the championship by defeating UT Martin, 20-17, on Nov. 22. The Golden Eagles secured the win with a 35-yard field goal with 11 seconds left in the game.

The FCS championship game will be played at Vanderbilt's FirstBank Stadium on Jan. 5.

After sharing the conference championship with Tennessee State, UT Martin, and Southeast Missouri in 2024 in Tennessee Tech coach Bobby Wilder's first season, this was Tech's first outright title since 1975.

The No. 8-ranked Golden Eagles are in the FCS playoffs for the second time. They lost to Central Arkansas 34-14 in the first round in 2011 under former Vanderbilt coach Watson Brown.

Tech is the first team since Jacksonville State (2014-17) to finish unbeaten in Big South/OVC.

Tech's only loss came against Kentucky 42-10 on Nov. 15.

North Dakota (7-5, 5-3 MVCF) has lost three of its last four games including falling to No. 22 South Dakota State 34-31 in the regular season finale on Nov. 22. The Fighting Hawks' biggest wins were over No. 12 Southern Illinois 38-19 on Oct. 18 and No. 20 Youngstown State 35-17 on Oct. 11. They ended the regular season with the No. 1 strength of schedule, according to the Massey Ratings

This will be the first meeting between Tennessee Tech and North Dakota. North Dakota enters the postseason with a 21-17 record in its playoff history. The Fighting Hawks were last in the playoffs in 2023 season and hosted Sacramento State.

The winner of the Tennessee Tech-North Dakota game will advance to the second round of the playoffs on Dec. 6 against No. 4 seed Tarleton (11-1), which earned a first-round bye. That game will be played at Tarleton with a noon kickoff.

Tickets for the game will be available soon by calling (931-372-3940, or visiting the Hooper Eblen Center ticket office, or TTUSports.com.

Defending national champion North Dakota State earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Tech football will host North Dakota in FCS playoffs