Of the five Missouri Valley Football Conference teams that qualified for the 2015 FCS Playoffs, four remain after South Dakota State's opening round loss at Montana. Once round two is done Saturday, the MVFC will be down at least one more team.

Two league squads go head-to-head when Western Illinois travels to Illinois State.  The Redbirds (9-2) are the number two seed overall and had a first round bye, while the Leathernecks (7-5) opened the post season with a 24-7 win at Dayton. Illinois State won the regular season match-up with Western, 48-28, week seven in Normal.

Another Missouri Valley team coming off a first round bye is four-time defending National Champ North Dakota State. The Bison (9-2) are the number three seed and are hosting the same Montana team that beat SDSU last week, 24-17 in Missoula. The Grizzlies (8-4), of the Big Sky Conference, opened the season at home with a 38-35 win over NDSU in week one.

The other Missouri Valley team in action Saturday is Northern Iowa. The Panthers (8-4) play at Big Sky runner up Portland State. UNI opened the playoffs with a 53-17 win at Eastern Illinois. The Vikings (9-2) won two games against FBS opponents (Washington State and North Texas) this season.

Saturday's schedule (Central times):

  • Western Illinois at Illinois State - 1:00 PM
  • Montana at North Dakota State - 2:30 PM
  • Northern Iowa at Portland State - 9:00 PM

All games are available on ESPN3.

The WIU - ISU winner plays the Richmond - William & Mary winner in next week's quarterfinals.

The NDSU - Montana winner plays the UNI - PSU winner.

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