SDSU Wins South Dakota Series Crown

South Dakota State reclaimed the South Dakota State Showdown Series title with a 14-12 victory over in-state rival University of South Dakota during the recently completed 2022-23 athletics season.

The Showdown Series, which is administered by Learfield Sports through the respective Jackrabbit Sports Properties and Coyote Sports Properties, uses a scoring system in which each school earns points based on head-to-head competition and/or finishes in Summit League championship events in 16 men's and women's sports.

Academics play an essential role as well, and the university compiling the most points by the end of the school year receives the specially designed traveling trophy.

During the 2022-23 athletics season, SDSU recorded two points in both men's and women's basketball after sweeping the regular season two-game series. The Jackrabbits picked up another two points by winning the Oct. 8 football matchup before a sellout crowd at Dana J. Dykhouse Stadium, while adding single points in men's and women's cross country, softball, and men's outdoor track and field.

With its most recent victory, SDSU grabbed a 6-5 edge in the overall series, which dates back to the start of the 2012-13 academic year.

A breakdown of the 2022-23 series scoring and season-by-season results follows below.

2022-23 SHOWDOWN SERIES POINTS BREAKDOWN
South Dakota State (14)
Men's Basketball – 2
Women's Basketball – 2
Men's Cross Country – 1
Women's Cross Country – 1
Football – 2
Men's Golf – .5
Women's Soccer – .5
Softball – 1
Men's Outdoor Track and Field – 1
Academics – 3

South Dakota (12)
Men's Golf – .5
Women's Golf – 1
Women's Soccer – .5
Men's Swimming and Diving – 1
Women's Swimming and Diving – 1
Men's Indoor Track and Field – 1
Women's Indoor Track and Field – 1
Women's Outdoor Track and Field – 1
Volleyball – 2
Academics – 3

SOUTH DAKOTA SHOWDOWN SERIES WINNERS
2012-13: SDSU (14-13)
2013-14: SDSU (18-9)
2014-15: USD (14-13)
2015-16: SDSU (16-11)
2016-17: USD (14-13)
2017-18: USD (14-13)
2018-19: SDSU (14.5-11.5)
2019-20: USD (14.5-6.5)
2020-21: SDSU (13-10)
2021-22: USD (13-13, won by tiebreaker)
2022-23: SDSU (14-12)

South Dakota Born NFL Players of this Century

While not a traditional powerhouse Nation Football League feeder, South Dakota has produces a fair number of football players that went on to the big time in the NFL.

Here are some that have played on various teams over the last couple of decades.

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Stacker dug deep to find 30 celebrities who were previously college athletes. There are musicians, politicians, actors, writers, and reality TV stars. For some, an athletic career was a real, promising possibility that ultimately faded away due to injury or an alternate calling. Others scrapped their way onto a team and simply played for fun and the love of the sport. Read on to find out if your favorite actor, singer, or politician once sported a university jersey.