Besides the D2 game, which football game on Sat 12/16 most interests you?

[CHIP72]

It's time for my (almost) annual poll asking which college or NFL game taking place on Saturday 12/16 besides the D2 championship game you have the most interest in watching. (The post also helps people identify all the available games across four different college football classifications and the NFL, which generally are not listed anywhere all in one spot.)

In addition to the D2 championship game (Harding/Colorado School of Mines, 1:00 PM ET, ESPNU/ESPN+), there are eight other college football games taking place - a half-dozen DI-A/FBS bowl games, one of the two DI-AA/FCS semifinal playoff games, and the DI-AA HBCU national championship game. The schedule also includes three NFL games, all of which have playoff implications for both teams in each game.

So which of the games listed above holds the most interest to you?

NOTE: The other DI-AA/FCS semifinal playoff game (Albany/South Dakota State, 7:00 PM ET, ESPN2/ESPN+) and the D3 championship game (Cortland/North Central (IL), 7:00 PM ET, ESPNU/ESPN+) will both be played on Friday 12/15, while the NAIA championship game (Keiser/Northwestern (IA)) will take place on Monday 12/18 (12:00 PM ET, NAIA.org stream).

[CHIP72]

To answer my own poll question, I picked the Denver/Detroit NFL game, but really all three NFL games are of definite interest to me. All of them have playoff implications, and four of the six currently 7-6 AFC teams tied for the last two wild-card spots are in action in those games. The three game Saturday NFL slate is actually a lot better than the Sunday 12/17 NFL schedule, which really only has two standout games (Dallas/Buffalo at 4:25 PM ET on Fox and Baltimore/Jacksonville at 8:20 PM ET on NBC; I guess Tampa Bay/Green Bay at 1:00 PM ET on CBS is decent too).

Among the college games, the DI-AA/FCS semifinal, North Dakota State/Montana, a matchup between the Missouri Valley Football Conference, widely considered the top DI-AA/FCS conference currently, and the Big Sky Conference, a strong conference in its own right that is trying to knock the MVFC off its perch, is intriguing. The Miami (OH)/Appalachian State and New Mexico State/Fresno State games look pretty good too. Though it isn't listed (to avoid biased results considering this is a D2 message board), obviously Harding/Colorado School of Mines, a matchup of two undefeated teams both trying to win their first D2 national title, is very interesting.

[NWFanatic]

I will watch NDSU as my lawyer’s son starts on the NDSU Oline.

[KleShreen]

I will be watching Detroit continue their epic collapse.

[UNALions]

NDSU at Montana should be a great game. I wonder how the news run the Bison coach is leaving may affect things.

[Tech Boys]

Steelers and Sun Belt bowl games

[Buffalo/Islander Alum]

Honestly the Texas 5A and 6A state championship games interest me far more than the participation trophy bowls.

[Packfootball]

I vote "NONE OF THE ABOVE".

[EastStroud13]

NDSU/Montana for sure.

[CHIP72]

Saturday's game results:

D2
*Harding 38 Colorado School of Mines 7

DI-A/FBS
*Ohio 41 Georgia Southern 21
*Jacksonville State 34 Louisiana-Lafayette 31 (OT)
*Appalachian State 13 Miami (OH) 9
*Fresno State 37 New Mexico State 10
*UCLA 35 Boise State 22
*Texas Tech 34 California 14

DI-AA/FCS
*Montana 31 North Dakota State 29 (2 OT)
*Florida A&M 30 Howard 26

NFL
*Cincinnati 27 Minnesota 24 (OT)
*Indianapolis 30 Pittsburgh 13
*Detroit 42 Denver 17

Hopefully you enjoyed the games!

[cwfenn]

I didn't know this game was going on, but the D3 title game was a classic - SUNY Cortland upset #1 North Central 38-37 after North Central went for two and the win with a minute left but didn't make it.

It's the first time in 20 years a team not ranked in the D3 top 10 at the start of the playoffs won the title.

https://www.ncaa.com/news/football/a...l-championship

https://www.cortlandreddragons.com/n...h-central.aspx


As for what I looked at other than the D2 title game, the only games of interest were the Celebration Bowl (FAMU came back to win and their halftime show was good) and the Bengals/Vikings game (my sons were watching).

The NDSU/Montana game I didn't realize was going on until nearly the end - I still don't why either team thought running gadget plays for 2-point plays in OT was a good idea. One team got lucky and the other had it blow up in their faces.

Felt bad for the kids who had to play in that monsoon in Orlando yesterday. There was so much rain the paint they used to paint the field was coming off the field onto the players, and there was 13 fumbles too.