2013 FCS Playoff Preview: Three Teams To Watch

North Dakota State

Brock Jensen
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The Bison are the number one seed in the tournament and that is well deserved. Not only are they the only undefeated team in the FCS, they have won the last two FCS titles and have not lost a game since October 13th, 2012. Some of their notable wins this season have been against Kansas State, an FBS team, Northern Iowa, and rivals South Dakota State. They have outscored their opponents by at least ten points in all but two games. Their offensive strength is their outstanding run game. Sam Ojuri averages 6.6 yards per run and John Crockett averages 6.1 yards. Their average rushing yards per game is 237.2 yards. QB Brock Jensen is highly-efficient; he has a 26-6 TD-INT ratio. Their defense allows under twelve points per game, which is best in the country, and is in the third in yards allowed per game with 243.0. They are not only stout on both sides of the ball, the Bison are great on special teams. Christian Dudzik has two punt returns for touchdowns while Ryan Smith has one. North Dakota State are the best team in the FCS and probably are better then some teams in FBS-AQ conferences. It is their title to lose.

Southeastern Louisiana

The Lions are the four seed in the playoffs and are destined to go far. They went undefeated in the Southland Conference that featured the FCS runner-up two years in a row, Sam Houston State, and 10-2 McNeese State. The offense is based around a extraordinary running game. Duel Threat quarterback Bryan Bennett leads the team in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, passing yards, and passing touchdowns. Rasheed Harrell and Xavier Roberson are both high-quality players. On the defensive side of the ball, LB Isiah Corbett has sixteen tackles for a loss and seven sacks and DL Jacob Newman has 13.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks. Southeastern Louisiana is going to make a run.

Fordham

Michael Nebrich
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Two years ago, the Fordham Rams were 1-10 and one of the teams in college football. Now, they are 11-1 and in the FCS Playoffs. The team's only loss was to Lafayette on November 16th. The offense is passing-based and they have a great quarterback in Michael Nebrich. Nebrich leads the FCS in completion percentage at 74.9%, is second in passing efficiency at 175.4, and is in the top five in passing yards per game with 325.1. He also has 28 touchdowns to only six picks. The running game is pretty good as well. It is headlined by Carlton Koonce, who averages over 111 rushing yards per game. Fordham is a sneaky team that may surprise some people and make a run behind their star signal-caller.