The three best teams on paper, plus the team with the best defense. As far as tournament semifinals go, you could do much worse than that combination. The FCS' final four, so to speak, kicks off Friday night in Fargo, North Dakota, and features what should be two ridiculously physical games between four heavyweights.
This weekend's pairings:
No. 3 James Madison at No. 2 North Dakota State (9:15 p.m. ET on ESPN2/ESPN App)
South Dakota State at No. 8 Montana State (2 p.m. ET, Saturday on ESPN2/ESPN App)
Don't be fooled by the seeds. The top three FCS teams, per SP+, are No. 1 NDSU, No. 2 JMU and No. 3 SDSU, and MSU ranks first on defense (seventh overall) and might have found a solution to its quarterback issues over the past two weeks. This is a dynamite pair of games.