No. 6 Bears Battle No. 11 South Dakota On Saturday At Five Star Stadium

MACON – Sixth-seeded Mercer (9-2, 8-0 SoCon) begins its road to the national championship on Saturday when it hosts 11th-seeded South Dakota (9-4, 6-2 MVFC) in the second round of the NCAA FCS Playoffs. Kickoff is scheduled for Noon inside Five Star Stadium. The game will be broadcast live by ESPN+ with Kelsie Kasper (pxp) and Forrest Conoly (commentary) calling all of the action.

Saturday's game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+ with Kelsie Kasper (pxp) and Forrest Conoly (commentary) handling the duties in the booth. Rick Cameron and the rest of the Mercer Sports Network will call all of the action as well, and fans can listen to that broadcast on The Creek 100.9 FM, or by visiting Sportsmic. A live statistics link is also being provided by the Mercer athletics department.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, December 6 Time: Noon ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Five Star Stadium TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: MercerBears.com/Live Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Mercer Game Notes	South Dakota Game Notes	SoCon Weekly Release

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

MERCER/SOUTH DAKOTA SERIES
Saturday's contest will mark the first meeting between Mercer and South Dakota. It will also be just the third time in program history that the Bears have faced a current member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Both previous meetings (South Dakota State, 2023; North Dakota State, 2024) with MVFC teams have come in NCAA postseason play as well.

BEARS IN THE FCS PLAYOFFS
The Bears went 1-1 in each of their two previous playoff appearances, including a first-round win over Gardner-Webb in 2023 and a second-round triumph over 10th-seeded Rhode Island last year. Mercer was ousted from the FCS Playoffs by the eventual national champion in both 2023 (South Dakota State) and 2024 (North Dakota State).

MU AT FIVE STAR STADIUM
Mercer is now 54-21 (.720) all-time in Five Star Stadium following its Week 12 win over Chattanooga, including a 27-5 (.844) clip since the 2019 campaign.The Bears have turned in at least four wins inside their home stadium in each of the last five seasons, and have now captured 21 of their last 24 home games following the triumph over the Mocs.

BEARS VS. TOP 25 TEAMS
The Bears are 15-25 over the last decade against nationally-ranked opponents, including a 15-20 mark against ranked FCS opponents. Mercer has won seven of its last nine games against nationally-ranked FCS teams, including a nation's-best five wins (5-1) during the 2024 regular season against opponents ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at kickoff.

NEXT WEEK
The winner of Saturday's tilt at Five Star Stadium is slated to face the winner of the matchup between third-seeded Montana and 14th-seeded South Dakota State (1 p.m. ET, ESPN+). That quarterfinals contest will be played on either Friday (December 12) or Saturday (December 13).

No. 6 Bears Battle No. 11 South Dakota On Saturday At Five Star Stadium

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