The Spreads are Here for USD and SDSU Football This Weekend

USD and SDSU both have home FCS Quarterfinal playoff matchups this weekend, and the odds are out via ESPN Bet.

SDSU, the #1 seed in this year's postseason playoff bracket, plays host to Villanova on Saturday, an 11:00 kickoff time on ESPN.

Unsurprisingly, the Jacks are favored, and favored big.

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Per ESPN Bet, the Jackrabbits are a 20-point favorite over the Wildcats, who enter the game with a 7-game winning streak. Last week, Nova took down Youngstown State 54-28.

USD earned a trip to the Quarterfinals with a win last week over Sacramento State and has a tough but familiar opponent coming to town: The North Dakota State Bison. NDSU had an uncharacteristically slow start to the season, starting out 4-2 before winning 6 of their last 7 contests.

NDSU is fresh off of an upset win over Montana State in Overtime, and much to the chagrin of Coyote nation are favored Saturday in Vermillion.

NDSU is currently listed as a 6.5-point favorite at the Dakota Dome.

The other two games coming up this weekend in the FCS playoffs are as follows (favored teams in bold):

Friday - Furman +17 @ Montana

Saturday - UAlbany +4 @ Idaho

If Vegas happens to be spot on with the spreads, that will give us these matchups next week for the Semis:

NDSU @ Montana

Idaho @ SDSU

I guess that's why they play the games. Don't bet against the Yotes; they took down NDSU in Fargo earlier this season 24-19 and boast a 4-game winning streak over which they've allowed just 11.7 points per game to their opponents.

For the latest on both of our South Dakota playoff squads, visit GoJacks or GoYotes!

Source: ESPN.com - Odds via ESPNBet

The 1990 South Dakota State University Hobo Day Riots

South Dakota Is Home to Two of the World’s Biggest Caves

When you're looking for some of the biggest ones of these on the planet, look no further than South Dakota.

You'll find them right under your nose.

Statista has compiled a list of the longest caves in the world and two of the top six are just 30 miles apart in the Black Hills.

The 10 Largest Occupations in South Dakota

Where do people in South Dakota work?

If you were a South Dakotan a hundred years ago, chances are you had a job related to farming or ranching. If you weren't doing the farming, you were selling things to the farmers, fixing things for the farmers, or buying things from the farmers.

In the 2020s, things are very different.

Most of us in the SD work in health care or the service industry in one way or another. In fact, there are more nurses in South Dakota than the entire population of the state capital, Pierre.

Today far more people work at a store or restaurant than have probably ever even been on a farm. Time passes and things change, always. Fifty years from now who knows what jobs South Dakotans will be doing

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, these are the top 10 largest occupations in South Dakota (as of 2022).

Gallery Credit: Ben Kuhns