The Mercer football team is headed to the FCS playoffs for the third straight year, and the Bears will be seeded sixth for this year’s postseason.
Mercer will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will have a home game in the second round at noon on Dec. 6. The Bears will host the winner of Drake vs. South Dakota. Drake (8-3) won the Pioneer League, while South Dakota (8-4) is the No. 11 seed.
The winner of the Mercer-Drake/South Dakota game will take on either No. 3 Montana, No. 14 South Dakota State or New Hampshire in the quarterfinals. The national championship game will be played on Jan. 5 in Nashville.
Find the complete bracket here.
Here are the 16 seeds:
1. North Dakota State
2. Montana State
3. Montana
4. Tarleton State
5. Lehigh
6. Mercer
7. Stephen F. Austin
8. UC Davis
9. Rhode Island
10. Abilene Christian
11. South Dakota
12. Villanova
13. Tennessee Tech
14. South Dakota State
15. Youngstown State
16. Southeastern Louisiana
The Bears finished the regular season with a 9-2 record, including a nine-game winning streak, and they won the Southern Conference title for the second straight year. Mercer finished 8-0 in conference play.
Mercer is 2-2 in postseason play in program history and has lost to the eventual national champion in both of its appearances. In 2023, the Bears beat Gardner-Webb and then lost to No. 1 South Dakota State. In 2024, the Bears beat Rhode Island and then lost to North Dakota State.