It's crunch time for the eight remaining FCS playoff participants

Aggies head to South Dakota for DakotaDome showdown Saturday afternoon

And then there were eight.

What started out as a 24-team Football Championship Subdivision playoff is now down to eight teams as four quarterfinal games loom this weekend.

Win and advance. Lose and go home.

Seniors suiting up for a quarterfinal game don't know if this will be the last time they strap on a helmet for their alma mater or if their careers will extend for another game or two.

The FCS selection committee, tasked with picking the top 24 teams of the 129 that compete at the FCS level, must be doing cartwheels after the top eight seeds all made it through to the quarterfinal round. A perfect score.

The weekend kicks off Friday night at 6 p.m. (PST) when No. 1 Montana State, 13-0, hosts No. 8 Idaho, 10-3, on ESPN.

Saturday's action at noon (PST) features No. 5 UC Davis, 11-2, at No. 4 South Dakota, 10-2, on ESPN+.

Also on Saturday at 9 a.m. (PST), No. 6 Incarnate Word, 11-2, is at No. 3 South Dakota State, 11-2, on ESPN.

Finally, on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (PST), No. 2 North Dakota State, 11-2, hosts No. 7 Mercer, 11-2, on ABC.

If the Aggies get past a rugged South Dakota squad that ended the regular season with a dramatic, last-second comeback win over North Dakota State, they will meet the winner of the Montana State-Idaho game.

If it's Montana State, the game will be in Bozeman. If Idaho prevails, the game will be in Davis.

All the way through the semifinals, the higher seed gets to host.