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South Dakota Coyotes

MVFCVermillion, SDDakotaDome

2026: 6–⁠2 (3–⁠1 MVFC). Last: won at Murray State 48–⁠20. Next: North Dakota, Saturday, Oct 24, 2 p.m. ET.

  1. W 59–⁠20Central Connecticut
  2. W 38–⁠23at Northern Colorado
  3. W 41–⁠23Eastern Washington
  4. L 24–⁠38at Boise State
  5. L 28–⁠47at Youngstown State
  6. W 44–⁠14Indiana State
  7. W 31–⁠10Southern Illinois
  8. W 48–⁠20at Murray State
  9. Oct 24North Dakota
  10. Oct 31at South Dakota State
  11. Nov 14Northern Iowa
  12. Nov 21at Illinois State

South Dakota has played football since 1889 and is officially 587–⁠568–⁠36; 302 of its 1,191 games are in our file. They have won 10 North Central Conference titles (the last in 2005) and one Missouri Valley Football Conference title, counting shared titles. This season, they’re 6–⁠2.

DakotaDome in Vermillion
DakotaDomePhoto: Jrobb525, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

On this date in 2024South Dakota beat Youngstown State 27–⁠17 on the road.

Résumé

All-time record
587–⁠568–⁠36 official; 105–⁠193–⁠4 on file; how we count
Postseason
1–⁠2 bowls, title games, playoff
AP No. 1 finishes
0
Weeks at No. 1
0 of 0 ranked
Elo now
1464
Computer rankings
Massey No. 7 · Composite No. 6 in FCS, Oct 17; down 2 since Oct 11. From Massey Ratings
Best season by Elo
2024 rated 1523
Conference titles
11 last in 2024
Seasons
86 since 1899, 302 games

Identity

Fight song
Hail, South Dakota!

2026 season 6–⁠2

RosterFull 2026 season
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 29vsCentral ConnecticutW 59–⁠2072%
Sep 5atNorthern ColoradoW 38–⁠2375%
Sep 12vsEastern WashingtonW 41–⁠2380%
Sep 19atBoise StateL 24–⁠3828%
Sep 26atYoungstown StateL 28–⁠4756%
Oct 3vsIndiana StateW 44–⁠1481%
Oct 10vsSouthern IllinoisW 31–⁠1069%
Oct 17atMurray StateW 48–⁠2084%
Oct 24vsNorth DakotaPreview61%
Oct 31atSouth Dakota StatePreview44%
Nov 14vsNorthern IowaPreview78%
Nov 21atIllinois StatePreview42%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

This season, game by game

South Dakota’s Elo through 2026: 1431 going into the opener, 1464 after the latest game.142514501475Elo 1431 going in; beat Central Connecticut 59–20Elo 1450 going in; beat Northern Colorado 38–23Elo 1462 going in; beat Eastern Washington 41–23Elo 1473 going in; lost to Boise State 38–24Elo 1459 going in; lost to Youngstown State 47–28Elo 1425 going in; beat Indiana State 44–14Elo 1436 going in; beat Southern Illinois 31–10Elo 1454 going in; beat Murray State 48–20Now: Elo 1464 after the latest game1464
Central ConnecticutNorthern ColoradoEastern WashingtonBoise StateYoungstown StateIndiana StateSouthern IllinoisMurray StateNow
Elo going into each game, then after the latest. Filled dots: wins; open: losses.

Players

The 2026 rosterThe money

On the 2026 team

Program strength since 1899

Best seasons ever
South Dakota end-of-season Elo from 1899 to 2026, best in 2024 at 1523.130015001700190019001920194019601980200020202024 peak: Elo 1523
End-of-season Elo. Dashed line: 1500, an average FBS team.

Most-played series

All rivalries
OpponentGamesSDAK record
Nebraska160–⁠14–⁠2
Northern Iowa155–⁠10
North Dakota State153–⁠12
Youngstown State134–⁠9
Drake139–⁠4
South Dakota State133–⁠10
Southern Illinois128–⁠4
Minnesota112–⁠9

Rivals the program names: South Dakota State, North Dakota, North Dakota State.

The trophy it holds: Sitting Bull Trophy (North Dakota). Who holds each comes from the games on file; the trophies from Wikipedia.

Every opponent (73)

Every program South Dakota has played, A to Z, with South Dakota’s record against it. Each links to the series, game by game.

Conference titles

11, counting shared titles
Missouri Valley Football Conference 1
2024 (shared)
North Central Conference 10
1927, 1938, 1939 (shared), 1947 (shared), 1951, 1972 (shared), 1973 (shared), 1974 (shared), 1978, 2005 (shared)

As the program counts them in its Wikipedia article, shared titles included, and listed under each conference’s current name (a Western Conference title of the 1900s counts as a Big Ten title); season pages use the name the conference had that year. A title the article files under a conference the team wasn’t in that season is listed under the one it was. Division titles include years the team tied for its division.

Conferences

  1. Independent 1889–⁠1921 and 1945
  2. North Central Conference 1973–⁠2007
  3. Great West Conference 2008–⁠2011
  4. MVFC since 2012
  • 2008Joined the Great West Conference from the North Central Conference in football. Source
  • 2012Joined the MVFC from the Great West Conference in football, announced November 3, 2010. Source

South Dakota’s football conferences by season, from CollegeFootballData.com’s memberships (renamed conferences keep the name of the time). The moves and their announcement dates from Wikipedia’s lists of NCAA Division I conference changes; the year is the first season in the new conference. Conference realignment: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL Draft

By college
Drafted, rounds 1–⁠7
5 since 1970
First-round picks
0

The school

University of South Dakota
Enrollment
10,619 7,619 undergraduates, fall 2024
Where
Vermillion, South Dakota
Public or private
Public Research 2
Founded
1862
Graduates’ median earnings
$51,926 10 years after starting

Enrollment, place and Carnegie research tier from the National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS, public domain). Earnings from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard (CC BY 4.0): the median for students who received federal aid and were working, not in school. Founding year from Wikidata. Every school’s in the data.

Old photographs

From libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America, each under the rights statement its holder gives and credited to it. The records don’t give these a season; those they date are on their seasons’ pages.

Season by season

National champions
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
20266–⁠23–⁠11464
202510–⁠56–⁠21496
202411–⁠3–⁠17–⁠11523
202310–⁠37–⁠11413
20223–⁠82–⁠61255
20217–⁠55–⁠31359
20201–⁠31281
20195–⁠74–⁠41331
20184–⁠73–⁠51324
20178–⁠54–⁠41412
20164–⁠73–⁠51265
20155–⁠63–⁠51263
20142–⁠100–⁠81156
20134–⁠83–⁠51211
20121–⁠100–⁠81197
20116–⁠52–⁠21328
20104–⁠61–⁠21259
20095–⁠52–⁠21284
20081–⁠21158
20070–⁠11121
20060–⁠11120
19840–⁠11133
19830–⁠11130
19820–⁠11127
19810–⁠11127
Every season back to 1899 (61 more)
SeasonRecordConf.AP preAP finalCoachEloSP+
19800–⁠11126
19780–⁠11124
19760–⁠11119
19750–⁠11118
19721–⁠01134
19710–⁠21094
19650–⁠11109
19640–⁠11120
19621–⁠11134
19590–⁠11088
19580–⁠11090
19570–⁠11095
19560–⁠11104
19541–⁠01113
19530–⁠21071
19520–⁠11078
19510–⁠11076
19500–⁠11071
19490–⁠31067
19480–⁠11077
19470–⁠11077
19460–⁠11079
19450–⁠11078
19420–⁠11080
19410–⁠11079
19400–⁠21078
19390–⁠21081
19380–⁠11086
19370–⁠21090
19360–⁠2–⁠11096
19351–⁠11099
19340–⁠11087
19320–⁠31086
19310–⁠11090
19300–⁠11089
19290–⁠11089
19280–⁠21087
19270–⁠11090
19260–⁠21090
19250–⁠11094
19240–⁠11096
19220–⁠11103
19210–⁠11108
19200–⁠11116
1919few games on file1–⁠11130
1917few games on file0–⁠21110
1916few games on file0–⁠21133
1915few games on file0–⁠21156
1914few games on file0–⁠2–⁠11191
1913few games on file1–⁠21234
1912few games on file1–⁠11198
1911few games on file1–⁠11156
1910few games on file0–⁠21097
1909few games on file0–⁠1–⁠11101
1908few games on file0–⁠11091
1907few games on file0–⁠11092
1906few games on file0–⁠21092
1905few games on file0–⁠21092
1904few games on file0–⁠11094
1903few games on file0–⁠21093
1899few games on file0–⁠11099

Officially 587–⁠568–⁠36 since 1889 (per Wikipedia, rechecked weekly); game by game here, 105–⁠193–⁠4 (302 of its 1,191 games are on file). Our file starts in 1899; the program began in 1889. Some games are missing from our source.

No season on file for 1900–⁠02, 1918, 1923, 1933, 1943–⁠44, 1955, 1960–⁠61, 1963, 1966–⁠70, 1973–⁠74, 1977, 1979, 1985–⁠2005: the program may not have played, or our source may be missing them.

Records are computed from every game on file at CollegeFootballData.com, whose coverage of the earliest seasons can be incomplete. Elo is this site’s own rating; see how it works on the records page.