Dakota State's 33-spot rank edge overshadows Dickinson State's road trip

The clearest gap in this Frontier Conference matchup is positional. Dakota State sits 29th in NAIA, while Dickinson State checks in at 62nd, a 33 spot difference that lines up with Versus projecting the Trojans to win by 9 points at home. Dakota State's grades reinforce the gap in a different way, with B+ marks across overall, power, offense and defense alike, a level of consistency Dickinson State can't match with its B power grade sitting well above a C+ offense.

Dickinson State does carry a legitimate defensive identity, graded a B and ranked 32nd, close enough to Dakota State's 29th defensive rank to keep this from being one sided on that side of the ball. But Dickinson State has shown a clear tendency to play much better at home than on the road this season, a split that works against the Blue Hawks with this one set for Dakota State's field.

Dakota State arrives off a loss to Montana Tech that snapped a three game winning streak, but the Trojans have still outscored their last five opponents while going 3-2 over that stretch. The Frontier Conference standings are on the line here, and Versus gives Dakota State a 71 percent chance to come out on top.