The Jackrabbits currently have a 12-year streak of qualifying for the FCS playoffs, the second-longest in the country at the FCS level. South Dakota State are two-times national champions. They achieved their first national championship win in school history on January 8, 2023, defeating North Dakota State 45-21. Then a year later on January 7, 2024, they repeated by defeating Montana (13–2) with a score of 23–3 and finished with a perfect 15–0 record. South Dakota State reached the Football Championship Subdivision semi-finals six times in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively.