Jacks win Showdown Series

$66,000 is raised for Feeding South Dakota

South Dakota State University prevailed in the fourth annual South Dakota Showdown Series. The Jackrabbits outscored the University of South Dakota 16-11 in the competition sponsored by South Dakota Corn.

With a focus on helping to feed the state, the two schools’ student bodies stepped up in a big way in 2015-16 to raise funds to feed hungry families. At the football and basketball head-to-head match-ups, two students aimed to set a new world record of T-shirts put on in one minute. While they didn’t break the record, the students generated almost $12,000 for Feeding South Dakota.

“The Showdown Series is a perfect opportunity for our state’s farmers to share the story of our commitment to feed a growing world while also preserving our precious natural resources,” Corn Utilization Council President Reno Brueggeman said. “And the success of this series has provided the resources for Feeding South Dakota to provide hundreds of thousands of meals the past several years to make sure South Dakotans don’t go hungry.”

The Showdown Series raised $66,000 for Feeding South Dakota during the 2015-16 athletic season.

“We are so grateful for the continued generosity of South Dakota Corn along with South Dakota State University and the University of South Dakota for their support of Feeding South Dakota. There has never been a more unique partnership than that of these two organizations, teaming up together in their biggest rivalry yet, working to help end hunger in South Dakota.” Said Matt Gassen, Executive Director for Feeding South Dakota

“All season long both SDSU and USD have been able to showcase academic and athletic excellence with the help of the South Dakota Corn Utilization Council,” SDSU Director of Athletics Justin Sell said. “As Division I institutions, we are proud to place a high value on sportsmanship and community service to meaningful organizations, such as Feeding South Dakota.”

This season the series showcased a high level of competition. Three women’s basketball games were decided by six points or less. The Coyotes won the regular season conference title and the Jackrabbits won The Summit League Tournament for the third time. Both USD and SDSU women went on to play extended season games with the Jackrabbits advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the Coyotes winning the WNIT.

The series is structured against a point system in which each school can earn 24 points per year based on head-to-head competition and conference championships between SDSU and USD, in 17 men’s and women’s sports. Points are also awarded for athletes’ GPAs and philanthropic efforts.

Feeding South Dakota is the state’s hunger relief organization fighting to eliminate hunger in South Dakota. Feeding South Dakota assists in providing temporary food assistance to 21,000 hungry South Dakota families and individuals each week.

Leading the charge for this initiative with South Dakota Corn and the two universities are Jackrabbit Sports Properties and Coyote Sports Properties, the multimedia rights holders for SDSU Athletics and USD Athleticsrespectively. Both are properties of Learfield, which manages multimedia rights for more than 120 collegiate properties.