From the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls, an hour-long deep dive into what to expect when the Coyotes and Grizzlies lock horns in Missoula on Saturday:

• Will USD play Griz closer than SDSU did?
• Montana offense vs USD defense
• Griz defense vs Yotes offense
• Trends from both teams in recent weeks
• Which team is more battle-tested? Does it matter?
• Prolific QBs, RBs, WRs and how to stop them?
• Strengths and weaknesses
• The ABC spotlight and what it means

If you're a local high school basketball fan, stick around for a season preview — teams and players to watch — from Midwest Sports Plus analyst, former D1 and D2 assistant coach, and Sanford Sports Academy basketball coordinator Nate Kaeding.

Who are the state championship contenders in boys and girls Class AA hoops, and who are the most exciting players to look forward to watching?

The Midwest Sports Plus season full of live prep hoops on the MS+ app starts Friday at 5:30 with a doubleheader between city rivals Jefferson and Roosevelt.

The real games go on for South Dakota, Montana, and the other six other teams standing in the FCS Playoffs. Happy Hour spends over an hour today with a guests from USD (head coach Travis Johansen) and Montana (former Grizzlies wideout and Skyline Sports FCS analyst Samuel Akem) to bring all kinds of insight into the teams, their impressive wins last Saturday, and how they'll match up on ABC this Saturday. Meanwhile, The Hunger Games of recruiting — the transfer portal — are already (maybe) in full effect for teams like South Dakota State and North Dakota State, as all FCS squads whose seasons are over hunker down to fend off the FBS vultures and their NIL money. Vultures like Iowa State, now led by Jimmy Rogers, who was still at SDSU less than a year ago. Rogers on Wednesday reportedly hired his new offensive coordinator. Tyler Roehl was an assistant coach at NDSU for 10 years and the OC for his last five (2019-23), going head-to-head against Rogers (Jacks DC 2019-21 and head coach 2022-23) six times, with SDSU winning five. It is conceivable the former enemies now attached at the Cyclone hip will try (or are already trying) to bring some Jackrabbits and Bison, and (just maybe) some from the state of Iowa who Rogers and Roehl may have brought to their respective FCS powerhouses. So, maybe, just maybe, Iowa State's recruiting will have a significant impact on the 2026 rosters (and beyond) at those two powerhouse. What should we make of all this — both the poaching of players and the Roehl hire? Happy Hour host John Gaskins tries his best in the "John-o-logue" portion of the show before he talks real games with Johansen and Akem.

The Hunger Games of recruiting — the transfer portal — are already (maybe) in full effect for teams like South Dakota State and North Dakota State, as all FCS squads whose seasons are over hunker down to fend off the FBS vultures and their NIL money. Vultures like Iowa State, now led by Jimmy Rogers, who was still at SDSU less than a year ago. Rogers on Wednesday reportedly hired his new offensive coordinator. Tyler Roehl was an assistant coach at NDSU for 10 years and the OC for his last five (2019-23), going head-to-head against Rogers (Jacks DC 2019-21 and head coach 2022-23) six times, with SDSU winning five. It is conceivable the former enemies now attached at the Cyclone hip will try (or are already trying) to bring some Jackrabbits and Bison, and (just maybe) some from the state of Iowa who Rogers and Roehl may have brought to their respective FCS powerhouses. So, maybe, just maybe, Iowa State's recruiting will have a significant impact on the 2026 rosters (and beyond) at those two powerhouse. What should we make of all this — both the poaching of players and the Roehl hire? Happy Hour host John Gaskins tries his best in the "John-o-logue" portion of the show before he talks real games with Johansen and Akem.

It was so nice, we've had him on twice in a week.

One of Montana's top five wide receivers of all time, Samuel Akem, is now an FCS analyst for Skyline Sports in Montana, where he broadcasts several shows a week breaking down FCS games and upcoming matchups.

In other words, a perfect guest to preview the Coyotes' quarterfinal game in Missoula just a week after SDSU went there. The Jacks season ended at Wash-Griz Stadium. What about the Yotes?

Also, Akem weighs in on the grimy if not gross ways of the transfer portal.

A bonkers weekend of college football like this in South Dakota and beyond is why this show "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" was created almost exactly a year ago: Content about the Jackrabbits, Coyotes, and FCS-at-large as juicy and delicious as the best Grade A steak you've ever had. USD, good-for-dead and looking like a non-playoff team at 2-3 and 5-4, bulldozed supposedly the best team in the talent-fertile SEC territory 47-0. Thanks to No. 3 Montana avalanching No. 14 South Dakota State, No. 1 North Dakota State's upset-of-the-century home loss to unseeded Illinois State, and unseeded North Dakota's 31-13 road defeat at No. 4 Tarleton State, the Coyotes are the only Dakotas team left out of eight. And, now USD gets its shot at Montana. Why does Happy Hour host John Gaskins and the show's Monday afternoon quarterback Kurtiss Riggs feel the Yotes are more equipped to beat the Grizzlies in Missoula — "The Mecca of the FCS" — than the Jackrabbits were? Hint: It's the exact reason why the Coyotes are still standing — and the Jacks aren't — in the first place. Meanwhile, what now for SDSU? No. 1 on that long list is "what now for Chase Mason?" Riggs says agents have told him the uber-talented Mason will likely receive seven-figure NIL offers to be a Power Four conference quarterback, like the Riggs-estimated $2 million Mason's predecessor Mark Gronowski took at Iowa. Mason not only stayed in Brookings when Jimmy Rogers likely tried to take him along with 15 other Jacks to Washington State. The Hurley native and Nebraska (baseball) transfer took the program into his own hands — along with Quentin Christensen — and personally helped new head coach Dan Jackson recruit back dozens of SDSU players and recruits who were also being tugged to WSU or other schools during the coaching change. But now, big bucks and a potential better platform for NFL scouts to evaluate Mason could be in his grasp. Riggs remarks on if that step is needed, and Mason's current NFL stock. While Mason's loyalty to SDSU (which nobody would doubt even if he leaves) will be put to the ultimate test between now and the Jan. 16 portal window closing, Jimmy Rogers poured gasoline on the fire for both SDSU and WSU fans who now mock and amplify the "I'm as loyal as they come" remark he made at his WSU introductory press conference last year. Hear why both Riggs and Gaskins think the "loyalty" aspect regarding Rogers' two-bolts-in-one-year is overblown... and why Rogers is, in both men's opinions, the ideal hire for Iowa State. Also with Riggs — why Alabama belongs in the playoffs over Notre Dame, why the Chiefs dynasty is over, and what to make of a field day for J.J. McCarthy and the Packers' win over the Bears at Lambeau Field.