Mountain West Moves

[Purple Stein]

If I were a fan I don’t think I would like this. They will be like the new Wyoming.

That fanbase is used to playing meaningful games into early January. Now they'll head to the XBox Bowl on a Tuesday in December against La Tech.

It's going to be a let down at first for sure.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

If I were a fan I don’t think I would like this. They will be like the new Wyoming.

That's literally what my father-in-law says. I'm happy at being super competitive at the FCS level, at the FBS level we'll be the next Wyoming.

 

[FightOnCT]

I think the biggest loss would be regionality over competition. I think they’ll be fine, seeing as how JMU is as well combined with good culture/infrastructure, but it must sting to lose regular battles with in-and-near-state rivals

 

[huskymedic]

“North Dakota State will play a full Mountain West schedule in 2026 as it begins its two-year transition process. The Bison will not be eligible for the MW Football Championship Game or postseason play, including the College Football Playoff or a bowl game, until 2028. However, NDSU could be selected for a bowl game if there are not enough bowl-eligible teams nationally.”

 

[ZooCougar]

That fanbase is used to playing meaningful games into early January. Now they'll head to the XBox Bowl on a Tuesday in December against La Tech.

It's going to be a let down at first for sure.

They could end up like Idaho and Idaho State. Back in the FCS.

 

[Fishy]

Kind of surprised the PAC-12 didn’t try to get NDSU.

Their due diligence discovered that NDSU is in North Dakota and they wisely opted out.

For NDSU, they had a good thing going. Not sure this is gonna work out.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Big miss by PAC12 if this happens

Way too premature to confidently imply North Dakota State will succeed even in a diminished new MWC. Maybe, but reasonably many, including the new PacX, may question 12K student NDSU’s potential to leverage their FCS brand success. And, the new MWC may have accepted a lower NDSU entry bid (cough bribe) than the new PacX schools were open to accepting.

Far off Fargo’s not exactly easy to fly to even from many new MWC schools. Likely charters for most, and about as many or perhaps more charters would have been required for most new PacX schools.

Time will tell …

 

[Rufus]

Imagine being New Mexico State and still overlooked by the Mountain West even after it imploded.

 

[Hoophound]

This seems like a horrible decision. However, if you told me we could go FCS and compete for the national title year in and year out, I wouldn’t be interested. So, I guess an upgrade is an upgrade.

 

[Alum86]

Will they still be allowed to play in that Temu CarrierDome?

 

[ZooCougar]

Will they still be allowed to play in that Temu CarrierDome?

Why wouldn’t they be? That’s such an odd question.

 

[Purple Stein]

Where does this leave Cal Davis? NDSU gives the Mountain West 10 football teams. Davis is joining in everything BUT football in 2026, and the rumor had been they would join in football in 2027 or 2028.

Wonder if this still happens, and, if it does, if the Mountain West looks to add a 12th team as well.

 

[huskymedic]

Where does this leave Cal Davis? NDSU gives the Mountain West 10 football teams. Davis is joining in everything BUT football in 2026, and the rumor had been they would join in football in 2027 or 2028.

Wonder if this still happens, and, if it does, if the Mountain West looks to add a 12th team as well.

 

[Alum86]

Why wouldn’t they be? That’s such an odd question.

It’s like an arena football atmosphere, but I guess it’s okay. There is no attendance requirement, apparently, and that place holds less than 20K. Being snarky.

 

[ZooCougar]

It’s like an arena football atmosphere, but I guess it’s okay. There is no attendance requirement, apparently, and that place holds less than 20K. Being snarky.

Dozens of teams barely crack 10k nowadays.

Their dome is actually nice and they fill it.

And unlike Syracuse, their dome has AC.

 

[Fishy]

It’s like an arena football atmosphere, but I guess it’s okay. There is no attendance requirement, apparently, and that place holds less than 20K. Being snarky.

There’s one football stadium in Fargo, North Dakota and it’s on their campus, so it seems likely that they will be playing there for the foreseeable future. It’s probably the right size for a football stadium in Fargo, North Dakota.

 

[Kolumbo]

30 years ago!

this is troubling. when Carl buries the money and looks right, there are 3 single strands of barbed wire. when Carl looks left, there are 2 strands of barbed wire and a lower grid section of wire. So he would have been able to easily find the money, had he not been, well, no spoiler here

 

[Chonky]

30 years ago!

this is troubling. when Carl buries the money and looks right, there are 3 single strands of barbed wire. when Carl looks left, there are 2 strands of barbed wire and a lower grid section of wire. So he would have been able to easily find the money, had he not been, well, no spoiler here

Oliver Platt found it OK

 

[uconndogs]

Their due diligence discovered that NDSU is in North Dakota and they wisely opted out.

LOL! Yes, but that's very detailed due diligence, most would not have detected that......

 

[Rufus]

North Dakota State to petition for immediate CFP, postseason access

The Bison's move challenges a long-standing rule that bars new FBS programs from competing for championships for two years. NDSU joins the FBS as a member of the Mountain West in July.

www.cbssports.com

Financially, NDSU will not receive a full revenue share from the Mountain West through the 2031-32 season, the length of the conference's current media rights deal. However, the Bison would receive 50% of the CFP and bowl revenue distributed to full members beginning in 2026 if they reach the postseason, and 100% after their second postseason appearance, according to the conference's membership agreement obtained by CBS Sports through an open-records request. NDSU would also earn a $1 million bonus for reaching the CFP before 2032.

NDSU is paying the Mountain West a $12.5 million entry fee over six years, in addition to the NCAA's $5 million reclassification fee, which increased from $5,000 to $5 million in 2023. The NCAA's probationary period was designed to give transitioning programs time to meet FBS benchmarks, including scholarship expansion and facility upgrades.

Larsen contends that many modern programs already meet or exceed those standards upon entry. NDSU opened a $54 million football facility in 2022, funded solely by private gifts.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Imagine being New Mexico State and still overlooked by the Mountain West even after it imploded.

Setting aside UNM likely not wanting their in-state little brother, highly contentious rival in the new MWC, imagine many of the other schools not being particularly enchanted with a long unsuccessful second program/brand from the so called Land of Enchantment.

 

[Fishy]

New Mexico State is like UMass of the desert.

There's not gonna be a lot of suitors there.