NDSU to join MWC football only in 2026

guffus

guffus

Well-Known Member
www.espn.com

FCS power North Dakota State joins Mountain West for football

North Dakota State, which has won 10 of the last 15 FCS national titles, has joined the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member starting in 2026.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

NDSU will join the Mountain West Conference as a football only member in 2026.

This will cost NDSU $17M to make the move. $12M for a MWC entry fee and $5M to the NCAA to move from FCS to FBS. Also it is believed NDSU will receive no CFP money during the current CFP contract.

Its getting expensive to move up to FBS but somehow NDSU found the money.
 
guffus said:
www.espn.com

FCS power North Dakota State joins Mountain West for football

North Dakota State, which has won 10 of the last 15 FCS national titles, has joined the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member starting in 2026.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

NDSU will join the Mountain West Conference as a football only member in 2026.

This will cost NDSU $17M to make the move. $12M for a MWC entry fee and $5M to the NCAA to move from FCS to FBS. Also it is believed NDSU will receive no CFP money during the current CFP contract.

Its getting expensive to move up to FBS but somehow NDSU found the money.
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They'll make it back and then some. Checkers, meet chess...
 
I'm not sure the fans will like that. No more competing in the same conference as the other 3 Dakota schools? No more playoffs?

Instead of fun regional rivalries, now they get to look forward to road trips to San Jose, El Paso and Reno?

And instead of deep playoff runs, maybe they get some obscure bowl game against a MAC opponent?

College football is doing its best to strip away what makes it special.
 
I have a hunch that South Dak St will move up in the next few years. Just the MWC does not want to take more than one FCS school in one year. NDSU will have to go through a 2 year transition from FCS to FBS where its games will count as FCS games in 2026 , and they may not get to accept a bowl bid until 2028. But eventually NDSU will get some closer rivals.
 
I always thought this day would come but I think it is a mistake. They will go from being top dog in their division to an also-ran conference fighting for relevancy. I think they might end up having less talented football teams in the future. They will have lost their niche. Careful what you wish for.
 
I think I can, I think I can............

Isn't our old OL coach Tim Polasek the HC there now? Do we root for him or against him?

How do you scramble your schedule for the upcoming year? Sounds like a challenge.

Northern Illinois is making the same jump. football only.

I believe the MW needs one more full-time member, wonder who it will be?

Here are the MW football members for this fall:
North Dakota St
N Illinois
New Mexico
New Mexico St
UTEP
Air Force
Wyoming
Nevada
UNLV
San Jose St
Hawaii

The Pac 12 us in the same boat, survival mode. I wish them both well.
 
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Zstatman said:
I think I can, I think I can............

Isn't our old OL coach Tim Polasek the HC there now? Do we root for him or against him?

How do you scramble your schedule for the upcoming year? Sounds like a challenge.

Northern Illinois is making the same jump. football only.

I believe the MW needs one more full-time member, wonder who it will be?

Here are the MW football members for this fall:
North Dakota St
N Illinois
New Mexico
New Mexico St
UTEP
Air Force
Nevada
UNLV
San Jose St
Hawaii

The Pac 12 us in the same boat, survival mode. I wish them both well.
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Northern Illinois is not jumping up in classification. They are simply changing conferences.
 
Zstatman said:
I think I can, I think I can............

Isn't our old OL coach Tim Polasek the HC there now? Do we root for him or against him?

How do you scramble your schedule for the upcoming year? Sounds like a challenge.

Northern Illinois is making the same jump. football only.

I believe the MW needs one more full-time member, wonder who it will be?

Here are the MW football members for this fall:
North Dakota St
N Illinois
New Mexico
New Mexico St
UTEP
Air Force
Nevada
UNLV
San Jose St
Hawaii

The Pac 12 us in the same boat, survival mode. I wish them both well.
Click to expand...

Just a couple of small notes on this. NMSU is still in CUSA and you forgot Wyoming plays football in the MWC.

So New Mex, UNLV, Nevada, AFA, SJSU, Wyoming, UTEP, Hawaii are all sports members now in the MWC.

Hawaii was football only last year but upgraded to a full member in 2026. UTEP was in CUSA last year but moved to MWC in 2026.

Grand Canyon and UC-Davis are now non-football members. UC- Davis will have an option to upgrade football from FCS to MWC football starting in 2028 if they decide they are ready.

NIU and NDSU are football only in 2026.

SanDiego St, Fresno St, BoiseSt, ColSt, UtahSt all left the MWC for the Pac in 2026. TexSt also left the SBC for the Pac in 2026. Gonzaga is moving from the WCC to the Pac as a non-football member in 2026.
 
Look no further than 2016.

We've also had tussles with SDSU, UNI, Northern Illinois

The Bison are more than ready to move up. Good future investment.
 
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haydensly said:
I always thought this day would come but I think it is a mistake. They will go from being top dog in their division to an also-ran conference fighting for relevancy. I think they might end up having less talented football teams in the future. They will have lost their niche. Careful what you wish for.
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I don't know. Looking at the teams in the MW, I'd expect the Bison to be at or near the top of that conference sooner rather than later. And in a few years, the bucks will start flowing in that they don't have now.
 
Just read an article regarding NDSUs move to the MW with several quotes from Tim Polasek.

They are making this move to raise the overall level of Bison football and their focus is on making the playoffs.

Since 2011 the Bison have won 10 FCS natty's. They have had 55 players on NFL rosters; 47 Bison have been drafted. They play in a domed stadium and have just opened a new $4M football training complex.

They thank they are ready for this move. I'm guessing they have their NIL house in order.

One thing Polasek emphasized is they will have to raise their recruiting targets, go after better talent. They already recruit Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota hard, and they will continue to do so, only now going after even better athletes.

I have to wonder if Polasek's coaching at Iowa as OL coach was part of this plan. I know many of us were ready for him to move on, I know I was, but think about it, he spent several years seeing how a top program works, how it is built from the inside.

Time will tell.
 
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I am sure Polasek would really like to beat Wyoming in MWC conference play this year. Polasek was the OC at Wyoming when Head coach Craig Bohl retired and Wyoming chose his DC as Bohl's successor over Polasek.
 
The Bison vs Cowboys will be a good rivalry game. Probably a good season ending game.

Although with N Illinois and NDSU being the two new kids on the block, they could have a season ending game.

It will be interesting to see how NDSU reworks their schedule.
 
Yes, assuming NDSU plays only 1 FCS game a year starting in 2027, they will have to choose between playing North Dakota and SouthDakSt. Maybe they will alternate.
 
I don't know why anyone would be against a team stepping things up a notch.

It shows balls. You're saying, "I think we can take it to the next level and compete" and that's what competition is about. I know this is a money thing, but I also don't think NDSU is going to go lose every game they play, nor do they think they will.

Good on 'em.
 
Fryowa said:
I don't know why anyone would be against a team stepping things up a notch.

It shows balls. You're saying, "I think we can take it to the next level and compete" and that's what competition is about. I know this is a money thing, but I also don't think NDSU is going to go lose every game they play, nor do they think they will.

Good on 'em.
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After watching what Cig did at Indiana, I would not bet against any program that has a good coach and believes in its system. NDSU has given us a few scares over the years. Good program.
 
NorthKCHawk said:
After watching what Cig did at Indiana, I would not bet against any program that has a good coach and believes in its system. NDSU has given us a few scares over the years. Good program.
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Yep. I think it’s a good thing. Like Morningside in Sioux City should go NCAA and leave NAIA in my opinion. After a while destroying NAIA teams year in and year out doesn’t mean what it did before. I get why they stay where they’re at, but I’d give ‘em a hell of a lot of credit if they went NCAA. Their coach is a genius and hires super high quality assistants. I think he could do well
 
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