Is the NDSU Bison Dynasty Bad for College Football?

[@jpsomes9854]

NDSU’s success has made every team in the MVFC better.

[@paidtourist6563]

@jpsomes9854 Well...Except Northern Iowa, Youngstown, Indiana State, Western Illinois before they jumped ship, Murray State, and Missouri State...

[@golfinfool7233]

First off I've been a Bison fan for 50 years +. First & foremost they do want to move to the FBS. In order for that to happen, they have to be invited to join an FCS conference. There has been talk a few different times, most recently the Mountain West. So far nothing has come to fruition. They have plenty of money with a booster group that contributes more money annually than most G5 teams. Without question they can compete with most G5 schools on the field. They are 6-2 against P4 teams in recent years. The problem is and has been that they play in a small media market and thats about it BUT that is a significant issue when it comes to the FBS conferences. That generates a massive amount of TV money and would be pretty iffy in Fargo. We play in an 18,000 dome and have a brand new practice facility that would rival any that are out there.

[@TheAveragejoe333]

Just because you’ve been a forever fan doesn’t make you an expert on their intentions to want to go FBS. According to another KZbinr with many inside sources, they absolutely do want to go to the FBS, but as you said also, they still need an invite.

[@MrBOckert]

Ten years ago this was a valid question. Since then several teams have put in the effort to compete with the Bison and FCS has overall has improved their play to compete with them. The Jacks grabbed a couple of titles, the Griz knocked them off last year and both the Jacks and the Bobcats gave them all they could handle this year. Other teams are looking at what these folks have done and upping their game. This is good for FCS overall.

[@jeromejacobsen2130]

Can you just announce your school is moving up to such and such a conference? I think the 'horse that pulls the cart' has to be a conference that wants you to join. So far, as far as I know, no FBS conference has issued an invite.

[@3006mgk]

See the previous post.

[@insertcolorherehawk3761]

Since the Liberty lawsuit, they can move up as an independant, but they would prefer an invite for the NCAA

[@steve734]

Your analysis is absolutely spot on. Consider that some of NDSU's stoutest opponents are located within a few hundred miles of Fargo, ND. N.D. is the home of ~780 thousand people and has a budget of ~$7 billion. FBS football is not a good fit for N.D. I'm no expert but to me, it looks like NDSU is locked and loaded for another dominating season in 2025-26.

[@user-vi7xy2wj3u]

Mountain West is a perfect fit. Peer institutions. They would compete right now with 63 scholarships. Give them 85 or the new number of 105 and they would probably win the MW every year.

[@paidtourist6563]

FBS football is the only fit for NDSU

[@paidtourist6563]

​@@user-vi7xy2wj3uNo, Mountain West is probably worse competition than the MVFC outside of maybe UNLV lol

[@YellowstreakBison]

​@@user-vi7xy2wj3u you are right. Unlv would offer some competition, but I'd expect ndsu to dominate the mwc. I'd be fine going to the mwc if the goal was to move to some better conference later on like the pac. If the goal is to stay in the mwc forever and give up a meaningful post season, I'd rather stay in the fcs.

[@11C1P]

Not to mention to meet a bunch of NCAA stuff, they'd need to add other sports as well. Not to mention we'd need a new stadium built & at least for the residents of Fargo, they don't want to pay to refurbish/update the Fargodome.

[@beartracks2584]

If you look at the football budgets of power 4 teams vs. NDSU, it is mind-blowing. The money generating apparatus does not exist in a low population density, small tv market like Fargo. They could never sustain the funding to continuously compete against the Power4 conferences.

[@mrmajamojo]

Fargo-Moorhead is bigger than many P4 schools, especially those in the Big 12. Budgets of the P4 schools are big due to the TV contracts they receive.

[@11C1P]

While I'd love to see my state have an FBS team, NDSU doesn't have the $$$ to make the move.

[@ReMorganDecker]

I hope they stay. I can afford to go to FCS games. Bruce

[@BMontgomeryIV]

I seldom hear about FCS, D2 and D3 teams in national broadcasts or major channels. Subbed!

[@mrmajamojo]

We want to move, but need an invite. We've been hammer the Mountain West for one, but apparently there are ADs that don't want us a part of their conference. Regarding being "forced," that's not how it works.

[@GermanShepherd1983]

NDSU wants to move, it's just that no FBS conference wants them at this point

[@insertcolorherehawk3761]

CUSA wants them, but NDSU isn't taking a major paycup

[@paidtourist6563]

@@insertcolorherehawk3761 CUSA has never offered NDSU an invite

[@michaelgraalum381]

@@paidtourist6563 CUSA kicked the tires, NDSU wasn't interested

[@paidtourist6563]

@michaelgraalum381 The football competition of Conference USA is worse than the MVFC. Even the Mountain West outside of UNLV this year is probably overall close to the MVFC but still better than Conference USA lol. So if that's true, then good for NDSU, because CUSA would be a dead end for sure. I heard rumors that NDSU didn't want to move up to the FBS until the playoffs expanded from 4 teams. We'll see what happens

[@michaelgraalum381]

@@paidtourist6563 i think if NDSU had taken the CUSA route when it was an option, that they would be in the PAC-10 already

[@DylanCross-dc8tp]

People don’t understand how expensive it is to move up

[@golfinfool7233]

How expensive is it???

[@user-vi7xy2wj3u]

Until the Bison are invited up to the FBS, they will dominate the FCS. They are loaded for next year and will win it again.

[@redviking7720]

You have an excellent voice, would love to hear it commentating or continuing to cover sports in another way

[@reedcockrell8126]

I'd like to see them move up, but only if the other Dakota schools come with them.

[@danielbelfiore9128]

Good analysis, however, NDSU does want to move to FBS. They need a conference invitation and unfortunately cant just move up

[@emmettengels6618]

If we can’t play in the fbs explain how we have beet multiple big12/10 teams and ranked teams

[@OldDirtyGamer]

NDSU should be in the Big 10 if they move to the FBS at all. They should aspire to nothing less than that. The problem is that the blue-bloods in that conference do not want them there. It has nothing to do with market value and everything to do with competition level. NDSU has proven it can hang with FBS schools and even beat them -- on the road no less! Ohio State (and I love me some Buckeyes), Michigan, and Penn State do not want that smoke. Not when you also have added Oregon, USC, Washington, and UCLA to an already deep and highly competitive conference. As it is, I don't see teams like Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, or other top tier programs going after the top teams in the FCS when booking FCS opponents. That's because they know that there's a good chance that they could get knocked off and a loss to what is viewed by the press as a lesser tier program will hurt their national title chances. That's the main reason what teams like the Citadel, Grambling, Florida A&M, Mercer, and mid-to-low tier FCS teams wind up on their schedules. These teams rarely book low-end FBS teams if they can avoid it because they don't want that on their resume if it can be avoided. Most of this talk about being bad for college football is only coming up now because an SEC team isn't running the table because for the most part, the SEC and their fans had been dominant in FBS football for the last decade or so. That's not true any longer and since it isn't when comparing their situation to NDSU it seems "unfair"? NDSU built their program and they aren't attracting 5-star recruits or paying them a ton of NIL money to come to their schools (as far as I know). They just play good football in a fairly strong conference (MVFC) in their division. That they've run off a bunch of other schools in that time (who've chosen to chase money over competition) is a side-effect. I do thing that eventually NDSU will move to FBS but when they do, it will be at a time and place of their choosing. And I think they will be competitive when they do from the start.

[@risinbison1106]

James Madison and Georgia Southern both moved up. Have you heard from them lately? JM had an outstanding year and went to the Boca bowl, nobody watched it. Ask yourself this. Would you rather compete for a national championship or would you rather compete for the muffler bowl on a Thursday in December in Detroit? The top 3 programs lost their QB this year, I think the FCS will be wider open next year more than it has been in awhile.

[@chrisfaller4968]

Awesome assessment! They are excellent for FCS football. First without them would FCS even be on the map or in the discussion. Second would Montana St be satisfied winning the FCS title knowing yeah we won but NDSU is no longer in it, so what did we really win. The challenge is for the other schools to raise their own bar of excellence to meet or beat the Bison at their own game. Only 1 gets to hoist and house the trophy. I would only want to do that if I beat the best!!!

[@DerrikW]

Lock stock and 2 smokin barrels

[@randomnerd2332]

I think at this point its time for NDSU to finally move up when u consider most of their FCS peers have already moved up. The only schools left in the FCS that are competitive competition are SDSU & the Montana schools (& maybe Idaho if they don't fall off after Eck left them). Playoff foes like Sam Houston, James Madison, Delaware, Jacksonville State, & older FCS powers like App State & Georgia Southern have all moved up where NDSU now practically has a cake walk to at the very least the quarterfinals at worst. It's gotten to a point where Missouri State who was also in the same conference as NDSU are now moving up while NDSU stays FCS. North Dakota State has the resources & facilities to compete right away in the MAC or the new Mountain West.

[@golfinfool7233]

so if most of our peers drove their team bus off a cliff, we should follow?? Name one of our peers who made a leap of faith that has amounted to anything in the FBS

[@randomnerd2332]

​@golfinfool7233 Jacksonville State just won Conference USA While Sam Houston just had a 10 win season in only their 2nd year in the FBS. Outside of this past season Appalachian State has turned themselves into one of the best G5 programs in the nation & James Madison is an up & coming school in the G5 ranks.

[@golfinfool7233]

@@randomnerd2332 Conference USA seriously? So the top ranked team in the FBS you mentioned is JM at 63. Just barely in the top 50%. Jack State is 64, Sam is 71 and App is 95. Not really their fault but they got themselves mired in conferences that suck and they have nowhere to go unless a P4 would take them or the conferences they play in get a lot better from top to bottom. If I were the decision maker at NDSU, the only conference I would consider is the PAC whatever it is now.

[@golfinfool7233]

@@randomnerd2332 there is also something else at play. Neither the B10 or SEC want anymore expansion. To many crap teams as it is at the G5 level. Can they enforce that? Absolutely!! Say the MWC brings in 2 FCS teams in the near future. The SEC and B10 will stop scheduling any MWC teams. Those are huge money games for the MWC they can't afford to miss out on. The same would apply to any other G5 conference. Boise State managed to sneak into the playoffs because the highest ranked G5 conference champion gets an autobid. I think they finished ranked 10th in the last poll so tell me how do they get the 3 seed? Crazy!!

[@nickflahive8903]

I'm an FBS fan but it's just embarrassing to me that they're trying to pretend like the FCS playoffs is a fair competition. The Dakota and Montana schools are FBS level programs with tons of fan support and resources that operate closer to P4s than most G5s. Between the 4 of them we all know the national title is not going to anyone outside that group every year. We could take any P4 team down to the FCS and they'd win a national title every year, they technically would "earn" it but it doesn't mean they deserve it. That's exactly what's happening here. The Moutain West or somebody really needs to find a way to get them into the FBS because they have good fan support and would draw in good viewership.

[@paidtourist6563]

@@nickflahive8903 False. If you took 60%+ of every P4 team and moved them into the FCS, NDSU would still beat them for a natty. Let's stop pretending like Rutgers, Kansas, Baylor, TCU, Kentucky, Mississippi State, FSU, Wake Forest, UNC, NC State, UCLA, Michigan State, Iowa, Oklahoma State, Maryland, Syracuse, Stanford, Duke, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Utah, Northwestern, Purdue, and Arizona would beat NDSU...

[@danielgodzicki4361]

And do it with fewer scholarships. r​@@paidtourist6563

[@nickflahive8903]

@@paidtourist6563 Buddy 3-9 Oklahoma State beat SDSU by 3 touchdowns who was in the national semifinal, and NDSU only beat them by 1 touchdown in a tight game which was better than the regular season game where they only scored 13 points against SDSU. It's not the same level, it's teams of all 3 and 4 stars versus teams of zero stars. Obviously in terms of resources and support they'd adjust well to the FBS and they should move up, but in terms of the actual power ratings of the teams let's not kid ourselves here.

[@golfinfool7233]

I find your comment offensive. NO Montana team has WON a natty in 25 years.....they are both pretty good at finishing 2nd however🤣and not ANY P4...NDSU has beat a few of those P4 guys. Something like 5-2 and the two losses were by 7 points total

[@nickflahive8903]

@ Point remains that they're still head and shoulders above their FCS competition. Montana played for the title in 23 and MSU played for it in 24. If/when the Dakota schools go FBS the Montana schools will be practically handed a natty on a silver platter.

[@DerrikW]

Natch for mountain West but and independent NightMare

[@trentlarson7315]

It’s not NDSU choice they have to be invited.

[@donaldmyers2891]

I guess it’s bad for you if you get beat by them! Up to you to do something about it!😱

[@mikedaugherty4307]

Bring some FBS back to FCS... Military Veteran 71 🪖🎖️

[@YellowstreakBison]

The whole MAC and c-usa belong in FCS

[@YellowstreakBison]

ndsu could go to the MAC, C-USA or the MWC (post PAC Exodus). None of those conferences' top 3 teams are better than the top 3 of the MVFC. So conference play wouldn't be much different. What would be different is a lack of post season. G6 doesn't really have a meaningful post season. Either you go to the FBS playoffs and get completely destroyed, or you go to a meaningless bowl game. No thanks. If NDSU had enough revenue and media market, I'd be in favor of moving to the PAC or Big 12...but they will never want NDSU. The American sounds kind of interesting, but travel would stink. Travel to Hawaii in the MWC would stink even more.

[@paidtourist6563]

@@YellowstreakBison I think North Dakotans would love a trip to Hawaii every 2 winters...