After years of domination in Division II and then Division | FCS, a North Dakota State FBS season will finally happen. The Bison have ponied up $5 million to join the FBS
(the cost was $5,000 just three years ago) and more specifically, the Mountain West
Conference. They can begin playing in conference in the 2026 season, but wouldn’t be
eligible for a bowl game until 2028. By that time, it could be 16 teams.

North Dakota State has a history of excellence at every level, winning the Division II
National Championship five times (1983, 1985, 1986, 1988, and 1990), and then truly
dominated when they made the jump to the FCS. They are 172-19 with 10 National
Championships since 2011. From 2012 to 2014, they won 33 straight games, then
bested that mark from 2017-2020, when they won 39 straight games.

North Dakota State FBS Record

From 2006 until 2024, the Bison played an FBS opponent 14 times, posting a record of
9-5. From 2010 until 2016, the team won six consecutive games against FBS teams,
including defeating #13 lowa 23-21 in 2016. Six years later, that streak was snapped,
when North Dakota State lost to Arizona 31-28, and their most recent game was in
2024, which they lost 31-26 to Shedeur Sanders and Colorado.

The Mountain West should pose much less of a challenge than the teams from the Big
12 and Big 10, and it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Bison with a winning record in
their first season. It is late notice to join the conference, so all the schools will have to
rush to finalize a schedule, but North Dakota State will be the 13th team in the
conference and will likely be a favorite school among fans, along with Boise State.

The school has boasted some great talent, including newly crowned Super Bowl
champs Grey Zabel and Jalen Sundell. New Orleans Saints guard Dillon Radunz was a
second-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, while quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Trey
Lance were top three overall picks. Their current roster features a couple of special
teamers who could make it to the show (long snapper Caleb Bowers and punter Aaron
Bickerton).

They should have good luck recruiting at the FBS level, and head coach Tim Polasek, in
his third season, will be ready to do battle with the bigger schools. As they settle in, they
will undoubtedly schedule some games against out-of-conference teams in the Big 10,
SEC, and ACC. Expect North Dakota State to make the CFP when they are eligible in 2028.

At least, that’s what their record against the FBS would indicate.