North Dakota State to the Mountain West

[UTwild82]

JUST IN: North Dakota State to Join Mountain West in 2026 Stream of NCAA Football

JUST IN: North Dakota State to Join Mountain West in 2026

www.cbssports.com

 

[UTwild82]

The move is going to cost NDSU over $15M.

Seems expensive to me to play UTEP, Wyoming, San Jose St, etc.

 

[VolsSportsFan]

The move is going to cost NDSU over $15M.

Seems expensive to me to play UTEP, Wyoming, San Jose St, etc

Does seem odd. I wonder if that is a signal the other FCS powerhouses up there (SDSU, Montana, Montana St.) might be following them in the next 5 years.

 

[YankeeVol]

It's about $$$.

Plain and simple.

 

[SpookyAction]

Mountain West money is big money to those teams. These Div II teams will dominate that conference. They play good football up there and more money will open more doors.

 

[utchs81]

Moving from a small pond where they’ve been rulers to a slightly bigger pond to check the waters.

 

[TrueOrange]

The move is going to cost NDSU over $15M.

Seems expensive to me to play UTEP, Wyoming, San Jose St, etc.

They’ll be making somewhere around $3.5M-$4M each year just from the conference’s TV deal payout…they’ll make it back in a few years just from that alone.

 

[TrueOrange]

Mountain West money is big money to those teams. These Div II teams will dominate that conference. They play good football up there and more money will open more doors.

They were FCS, not Division II. D2 teams are a step/level even further below that.

 

[nickp91]

Look how well JMU has done since the move up

 

[Hoosier_Vol]

Living here in MVC land this was rumored to be happening for awhile and now it appears to be coming true. Look for FCS powers like Soth Dakota State and Illinois State to jump the MVC also within the next year or two.

 

[Good Ol' Charlie Brown]

Just to beat the **** out of UTEP, Wyoming, and UNLV?

 

[TNinSC]

All that money to be back to back cure bowl or potato bowl champions

 

[HeuperDrive]

All that money to be back to back cure bowl or potato bowl champions

Way to show your ignorance about what NDSU is. As an FCS program they were already going toe to toe with P5 programs, they’d stuff probably 60% of FBS into a locker. They are on a different level to the rest of FCS.

Not unreasonable at all to expect them to compete for the G5's CFP spot regularly. That’s well worth paying any fee.

 

[butchna]

Quality program with a rabid fanbase. I’d put them at TCU/SMU’s level and this move could infuse NIL money into the equation.