North Dakota State: NDSU Predicted to Make Major Conference Move.
North Dakota StateNorth Dakota State has only played one Mountain West Conference game, but speculation of the Bison moving on from the conference has already surfaced. On3's Wilson Alexander predicted the Bison as one of four teams to join the Big 12 amid projected "conference realignment if the college sports bill's 20-team cap limit becomes law."
Congress has yet to vote on the Protect College Sports Act, but that is on the horizon after the U.S. Senate passed it on Tuesday. That said, conference realignment doesn't happen instantly, and there would be many factors to consider on both NDSU's end and the Big 12's.
NDSU has enjoyed success against Big 12 teams before with wins over Kansas in 2010, Kansas State in 2013 and Iowa State in 2014. The Bison came up short by a score against Colorado in 2024 and Arizona, formerly in the Pac-12 at the time, in 2022.
Based on past success and the early going of the season, the Bison legitimately could make the move to the Big 12 on the field. Finances and facilities will be the bigger questions, the same that faced the Herd during the FCS dynasty before the Mountain West finally came calling.
KEY POINTS
- NDSU Predicted to Make Major Conference Move.
- North Dakota State has impressed in the FBS already, and the Bison are predicted to make a conference move.
- Alexander also predicted that UNLV, San Diego State and Boise State would also join the Big 12.
- NDSU would need a new stadium since the Fargodome only seats 19,000, and an expansion would still make it much smaller than Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium.