The Mountain West Conference isn’t following the script of many conferences in college football amid the latest acquisition of North Dakota State.
Chasing TV market dollars has been the name of the game in college football for years, with the conferences shifting. North Dakota State’s location in Fargo has the 113th-ranked TV market in the country, but Denver Gazette writer and Mountain West analyst Brent Briggeman isn’t concerned about that.
“The Mountain West chose quality (of football program) over quantity (of built-in television eyeballs) in adding North Dakota State,” Briggeman wrote. “It’s refreshing to see the (as-yet) Colorado Springs-based conference ditch its obsession with location, location, location and hitch its wagon to a proven on-field product.”
After the departures of teams such as Boise State and San Diego State for the Pac-12, the Mountain West needed a boost. The Bison will bring just that as Briggeman sees it.
NDSU dominated the FCS level for 15 years with 10 national championships in that span. The Bison have produced many NFL players, including two starting offensive linemen for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, and NDSU has hosted College GameDay three times along the way.
NDSU Adds Excitement to the Mountain West
Briggeman was quick to point out that the Bison brand and fan base will bring an energy to the Mountain West that’s unlike current programs in the Group of Six league. He contrasted it with Nevada when visiting Air Force.
“If you’ve ever soaked in the additional buzz at Falcon Stadium when a team like Nevada visits, you’d know there is none,” Briggeman wrote. “From a football standpoint, that doesn’t move the needle. North Dakota State does.”
NDSU has a fan base that’s known for traveling, and 11 of the FCS national championship game appearances for the Bison had a large contingent among the 20,500-seat capacity of Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The Bison likewise have enjoyed traveling fan support in FBS matchups, and NDSU has a 9-5 record against FBS teams since joining the FCS.
The Next Boise State?
As Briggeman sees it, NDSU “could be the Mountain West’s new Boise State,” and that could be a coup for the league.
Boise State became the Mountain West’s most successful program over the past 15 years with a College Football Playoff appearance and two Fiesta Bowl wins. The Broncos also notably beat Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl before joining the league in 2011.
Boise State instantly became a frontrunner in the new-look Pac-12, and the Bison could do likewise for the Mountain West. NDSU’s FBS wins already include Power Teams in Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Minnesota, and Kansas.
The Bison nearly upset Colorado in 2024 when the Buffaloes featured two-way Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders. NDSU can’t play in the Mountain West title game, make the College Football Playoff, or play in a bowl game for the next two seasons, but the Bison could very well challenge for the top spot in the conference standings both seasons.
The Bison could also slip into a bowl game if there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams.
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