North Dakota State moving to the FBS now leaves the program void of an established rival.
For more than a century, North Dakota provided that natural rival, just 75 miles up I-29, and NFL Films did a feature on that rivalry in 1994. South Dakota State then became the main rival when the Bison and Jackrabbits moved from Division II to the FCS together, and ESPN College GameDay paid a visit in 2019 for the rivalry.
NDSU likely won’t play old FCS conference rivals UND, SDSU, Northern Iowa, or Youngstown State anytime soon. However, the Bison may not need to search for a new rival in the Mountain West Conference since Wyoming and the Bison have a unique intertwined history.
“I certainly think there is [rivalry potential],” former Bison head coach Craig Bohl told the Fargo Forum’s Jeff Kolpack. “Two schools. The states. The governors. The members of the senate. The mindset of the people, both are hardcore blue-collar schools.”
Bohl coached the Bison from 2003 to 2013 and won three consecutive FCS titles along the way before he took the head coaching job at Wyoming in 2014. The Bison and Wyoming met for the first time in 2008 at Laramie, and the Cowboys edged Bohl’s Bison 16-13. The two will meet again on Oct. 3 in Fargo.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of storylines, it’s going to be a great football game,” Bohl said.
Bison-Cowboys Connections Run Deep
Kolpack highlighted the breadth of connections between NDSU and Wyoming, initiated by Bohl’s time in Laramie.
Bohl coached Wyoming from 2014 to 2023, and he had sustained success with the Cowboys and notably developed Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Current NDSU head coach Tim Polasek coached on Bohl’s staff both with the Bison and the Cowboys before taking the helm in Fargo before the 2024 season.
While Bohl is retired, his son, Aaron Bohl, is the defensive coordinator for the Cowboys. Kolpack also noted that the younger Bohl played college football at Division II Minnesota State-Moorhead right across the Red River from NDSU.
In addition, NDSU defensive coordinator Grant Olson once served on Bohl’s staff at Wyoming and played for Bohl with the Bison before that, as Kolpack noted. Kolpack also highlighted that “NDSU has consistently faced the Cowboys on the recruiting trail over the years.”
Because of the many connections, Bison fans have already dubbed the matchup as the “Bohl Bowl.”
Finding a Rivalry Trophy
NDSU once played for the Nickel Trophy when facing UND, and the Bison competed for the Dakota Marker with SDSU. The Nickel has been on hiatus since the Division II days with UND’s name change to the Hawks, and the Dakota Marker came about during the FCS transition in 2004.
While NDSU may have to wait on finding a rivalry that involves a trophy again, Wyoming might be in the same boat. That’s because longtime rival Colorado State moved to the Pac-12 this year amid the Mountain West exodus of five teams to the storied conference.
Wyoming and Colorado State played for The Bronze Boot, and the two will meet on Sept. 5, but there isn’t another date set for the rivalry game as Kolpack noted. The interest could be on both sides for the Bison and Cowboys to develop a rivalry and traveling trophy, and Kolpack wrote it would like “come from students” between the schools.
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