North Dakota State moving up to the FBS has been decades in the making, and the Bison have quietly enjoyed a recruiting advantage that could easily be overlooked in a part of the U.S. that’s considered flyover country.
“Speaking of travel, one sneaky contributor to NDSU’s success: It might have college sports’ most underrated airport situation,” The Athletic’s Jason Kirk wrote. “Direct flights from recruiting hotbeds like Atlanta, Dallas, and Orlando land across the street from the Fargodome.”
Fargo’s Hector Airport has been a spot where Bison football recruiters have gone to find prime recruits for years. The Bison have found elite players in other parts of the country going back to the Division II days when the team won eight national championships, and that only increased at the FCS level with another 10 national championships in a shorter time span.
Notable past NDSU recruits from the South include current NFL players such as Green Bay Packers wide receiver Christian Watson, a Tampa native. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive back Josh Hayes came from Lakeland, Florida, and New York Giants linebacker Chris Board played at Timber Creek in Orlando before NDSU.
North Dakota State Recruits Big Near Home
The Bison certainly aren’t limited in their own geographic footprint either.
Former Bison and current Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks offensive linemen Jalen Sundell and Grey Zabel came from Missouri and South Dakota respectively. Top-three NFL draft picks and quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Trey Lance came from North Dakota and Minnesota respectively.
Most of NDSU’s current 18 alumni on NFL teams actually come from the Upper Midwest. That includes Dallas Cowboys fullback Hunter Luepke, a Wisconsin native, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive lineman Cody Mauch, a North Dakota native.
NDSU’s recently announced move to the FBS and Mountain West Conference is expected to only ratchet up the recruiting in the coming years. That said, Bison head coach Tim Polasek already sees the recruiting standards as cut above the FCS.
“I think we’ve always talked in terms of recruiting to a Group of Six level,” Polasek told reporters on Monday.
40 Years in the Making
Kirk noted that, “for 40 years now, the Bison have been on this FBS trajectory” with dynasties at two levels.
The national media caught more wind of the FCS dynasty of course, and talk of moving up to the FBS has been percolating since 2014. It truly goes back further once NDSU dominated Division II and saw an exodus at the level, which later happened with the FCS.
“Cal Davis left, Northern Colorado left, Northern Iowa had left,” former NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor told The Athletic’s Chris Vannini in 2023. “The D-II world was changing.”
NDSU’s eight Division II titles came between 1965 and 1990, and teams moving up plus NDSU’s success begged the question if the Bison should do the same. The Bison left Division II in 2004 with the most championships ever at that level, and NDSU quickly became a contender at the FCS level.
NDSU’s first playoff appearance came in 2010 after the NCAA’s transition period requirement was fulfilled. The Bison team fell short in the quarterfinals, and NDSU went at least that far every year until 2025, when Illinois State stunned the Bison in the second round.
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