North Dakota State will don a new look against Wyoming on Saturday and play for a new rivalry trophy.
The Bison will kick off the team’s first-ever Mountain West Conference home opener with a new tweak to the Code Green alternate uniforms. NDSU will have hidden mountain designs “worked into the jersey numbers,” according to On3. That’s in addition to the debut of “The Battle of the Basins” trophy.
Both NDSU and Wyoming lost rivals amid the Mountain West shifts in the past year. Longtime Cowboys rival Colorado State moved to the Pac-12, and NDSU left behind former longtime rivals South Dakota State and North Dakota amid a move up to the FBS.
Wyoming and North Dakota both have legacies in the oil field, and the 10-inch replica oil drill will celebrate that. The two states are separated by 65 miles between North Dakota’s southwest corner and Wyoming’s northeast corner.
NDSU and Wyoming have only met once before in 2008, but the Bison and Cowboys share a significant coaching tie. Former Bison head coach Craig Bohl, who started the FCS dynasty with three consecutive national titles, went on to Wyoming in 2014.
Bohl coached the Cowboys until 2023, and he most notably coached former Wyoming star and current Buffalo Bills superstar quarterback Josh Allen.
NDSU Makes Statement on New Trophy
The Bison are turning from a nickel and a quartzite mile marker to an oil drill for traveling trophies. NDSU’s rivalry with UND featured the Nickel Trophy for a century, and the Bison then played for the Dakota Marker during the FCS era with SDSU.
“This traveling trophy with Wyoming is another ‘first’ in our football program’s transition to FBS,” NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen said in a statement. “The synergies between our states and universities go way beyond geography. Our land-grant missions, football history and traditions, and significant energy production make this rivalry bigger than just the game. Our thanks to Ron Ness and the North Dakota Petroleum Council for their support.”
Ness likewise expressed the significance of the new trophy for the two states. North Dakota produces about 1.2 million barrels of oil daily, and Wyoming produces about 292,000 barrels of oil daily per EnergyNow.com.
“North Dakota and Wyoming are two of our nation’s energy powerhouses. It is only fitting that our Mountain West universities battle it out each year for the coveted Battle of the Basins trophy. The North Dakota Petroleum Council is proud to sponsor this annual FBS matchup, and we look forward to years of great football between these two division rivals,” Ness said in a statement.
What’s at Stake in Rivalry Kickoff
NDSU enters the game at 4-0 with slim chances for a College Football Playoff berth. The Bison will likely need to win out in convincing fashion to overtake Boise State for the Group of Six spot in the CFP.
Wyoming (2-2) has shown improvement of late with a 27-10 home win over Hawaii on Sept. 26. The Cowboys bounced back from a 24-10 loss to Central Michigan on Sept. 19, and Wyoming gets a shot to play spoiler in the Fargodome as the first-ever Mountain West team to visit the venue.
NDSU Makes Major Announcements Before Wyoming Game