North Dakota State going “all gas and no brakes”, as head coach Tim Polasek puts it, means that the Bison are setting sights on the College Football Playoff, and the road could widen soon.
InForum’s Dom Izzo reported on Thursday, via X, that it “sure sounds like a 24-team playoff may be coming, and soon.” That would double the field from 12 teams as it stands for this season, and talk of the playoffs expanding has circulated for a while.
Izzo’s resport came on the heels of SEC commissioner Greg Sankey addressing the 24-team CFP concept. Sankey “outlined his priorities for the 24-team field,” as On3’s Ross Dellinger reported on Thursday, and it clearly impacts Group of Six powers such as the Bison.
“The requirement to play ’10 qualifying events’ for the Power Four is interesting and makes me wonder what happens to those games for the Group of Six,” Izzo wrote. “FCS games almost immediately may be eliminated.”
Power 4 teams being required to play 10 games against Power 4 teams puts the G6 in a lurch, potentially. There’s significantly fewer opportunities for G6 teams to play Power 4 teams, and for the Bison, that’s already a steep climb because the Herd have a reputation for upsetting or at least challenging Power 4 squads.
At the moment, it’s a proposal, but it would have a drastic impact on the Bison and fellow G6 Titans for scheduling and CFP hopes.
G6 Status in Question Amid CFP Talks
As The Athletic’s Ralph D. Russo detailed, how the scheduling proposal affects the G6 is in question, and the CFP has a Dec. 1 deadline to make any changes for next season.
“It’s possible the Group of 6 could be exempt and subject to a different scheduling standard,” Russo wrote. “The current agreement between the 10 conferences requires at least one spot in the Playoff be reserved for the highest-ranked G6 team.”
That means the playoffs could expand and only one G6 team gets in. The Power 4 scheduling proposals make it less likely for two G6 teams to make it, as is the case for Tulane and James Madison in 2025.
NDSU could have as tough as road, if not tougher, in future seasons if the Power 4 scheduling proposal holds.
Bison Haven’t Landed a Power 4 Team Since Move to FBS
Amid the flurry of redoing this year’s schedule, NDSU hasn’t made any changes to future seasons. In addition, how soon the Bison will get new Power 4 teams on the schedule remains unknown.
The Bison don’t have a Power 4 team on the schedule next year, and Oregon is the only Power 4 squad on any future schedule. NDSU visits the Ducks in September 2028 for a game that was rescheduled from 2020 due to COVID.
Scheduling Power 4 teams had already been sparse for the Bison as an FCS power with 10 national championships in 15 seasons. The Bison have played six Power 4 teams in that span, and four of them were between 2011 and 2016.
Both the Big Ten and the Big 12 haven’t scheduled a game with the Bison in a decade, and the Pac-12 is no longer a Power 4 conference with the seismic shift of the past few years. The ACC and SEC have never scheduled the Bison.
NDSU Receivers Major Playoff Update