North Dakota State carries high expectations going into the FBS and Mountain West Conference after 15 years of dominance in the FCS.
The predictions vary on how NDSU will fare as a first-year FBS program, and one insider believes there will be significant growing pains. Mike McFeely of the Fargo Forum believes NDSU won’t win the conference this year, realistically.
“I think this first year is going to be far tougher for NDSU than people realize,” McFeely wrote on Thursday in his mailbag. “I BS’d with former Bison head coach Craig Bohl when he was in town recently — he coached at Wyoming in the MWC for years — and to hear him talk about how difficult and weird the Hawaii trip and game is, no matter how good or bad the Rainbow Warriors are on the field, was eye-opening.”
“This initial FBS season might have a lot of those educational moments for the players, coaches and administrators,” McFeely added. “If NDSU goes 8-4, that’s a very successful first season.”
McFeely picked New Mexico as the Mountain West champion and UNLV as the second-place team for the conference championship game matchup. NDSU will play both on the road this season in addition to Hawaii.
“I see NDSU as the third-place squad,” McFeely wrote. “That’s subject to change since it’s only April.”
NDSU Will ‘Get Things Rolling’
McFeely acknowledged that NDSU will eventually find footing in the Mountain West.
“This initial FBS season might be a bit choppy for NDSU since it’s coming on such a short timeline, but over time the Bison will get things figured out,” McFeely wrote. “And I have no doubt they’ll get things rolling in the Mountain West in a couple seasons.”
NDSU needs only to look at FCS teams that made the move in recent years and their levels of success. The best case scenario is James Madison, which won two FCS championships and challenged the Bison during the dynasty between 2011 and 2021.
JMU went 8-3 in the Sun Belt Conference in 2022 and won it in 2023 with an 11-2 mark. The Dukes dipped to 9-4 in 2024 but then made the College Football Playoff in 2025 with a 12-2 record.
Jacksonville State, NDSU’s first opponent in August, had finished with nine wins every year with Conference USA. The Gamecocks moved up in 2023 and played the Bison once in the FCS title game during the 2014 season.
Sam Houston, another former Bison FCS title game opponent, went 10-3 in 2024 with Conference USA, but the Bearkats have otherwise endured losing seasons. NDSU won its first two titles against the Bearkats.
Hawaii Trip a Major Challenge
Bohl telling McFeely about the Hawaii trip being a major challenge with travel is no surprise.
Current Bison head coach Tim Polasek experienced that with Wyoming as well when he served on Bohl’s staff. It’s more than 10 hours of flying across five time zones.
NDSU will get a bye week before the Hawaii game on Nov. 14, but the Bison will have turned things around quickly with a home game against Northern Illinois on Nov. 21. The Rainbows went 9-4 last season overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West.
North Dakota State Faces ‘Far Tougher’ Road, Insider Says