While North Dakota State seeks the NCAA’s lifting of the two-year postseason restriction amid its move to the FBS, the Bison can at least have confidence the College Football Playoff will become more accessible sooner than later.
Mountain West Conference commissioner Gloria Nevarez, who visited NDSU on Tuesday, told the Fargo Forum’s Jeff Kolpack that CFP expansion isn’t off the table. Kolpack wrote that Nevarez “thinks that’s going to be revisited,” though the CFP committee decided in January to stay at 12 teams.
Nevarez shared about it in relation to bowl games, which seven Mountain West teams played in during the 2025 season. She said the Mountain West is “working on other tie-ins with other bowls,” besides the ones that already exist, Kolpack wrote. NDSU may have to wait on a bowl game, too, with the NCAA restrictions on unless there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams.
“We’re all working on a one-year bridge,” Nevarez said. “It’s all about the CFP and if it expands or not, that’s the first domino, we liken it to musical chairs, and the music just keeps playing.”
“Hopefully we can sign three- or four-year contracts [with a bowl] once the CFP figures out their format,” she added.
The Mountain West has worked with major transitions this football offseason with the departure of five teams to the Pac-12 and the addition of NDSU, Northern Illinois, and UTEP.
Gloria Nevarez on NDSU: ‘Feels A Lot Like Our Other Institutions’
While the Mountain West coaches’ reactions were wildly favorable last week amid the news of NDSU moving up, Nevarez cemented it with her recent visit to Fargo.
“It feels a lot like our other institutions in that you have that downtown feel, the red brick buildings and the agricultural presence,” Nevarez told Kolpack. “But you also see the infusion of the college marks and colors in the town, the restaurants and the retail areas and that tells you how much this school is part of the town. A lot of our schools are the only show in town.”
“For me, it’s all about seeing it in person,” she added. “It’s important to develop the relationships and to come out here in person because this is a partnership. This just isn’t a transaction, hey, we needed a team. You’re part of the fabric of who we are and you’re going to help make us better. Let’s go.”
Nevarez also confirmed that the Mountain West will back NDSU’s request for the NCAA to grant postseason eligibility.
“We will be arm and arm, supporting, advocating, whatever we can do to help,” Nevarez said.
Former Bison HC Craig Bohl Key in Mountain West Interest
In the early 2010s, former Bison head coach Craig Bohl launched the FCS dynasty with three-straight national titles before he left for Wyoming in 2014, and that move may have helped NDSU’s future as much as anything.
“When I first got in the league, I asked, who are the coaches who have the loudest voice in the room that I need to get to know first?” Nevarez told Kolpack. “Craig Bohl was No. 1 by far. He has such a great reputation amongst the coaches, and he’s been a friend and advocate for the Mountain West ever since.”
North Dakota State Receives Good News on CFP Front