NDSU After Realignment

[Professorbum]

So much recent speculation and nail-biting about the future home of NDSU football and athletics generally. So, with all we know and don't know, and regardless of what NDSU's intentions or preferences may be, what is your best guess of what becomes of NDSU athletics at the end of the present realignment flurry?

Remain FCS?
FBS Football-only in CUSA / Summit everything else?
Full member in CUSA?
FBS independent / Summit everything else?
Other?

[ndsubison1]

Guess we stay FCS until a better opportunity arises. CUSA looks toast. Even if they cobble together some shitty teams, we stay.

[NDSU92]

Don’t know if it’s in the next couple weeks or in the next few years, but we’re going to have to jump. Even the most fervent FCSers have realized it. I myself wasn’t pro FBS until about 4 years ago.

Administration seems like it’s starting to get the picture. We’ll be FBS within a few years out of necessity.

[Rock]

I say watch UND and follow. Leaders Inaction.

[123Gobison]

NDSU will form its own FBS conference with SDSU, UNI, Redbirds and Montana, similar to Missouri Valley Conference.

[taper]

For anyone that hasn't followed realignment too closely, 2 weeks ago Conference USA had 14 members. Now they have 5, and there's rumors of 2 more leaving. An FBS conference requires 8 all sport members, football affiliates don't count towards that. There are currently 2 affiliates in the whole of FBS, Navy and Hawaii. FBS realignment is over and CUSA lost big time. They have extremely limited options to keep existing, and bringing in affiliates is at the very bottom of that list. I know certain people don't want to hear it, but those are the facts.

[1979 Bison]

For anyone that hasn't followed realignment too closely, 2 weeks ago Conference USA had 14 members. Now they have 5, and there's rumors of 2 more leaving. An FBS conference requires 8 all sport members, football affiliates don't count towards that. There are currently 2 affiliates in the whole of FBS, Navy and Hawaii. FBS realignment is over and CUSA lost big time. They have extremely limited options to keep existing, and bringing in affiliates is at the very bottom of that list. I know certain people don't want to hear it, but those are the facts.

Agreed with all that! CUSA, even if it FINDS enough full members, would be a bust for NDSU to join if invited…they will not end up with a decent TV contract (to share with its members), and will be essentially be a downgrade from MVFC competition overall. Until the Mountain West comes a calling (since we are geographically constrained in our options, and P5 will not happen), it seems to me that best option is to stay FCS in our geographically-friendly MVFC.

[NDSU92]

Agreed with all that! CUSA, even if it FINDS enough full members, would be a bust for NDSU to join if invited…they will not end up with a decent TV contract (to share with its members), and will be essentially be a downgrade from MVFC competition overall. Until the Mountain West comes a calling (since we are geographically constrained in our options, and P5 will not happen), it seems to me that best option is to stay FCS in our geographically-friendly MVFC.

The remaining teams in CUSA are equivalent to the top half of the MVFC, outside of FIU, which is comparable with the team we are playing today. CUSA has a lot of work to do to have a viable conference but the level of competition would likely be a step up if at all different from what it is today.

[56BISON73]

So with all of this realignment talk thats going on I have not seen NDSU mentioned anywhere but here. Did I miss something?

[NDSU92]

So with all of this realignment talk thats going on I have not seen NDSU mentioned anywhere but here. Did I miss something?

Just as much mention as JMU did before they were asked to join the Sun Belt