Future for bison

[fmfantasy]

Those schools wont be replaced easily.. all those other top schools left a decade ago and we went on to win 8 of 10 titles. Now 3 of the teams we have faced for a title and the only schools left to have beaten us in a playoff game in the last 11 years will be gone.. Montana and SDU etc arent really competition as they havent stopped us from doing anything in 11 years.... IF anyone outside the MVFC or EWU wins a title the next decade I will be shocked.. If NDSU only wins 8 of the next 10 it would have to be considered a letdown.. barring injury or really bad luck they shouldnt lose 2 playoff games the next decade.

[NDSUstudent]

Yes, some good teams have left, but new ones will replace them.

Sam Houston and JMU were not that strong back when App St left.
Over 10 years, we have lost around 12 schools, but if you filter out the schools that weren't making it past the quarterfinals, the list shrinks a lot.
This year it just felt a little more dramatic because two schools that can make it to the semis or beyond left at once.
We still have other contenders like Montana, Montana St, EWU, SDSU and the MVFC, and schools like Kennesaw emerging.

Sam Herder addressed this question pretty well in his Hero Sports podcast here at around the 18 minute mark:
https://herosports.com/fcs-podcast-jmu-fbs-bzbz/

LOL...JMU won a title in 2004 and was in the semifinals in 2008. I would say there were plenty strong before App left. Nobody is going to replace these schools, there will just be an even bigger void. Just look at the SoCon since it lost those schools, it has never recovered and is now basically the Patriot League of the South.

[ByeSonBusiness]

You missed UT San Antonio... another one of those transitional teams with a pathetic losing record in the FCS but had an invite to the FBS before they even played a game... much like UNC Charlotte and Georgia State -- they were commuter schools in large metropolitan areas, so they were automatically "deemed" FBS ready -- news flash -- large metropolitan areas also have NFL teams, and nobody gives a crap about the local college teams -- I grew up in the Twin Cities and have lived the past 26 years in DC Metro... nobody cared about the goofs when i was growing up, and nobody cares about Maryland VT or UVA here (unless maybe your an alum).

Until the leaders of these G5 conferences pull their heads out of their asses and realize its not about "# of tv screens in a metro area" and instead realize they need teams with a winning culture and rabid fan bases if they want to up their profile... then NDSU will get some conferences sniffing around.

Ndsu doesn't have a rabid fan base though

[SDbison]

Ndsu doesn't have a rabid fan base though

For its relative size NDSU has a good number of fans who tailgate and travel to far away games. NDSU top 3 in FCS and likely in top third of G5 schools. Playing pud FCS teams and charging $50 a ticket doesn't help bring in more fans.

[EC8CH]

For its relative size NDSU has a good number of fans who tailgate and travel to far away games. NDSU top 3 in FCS and likely in top third of G5 schools. Playing pud FCS teams and charging $50 a ticket doesn't help bring in more fans.

Agree with all of this.

[BigHorns]

For its relative size NDSU has a good number of fans who tailgate and travel to far away games. NDSU top 3 in FCS and likely in top third of G5 schools. Playing pud FCS teams and charging $50 a ticket doesn't help bring in more fans.

Maybe they will consider lowering prices next year to fill the dome, but it seems like part of the trouble has been people with tickets who don't attend the games. A few I know only want to go to "big" games now.

[pantherhawkrolling]

Nobody asked me, but I'm doing the rounds before the FCS playoffs today and it's a free country, so I'll give my unsolicited opinion. I would likely be a bad mistake for NDSU to go to FBS. Sure, maybe it could go the Boise State route, but so often it goes the Idaho route. NDSU's success is based upon 1) being a non-directional university and all that comes with it in a subdivision of largely directional universities, in other words being a big fish in a small pond and 2) tradition, and all that means with recruiting, attitude, and the types of coaches you attract. #2 comes with winning. Sure, you could join the Sun Belt of the Mid-American and win like you are now, but that is worse than the FCS since you get a rather meaningless conference title and minor bowl, rather than a shot at the national title. I'm not saying you would not win at a better conference, but honestly I think the quaity of NDSU football would degrade. Right now you are the best of the second-best, that all goes away in FBS. Also, I come on this board and people think the sky is falling and talking changes when they are riding a 13 game winning-streak and tied at the half with a ranked team. I can only imagine what a two game losing streak and no titles would do.

[Gopher24]

I am a non NDSU fan living in Fargo. I would absolutely go to more NDSU games if they were FBS.

Im actually considering starting to go to 1-2 games a year even if they stay in FCS.

The last time I went to a Bison game was against UND around 2004.

[BiZon22]

Nobody asked me, but I'm doing the rounds before the FCS playoffs today and it's a free country, so I'll give my unsolicited opinion. I would likely be a bad mistake for NDSU to go to FBS. Sure, maybe it could go the Boise State route, but so often it goes the Idaho route. NDSU's success is based upon 1) being a non-directional university and all that comes with it in a subdivision of largely directional universities, in other words being a big fish in a small pond and 2) tradition, and all that means with recruiting, attitude, and the types of coaches you attract. #2 comes with winning. Sure, you could join the Sun Belt of the Mid-American and win like you are now, but that is worse than the FCS since you get a rather meaningless conference title and minor bowl, rather than a shot at the national title. I'm not saying you would not win at a better conference, but honestly I think the quaity of NDSU football would degrade. Right now you are the best of the second-best, that all goes away in FBS. Also, I come on this board and people think the sky is falling and talking changes when they are riding a 13 game winning-streak and tied at the half with a ranked team. I can only imagine what a two game losing streak and no titles would do.

This posts just smells of not knowing anything lmao. The sun belt is a pretty solid conference now. Speaking of teams moving up. How are App State, GSU, Coastal doing?

[BigHorns]

This posts just smells of not knowing anything lmao. The sun belt is a pretty solid conference now. Speaking of teams moving up. How are App State, GSU, Coastal doing?

True, but the Sun Belt won't add NDSU. Our only realistic options are MWC or MAC.
MWC would be perfect, MAC is sort of a lateral move, but maybe we could schedule better OOC games.