2026 Non-UND FCS News/Scores Thread

[Undertherock]

22 minutes ago, Bison06 said:

For someone not discounting NDSU's success, you sure do a solid job of spending the rest of your post discounting their success. I travel everywhere in the US for work, it isn't just north Fargo thinking NDSU football has become a name people recognize in football circles as a high quality brand of football.

 

I think you should buy the bored fans "schtick", its very real.

Didn't discount the on field success at all.  Its the perception of the brand value and the crux of the argument being NDSU will never be P4.  

I still don't buy the bored fan schtick.  NDSU hasn't enjoyed the same success in the 2020s as it has in the 2010s.  If its a matter of competitiveness, then the 2020s should have revived the fan interest.  SDSU primarily, the Montanas and even the UxDs have invested in their programs and filled the void left by the Georgia Southerns and JMUs, who NDSU saw at most once a year.  How does UTEP or San Jose eliminate the fan disinterest?

[Bison06]

Just now, Undertherock said:

Didn't discount the on field success at all.  Its the perception of the brand value and the crux of the argument being NDSU will never be P4.  

I still don't buy the bored fan schtick.  NDSU hasn't enjoyed the same success in the 2020s as it has in the 2010s.  If its a matter of competitiveness, then the 2020s should have revived the fan interest.  SDSU primarily, the Montanas and even the UxDs have invested in their programs and filled the void left by the Georgia Southerns and JMUs, who NDSU saw at most once a year.  How does UTEP or San Jose eliminate the fan disinterest?

What is your evidence that fan disinterest isn’t real? I’m an NDSU fan and talk with NDSU fans all of the time, they were bored. In many cases, they were not renewing season tickets, they were not tailgating, they took a “I’ll plug back in once the playoffs start” approach to the team. It was very real.

[Undertherock]

Anyway, back on topic:  SDSU whipped Stetson 70-7.  Not much to take away from that game other than it sure was prettier than the lethargic game SDSU had against PFL Drake last season.  

JSD beat Central Conn or something like that 59-20.  Sounds like the RF QB had a decent outing.

[SIOUXFAN97]

4 minutes ago, Undertherock said:

Didn't discount the on field success at all.  Its the perception of the brand value and the crux of the argument being NDSU will never be P4.  

I still don't buy the bored fan schtick.  NDSU hasn't enjoyed the same success in the 2020s as it has in the 2010s.  If its a matter of competitiveness, then the 2020s should have revived the fan interest.  SDSU primarily, the Montanas and even the UxDs have invested in their programs and filled the void left by the Georgia Southerns and JMUs, who NDSU saw at most once a year.  How does UTEP or San Jose eliminate the fan disinterest?

or nevada or wyoming or hawaii.....

[Undertherock]

1 minute ago, Bison06 said:

What is your evidence that fan disinterest isn’t real? I’m an NDSU fan and talk with NDSU fans all of the time, they were bored. In many cases, they were not renewing season tickets, they were not tailgating, they took a “I’ll plug back in once the playoffs start” approach to the team. It was very real.

See above re: competitiveness in the 2020s.  NDSU winning titles or even weekly contests was no longer a foregone conclusion but the fans didn't come back.  And even if it is real, the question remains, how do the likes of UTEP and San Jose revive that interest?  Or the Famous Potato Bowl?  Or playing even worse FCS teams in your OOC slate? 

[fightingsioux4life]

49 minutes ago, Bison06 said:

For someone not discounting NDSU's success, you sure do a solid job of spending the rest of your post discounting their success. I travel everywhere in the US for work, it isn't just north Fargo thinking NDSU football has become a name people recognize in football circles as a high quality brand of football.

 

I think you should buy the bored fans "schtick", its very real.

So where's the national television contract for NDSU now that they are a "national brand"?

What happened to "Bring on 'Bama"? Now that both schools are in the same subdivision, I am sure they would LOVE to negotiate a home and home contract with NDSU. Right? 

My point is that if UND moved up to FBS G6, I would not be delusional enough to think that people from coast to coast and border to border would be watching to see what the latest addition to G6 college football can accomplish. Anything outside of the P4 is treated as a curiosity and is not considered "big time" in any way, shape or form.

One thing for certain, if UND wins an FCS title in the next couple of years, I won't be writing any letters to Sports Illustrated complaining that the CFP champion is on the cover instead of UND. A NDSU fan did that several years ago and I still can't believe they printed it.

[Bison06]

10 minutes ago, Undertherock said:

See above re: competitiveness in the 2020s.  NDSU winning titles or even weekly contests was no longer a foregone conclusion but the fans didn't come back.  And even if it is real, the question remains, how do the likes of UTEP and San Jose revive that interest?  Or the Famous Potato Bowl?  Or playing even worse FCS teams in your OOC slate? 

Any fan base has their hardcore base and their casual fans. Casual fans are needed for all sports teams for revenue and butts in seats. Casual fans aren't as plugged into the details. Once we had won 10 championships and everyone who wanted to make the trip to Frisco had done it and in many cases multiple times, the luster wore off. The tailgate on a random September or October had lost it's cache for the "cool thing to do on a Saturday afternoon" in Fargo. We lost the casuals and even some of the hardcores who really just wanted to see quality football and knew that even though the team could potentially lose one or two games a regular season, NDSU was still making the playoffs so they would mostly check out until then. Sure, they'll check the score and maybe even watch a game or two on TV, but it was no longer an event to plan around.

Like it or not, the teams NDSU will be playing now, are perceived as a higher level of competition by those casuals. People have heard of these schools, even if the people who are plugged into the actual game of football know that the MW schools aren't much of a step up from the MVFC. People have heard of UNLV, Hawaii, Air Force and they carry that brand recognition with them when they show up in the FargoDome. 

I also think you are underplaying how good NDSU still has been the last 6 years.

• 2021: 14–1 (FCS National Champions)

• 2022: 12–3 (FCS National Runner-Up)

• 2023: 11–4 (FCS Semifinals)

• 2024: 14–2 (FCS National Champions)

• 2025: 12–1 (FCS Second Round)

In the minds of the casual fans, this 5 year run is still 3 trips to frisco and a loss in double overtime in a thriller that would have had them make the championship game 4/5 years. That's not a fall off by anyone's definition.

[Bison06]

5 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

So where's the national television contract for NDSU now that they are a "national brand"?

What happened to "Bring on 'Bama"? Now that both schools are in the same subdivision, I am sure they would LOVE to negotiate a home and home contract with NDSU. Right? 

My point is that if UND moved up to FBS G6, I would not be delusional enough to think that people from coast to coast and border to border would be watching to see what the latest addition to G6 college football can accomplish. Anything outside of the P4 is treated as a curiosity and is not considered "big time" in any way, shape or form.

One thing for certain, if UND wins an FCS title in the next couple of years, I won't be writing any letters to Sports Illustrated complaining that the CFP champion is on the cover instead of UND. A NDSU fan did that several years ago and I still can't believe they printed it.

Noone who knows anything about football ever said something so stupid as "bring on bama". Casuals sure, but nobody serious.

You might not be delusional enough, but you can be sure that there would be UND fans who would. All fan bases have their people who speak without really knowing what they're talking about.

[thUNDer]

Hmmmm, have generally thought it’s not a bad thing for your favorite team(s) success to be hated by others & when it comes to longstanding college rivalry’s, long live the hate & fun that comes with it.

[SIOUXFAN97]

1 hour ago, Bison06 said:

Any fan base has their hardcore base and their casual fans. Casual fans are needed for all sports teams for revenue and butts in seats. Casual fans aren't as plugged into the details. Once we had won 10 championships and everyone who wanted to make the trip to Frisco had done it and in many cases multiple times, the luster wore off. The tailgate on a random September or October had lost it's cache for the "cool thing to do on a Saturday afternoon" in Fargo. We lost the casuals and even some of the hardcores who really just wanted to see quality football and knew that even though the team could potentially lose one or two games a regular season, NDSU was still making the playoffs so they would mostly check out until then. Sure, they'll check the score and maybe even watch a game or two on TV, but it was no longer an event to plan around.

Like it or not, the teams NDSU will be playing now, are perceived as a higher level of competition by those casuals. People have heard of these schools, even if the people who are plugged into the actual game of football know that the MW schools aren't much of a step up from the MVFC. People have heard of UNLV, Hawaii, Air Force and they carry that brand recognition with them when they show up in the FargoDome. 

I also think you are underplaying how good NDSU still has been the last 6 years.

• 2021: 14–1 (FCS National Champions)

• 2022: 12–3 (FCS National Runner-Up)

• 2023: 11–4 (FCS Semifinals)

• 2024: 14–2 (FCS National Champions)

• 2025: 12–1 (FCS Second Round)

In the minds of the casual fans, this 5 year run is still 3 trips to frisco and a loss in double overtime in a thriller that would have had them make the championship game 4/5 years. That's not a fall off by anyone's definition.

in this case perception isn't reality i guess.....no one watched that mess on saturday and thought .....this is high level football.  

they more than likely thought it was 2 fcs teams going at it...which it kinda was bc

g6 is fcs

fcs is g6