2026 Non-UND FCS News/Scores Thread

[The Sicatoka]

 

[UND-FB-FAN]

2 hours ago, The Sicatoka said:

 

Will be good publicity on ABC/ESPN.

[The Sicatoka]

 

[Undertherock]

On 9/1/2026 at 1:43 PM, Bison06 said:

I should have been more precise with my words. There were UND fans that saw the move that NDSU made up to I-AA(at the time) and thought UND should make the move with them. There were plenty of others who ridiculed and said nearly the exact same things being said in this thread. "It's not a real step up in competition, current division is just fine and not being eroded away, NDSU will regret making this move etc"

Regardless, the conversation in this thread is very similar to 2003-2004 and I'm just curious if history will repeat itself with NDSU leading the way(relative to  it's historical peers) with the move and everyone else is critical while silently planning the same move.

I am increasingly of the belief SDSU will be FBS next season and if not, the following.  There's smoke in Brookings.  

[SIOUXFAN97]

6 minutes ago, Undertherock said:

I am increasingly of the belief SDSU will be FBS next season and if not, the following.  There's smoke in Brookings.  

nope

[Undertherock]

16 minutes ago, SIOUXFAN97 said:

nope

Ok. 

 

To be clear, I'm not hoping.  

[FSSD]

8 hours ago, Undertherock said:

I am increasingly of the belief SDSU will be FBS next season and if not, the following.  There's smoke in Brookings.  

I assume you are talking about the fallout from the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA).  Which if passed as written now would have the following Key Components of the Realignment Rules:

The 19-Team Cap: Under the bill's revised framework released by the Senate Commerce Committee, large Power 4 conferences (reporting more than $700 million in revenue) would have their membership legally capped at 19 institutions. This acts as a deterrent to freeze current structures and stop the formation of a massive "Super League".

The 5-Year Freeze Rule: The standard text dictates that any school trying to transfer from one Power 4 conference to another must first spend 5 years as an independent program.

The 180-Day "Grace Period" Amendment: To address the "year to adjust" element, Senator Ashley Moody filed a prominent amendment. It creates a temporary 180-day window (roughly 6 months) immediately after the bill passes. During this time, high-profile schools looking to pivot (such as Florida State or Clemson) can bypass the 5-year independent penalty and safely lock into their final conference before the 19-team door slams shut permanently.

And here is the current numbers for each conference:

Big Ten Conference: 18 schools

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC): 17 schools

Big 12 Conference: 16 schools

Southeastern Conference (SEC): 16 schools

So, you would be looking at a Zero to 9 schools moving up from G6.  The teams most mentioned are:

AAC: Tulane, USF, Memphis, UTSA, East Carolina

PAC: Boise State, San Diego State

SBC:  James Madison

MWC:  UNLV

Now, I personally think you might have some movement with Army, Navy and Air Force vs ECU, JMU, UNLV.  But we will see over the next couple of years.

But, you have 3 openings in West which leads to UC-Davis, Montana, Montana, Tarleton, SDSU or some MAC teams moving over.  On the East side of the country you have 6 opening with C-USA and MAC having some significant turnover.  The reality is if you are going to move you had better be ready.  And I'm not sure there is going to be another window prior to 2030 when all the media contract expire with grant of rights opening up.  

[Hawkster]

9 hours ago, FSSD said:

I assume you are talking about the fallout from the Protect College Sports Act (PCSA).  Which if passed as written now would have the following Key Components of the Realignment Rules:

The 19-Team Cap: Under the bill's revised framework released by the Senate Commerce Committee, large Power 4 conferences (reporting more than $700 million in revenue) would have their membership legally capped at 19 institutions. This acts as a deterrent to freeze current structures and stop the formation of a massive "Super League".

The 5-Year Freeze Rule: The standard text dictates that any school trying to transfer from one Power 4 conference to another must first spend 5 years as an independent program.

The 180-Day "Grace Period" Amendment: To address the "year to adjust" element, Senator Ashley Moody filed a prominent amendment. It creates a temporary 180-day window (roughly 6 months) immediately after the bill passes. During this time, high-profile schools looking to pivot (such as Florida State or Clemson) can bypass the 5-year independent penalty and safely lock into their final conference before the 19-team door slams shut permanently.

And here is the current numbers for each conference:

Big Ten Conference: 18 schools

Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC): 17 schools

Big 12 Conference: 16 schools

Southeastern Conference (SEC): 16 schools

So, you would be looking at a Zero to 9 schools moving up from G6.  The teams most mentioned are:

AAC: Tulane, USF, Memphis, UTSA, East Carolina

PAC: Boise State, San Diego State

SBC:  James Madison

MWC:  UNLV

Now, I personally think you might have some movement with Army, Navy and Air Force vs ECU, JMU, UNLV.  But we will see over the next couple of years.

But, you have 3 openings in West which leads to UC-Davis, Montana, Montana, Tarleton, SDSU or some MAC teams moving over.  On the East side of the country you have 6 opening with C-USA and MAC having some significant turnover.  The reality is if you are going to move you had better be ready.  And I'm not sure there is going to be another window prior to 2030 when all the media contract expire with grant of rights opening up.  

I wonder how many people understand that C-USA and MAC are at best glorified FCS conferences with a higher price tag.   I would rather stay put than move to either of those conferences.

[AJS]

10 hours ago, Undertherock said:

I am increasingly of the belief SDSU will be FBS next season and if not, the following.  There's smoke in Brookings.  

Can someone wake up Andy & Chavez and give them a courtesy heads up. Hate for them to always be the last to know. Let’s start workshopping some new rivalry games once UND is left behind. MSU-Moorhead could be a fun one. 
 

UNDs leaders with other Dakota & Montanas

 

 

[AJS]

21 minutes ago, Hawkster said:

I wonder how many people understand that C-USA and MAC are at best glorified FCS conferences with a higher price tag.   I would rather stay put than move to either of those conferences.

As they are constructed now, I would agree. The issue is, you continue to lose the top of the FCS, it won't be long until UND will be looking around and not liking what it sees. Competition will be gone. Losing SDSU and adding Lindenwood will really excite the fanbase. I've grown to accept it, it's just disappointing how little foresight so many have. I'm including the leadership group in this one. 

Think small, be small, the UND motto. 

[UND1983]

If SDSU wants to pay 20+ million, add scholarships across the board, and take every nickel they can from fans then by all means they should.  

[Hawkster]

6 minutes ago, AJS said:

As they are constructed now, I would agree. The issue is, you continue to lose the top of the FCS, it won't be long until UND will be looking around and not liking what it sees. Competition will be gone. Losing SDSU and adding Lindenwood will really excite the fanbase. I've grown to accept it, it's just disappointing how little foresight so many have. I'm including the leadership group in this one. 

Think small, be small, the UND motto. 

I agree about the competition, no one gripes more about playing junk like Drake and Valpo more than me.  You can add Murray State to the list too.   But, playing a MAC team like Toledo on a Wednesday night isn't going to do anything for fan engagement either and both MAC and C-USA do the midweek game thing during some or most of the season because of the media contract. 

[The Sicatoka]

I’d only accept MAC or CUSA if UND home games were guaranteed to be Thursday night or Saturday. 

[SiouxHawkGuy]

We play at a level below Delaware 

[AJS]

26 minutes ago, Hawkster said:

I agree about the competition, no one gripes more about playing junk like Drake and Valpo more than me.  You can add Murray State to the list too.   But, playing a MAC team like Toledo on a Wednesday night isn't going to do anything for fan engagement either and both MAC and C-USA do the midweek game thing during some or most of the season because of the media contract. 

I would argue, depends on who you're playing Saturday. There's clearly a reason every "like" institution feels like they have a plan to get out. Does UND? Maybe. Other schools are publicly saying it. One thing I'm extremely confident in, is if other key schools leave, nobody is going to like what's left when they look around. We're not even talking about when the Summit League implodes. But hey, let's all point and laugh at the amount of money they are paying because they can't get out of this situation fast enough. 

I do believe rivalries matter, regionality matters, playing peer institutions matter. UND has more in common with FBS / schools looking to move up than the leftovers. 

[andtheHomeoftheSIOUX!!]

I renew my request that UND be a leader in sports outside of hockey. 

[jdub27]

On 9/1/2026 at 12:35 PM, skateshattrick said:

I live in Fargo and I agree with Bison06. I'm not a fan of NDSU and never have been, but I understand that the fans were bored. The only games that really fired up the fan base were SDSU and UND and whenever the Bison played an FBS opponent. The move was long overdue. The end goal is to be a relevant FBS program like Boise State. It remains to be seen if they accomplish that goal, but I wouldn't bet against them. 

 

On 9/1/2026 at 12:45 PM, Siouxphan27 said:

To be fair it says “then we can calculate.”  
 

Should be than, not then.  And secondly, just what is the amount they are capable of calculating?

The only number they seem to know down there is 11,954.

 

On 9/1/2026 at 1:11 PM, Bison06 said:

I agree, it's very different now than back then with the level of investment. But, I think UND, USD, SDSU, UM and MSU are going to be paying very close attention to this move by NDSU. I predict that IF it goes well, they will find a way to make the move up.

They absolutely will be. But you can bet they are going to try to not get bent over a barrel like NDSU and Sac St did. Huge entrance fee and waiver of media rights for 5 years is crazy. I get why they did it but its a hell of a gamble.

 

On 9/1/2026 at 2:38 PM, Bison Dan said:

Really?  Then where does that leave UND FB for exposure?  I've gone to many of our P4 games and have talked with many of their fans and everyone was interested in NDSU because of what they have heard.  Most said they were going to sell their tickets for a FCS game but when they heard it was the Bison, they wanted to see what we were all about.  You can believe what you want but the jealousy on this board is over the top.

Many? Like the 2 or 3 in the last decade? 

 

On 9/1/2026 at 3:57 PM, Bison06 said:

I don't pretend to know what NDSU's long term goals are for the University or the Football team. But I do know that this step to FBS is a move that makes a lot of sense to me and could make even more sense as the landscape of college football continues to evolve.

Its a huge roll of the dice on the athletics side when they academic side, both enrollment and financially, are in a bad spot. The optics on it look terrible and unsustainable. Maybe the new president has a plan but investing the huge amount of money into football while academics continues to struggle doesn't play well. And the talk that all the funds are being raised privately is pretty laughable. They are absolutely going to need to a portion of use state money to make it work at the level they want unless a few donors are going to open their checkbooks further. There's one or two specific ones that could do it, but will they and to what degree? 

[Hawkster]

31 minutes ago, jdub27 said:

 

The only number they seem to know down there is 11,954.

 

They absolutely will be. But you can bet they are going to try to not get bent over a barrel like NDSU and Sac St did. Huge entrance fee and waiver of media rights for 5 years is crazy. I get why they did it but its a hell of a gamble.

 

Many? Like the 2 or 3 in the last decade? 

 

Its a huge roll of the dice on the athletics side when they academic side, both enrollment and financially, are in a bad spot. The optics on it look terrible and unsustainable. Maybe the new president has a plan but investing the huge amount of money into football while academics continues to struggle doesn't play well. And the talk that all the funds are being raised privately is pretty laughable. They are absolutely going to need to a portion of use state money to make it work at the level they want unless a few donors are going to open their checkbooks further. There's one or two specific ones that could do it, but will they and to what degree? 

I would be shocked if any school ever moves for less than Sac State paid.   Sooner or later someone will pay it and right now no one is even looking to add anyone new.   It's sorta like when pro sports teams sell, every time one changes hands for an outrageous price the next one seems to bring even more.   Of course that doesn't exactly apply to top value teams compared to the perennial losers.