The Mountain West is in serious dialogue to add FCS powerhouse North Dakota State as a football-only member starting this coming season

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swede2 said:
This is a great deal for the MWC. NDSU is paying $12.5m to the conference in addition to the $5m to NCAA to reclassify. The MWC media deal stinks, and it has promised legacy members no less than the prior deal ($3.5 million). It has also promised a ransom to UNLV and AFA to stay in the fold (upwards of $20m each) from the contested exit fees now being litigated with the PAC. The current GOR is through 2032. No doubt AFA and UNLV will be gone by then, if not sooner, if MWC is not successful in it's PAC litigation. NDSU ensures the conference will have 8 teams.

This is a wild amount to pay to move to a crappy conference. The financial investment will not be insignificant. Will a fan base that grew bored with games against regional peers and winning national championships stomach jacked up ticket prices and seat license fees to pay not only for increased scholarships and NIL, but also Title IX compliance, to see San Jose and play in a no name bowl against Kennesaw State? Will a board of higher Ed facing enrollment challenges and stingy legislative support agree to JMU like student fees specifically for athletics ($2500/yr)? How much media revenue will NDSU get from MWC? Certainly not $3.5m and likely very much less, if any at all initially. How many P4 teams, already weary of scheduling FCS NDSU, will schedule an FBS NDSU? Where will the money come from to get FBS teams to Fargo for non- conference games.

I have no doubt that NDSU can compete in the MWC but this is a huge gamble and the likelihood of emulating JMU very improbable.
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The goal, for the school and the fans, is not to be a member of the MWC. That conference is just a stepping stone. The goal is to hit the big time. I had the misfortune of living in Fargo for a long time, and I'm confident of this.
 

I don’t know what their endgame is, but I give them credit for pulling off what many/most of their fans wanted them to do. Maybe they see this conference as a steppingstone? Money won’t be a problem for them as they continue through this process. They are the big fish and a small pond and there’s a lot of money in North Dakota.

What I do know is that over the past 40 years they’ve played good enough football to where if we had played them every year an optimistic view of the results would put us at .500. Being able to compete on the field with the knuckleheads in this conference won’t be an issue.
 

everybody knows my name said:
The goal, for the school and the fans, is not to be a member of the MWC. That conference is just a stepping stone. The goal is to hit the big time. I had the misfortune of living in Fargo for a long time, and I'm confident of this.
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Not with a 19k capacity stadium they won't.
 


everybody knows my name said:
The goal, for the school and the fans, is not to be a member of the MWC. That conference is just a stepping stone. The goal is to hit the big time. I had the misfortune of living in Fargo for a long time, and I'm confident of this.
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Fargo's minor league Pat Ruesse, Mike McFeely, while a huge supporter of the move, wonders if the Bison fans aren't chasing the dragon. Contrary to belief, it isn't a huge fan base but they are loud and perhaps as obnoxious as they come. Lots of the sycophants are certain they'll be Big 12 before long, already forgetting they had to pay a king's ransom to buy into a conference that last summer briefly considered paying SDSU, NDSU, Montana and State to join the conference before pivoting to paying a big sum to keep UNLV and AFA in the fold.
 





What is the NIL situation like in the MWC? I am living in Bismarck rn and am shocked by the oil money. Idk what the booster situation is like at NDSU, but maybe they have a few guys willing to get retarded for some MWC Ws.
 



GooningGopher said:
What is the NIL situation like in the MWC? I am living in Bismarck rn and am shocked by the oil money. Idk what the booster situation is like at NDSU, but maybe they have a few guys willing to get retarded for some MWC Ws.
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I'm sure it's not great. Fargo is a long way from the Bakken and one needs to realize most of the oil wealth is owned by people that have nothing to do with NDSU or even the state of ND (except a royalty check).
 

bleedsmaroonandgold said:
It will be a reality shock for Bison fans who wont be able to delude themselves into thinking they could have won the CFP if they werent in FCS.
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The MWC next year will probably be a worse conference than Missouri Valley Conference would have been. NDSU will likely be the best team most years, and have JMU / CFP-bubble buzz most seasons in the MWC.

This move completes their long-desired transition to being to the “new” Boise State.
 

Gopherchase said:
I don’t know what their endgame is, but I give them credit for pulling off what many/most of their fans wanted them to do. Maybe they see this conference as a steppingstone? Money won’t be a problem for them as they continue through this process. They are the big fish and a small pond and there’s a lot of money in North Dakota.

What I do know is that over the past 40 years they’ve played good enough football to where if we had played them every year an optimistic view of the results would put us at .500. Being able to compete on the field with the knuckleheads in this conference won’t be an issue.
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It will be interesting to see how it works out. Playing one FBS team a season is very different then playing a schedule full of them, even in a secondary conference like the Mountain West.
 




The MAC must be screwing things up badly to make the beleaguered MWC look like an improvement to NIU over playing teams in its region.
 

everybody knows my name said:
No, it's interesting. I've been anticipating this for years. It's a biggish school, the flagship school for its state, lots of football success, with a rabid and irrational fanbase. I've thought for years that their natural eventual fit is the Big 12.
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The math ain’t mathing to me if it is “a biggish school with a rabid fan base” but play in a 19,000 seat stadium that averages around 16k attendance through times of great success at their level.

That doesn’t seem very big-12-like to me.
 

Schnauzer said:
The math ain’t mathing to me if it is “a biggish school with a rabid fan base” but play in a 19,000 seat stadium that averages around 16k attendance through times of great success at their level.

That doesn’t seem very big-12-like to me.
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I'm speaking to you as someone who hates NDSU and its fans, but who's spent decades living among them. Familiarity breeds contempt. I'm not wishing for this; I'm telling you that the school aspires to move up, they've been doing it, they plan to keep doing it, and I expect it to continue.

Everybody acts like I'm talking about tomorrow. How long were they FCS? 22 years. It's a long game. The state is growing, the metro area is growing, and the school is growing. There are more alumni and there's more money every year. The Fargodome opened in 1992, so it's already 33 years old. They won't play in a 19,000 seat stadium forever. TCU plays in a 53,000 seat stadium. I'd be surprised if, as an FBS school, NDSU can't match that 10-20 years from now.
 


There's a history of FCS juggernauts moving up and none of them are presently in major conferences or above average clubs.

Georgia Southern, Western Kentucky, App State, UMass, Sam Houston, Marshall

James Madison this year came closest to a breakout but is still in the G5 and got waxed in a playoff spot they didn't deserve.

FCS/I-AA to the top leagues hasn't been done in at least 30-40 years.
 

FinnGopher said:
NDSU playing in the Mountain West in only football. That's a weak move. Put on the big boy pants and play basketball there as well.
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They weren't invited to play other sports.
 

Schnauzer said:
The math ain’t mathing to me if it is “a biggish school with a rabid fan base” but play in a 19,000 seat stadium that averages around 16k attendance through times of great success at their level.

That doesn’t seem very big-12-like to me.
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They're already associate members of the Big 12 for Wrestling I believe.

The stadium is going to be an issue in the near term. I haven't been in there in about 10 years, but as I understand it, it's really dated at this point, and hasn't been well maintained either. Imagine a building of a similar vintage of Target Center, only with virtually no upgrades since it was built. It's literally like watching football in a warehouse.

It's owned by the city, so the school can't really invest in it, and the people in Fargo are cheap, so they don't want to pay to upgrade it. I don't exactly know what they plan to do. I can't imagine they would move outdoors again in that climate - I think that would hurt recruiting.
 

disco said:
They're already associate members of the Big 12 for Wrestling I believe.

The stadium is going to be an issue in the near term. I haven't been in there in about 10 years, but as I understand it, it's really dated at this point, and hasn't been well maintained either. Imagine a building of a similar vintage of Target Center, only with virtually no upgrades since it was built. It's literally like watching football in a warehouse.

It's owned by the city, so the school can't really invest in it, and the people in Fargo are cheap, so they don't want to pay to upgrade it. I don't exactly know what they plan to do. I can't imagine they would move outdoors again in that climate - I think that would hurt recruiting.
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The Fargodome will work for them in the short-term, I feel like. It built some level of charm for itself throughout their era of FCS success and is at least serviceable. I don't think it's an urgent issue for them to confront, but if there are no plans or even ideas to build a new stadium or renovate it in the next decade or so there might be problems.
 

ergopher said:
The Fargodome will work for them in the short-term, I feel like. It built some level of charm for itself throughout their era of FCS success and is at least serviceable. I don't think it's an urgent issue for them to confront, but if there are no plans or even ideas to build a new stadium or renovate it in the next decade or so there might be problems.
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Agreed. I believe NDSU has slightly below average attendance for a Mountain West team but still decent. Northern Illinois would be at the rock bottom.
 

Wonder if this means that the Gophs will be willing to schedule a game against them more often. I really don't care that much but will be interesting to see if it makes a difference.
 

Crosby said:
Wonder if this means that the Gophs will be willing to schedule a game against them more often. I really don't care that much but will be interesting to see if it makes a difference.
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Bison recruiting probably takes a hit due to moving up. Harder to recruit to the Snoop Dogg Bowl compared to being able to tell recruits that they will probably win a national championship and be in playoff contention every year. By the time we'd have a schedule opening to play them they will be like any other G5 team, if above average.
 

Panthadad2 said:
Agreed. I believe NDSU has slightly below average attendance for a Mountain West team but still decent. Northern Illinois would be at the rock bottom.
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NIU has fallen on hard times. They might need a "fix it" coach to help with this transition to the MWC....
 



FinnGopher said:
Then don't go until you can grow up in all sports.
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Why does it matter if they only make the move up in football? If they think they can compete at the level and the conference wants them it shouldn't really matter if the other sports remain in a lower division for the time being.
 

disco said:
They're already associate members of the Big 12 for Wrestling I believe.

The stadium is going to be an issue in the near term. I haven't been in there in about 10 years, but as I understand it, it's really dated at this point, and hasn't been well maintained either. Imagine a building of a similar vintage of Target Center, only with virtually no upgrades since it was built. It's literally like watching football in a warehouse.

It's owned by the city, so the school can't really invest in it, and the people in Fargo are cheap, so they don't want to pay to upgrade it. I don't exactly know what they plan to do. I can't imagine they would move outdoors again in that climate - I think that would hurt recruiting.
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Perhaps they have been saving their bullets, not making investments in the current stadium in anticipation of needing to replace it so why throw good money after bad save it for the new one?
 

Gopherchase said:
Perhaps they have been saving their bullets, not making investments in the current stadium in anticipation of needing to replace it so why throw good money after bad save it for the new one?
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Because it's city-owned, the residents get to vote on improvements, and they recently voted them down.
 

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