While North Dakota State has enjoyed a boost in fan excitement amid the FBS move, an insider pointed out a reality that Bison fans may not love.
Once an FCS postseason titan with 10 national championships, the Bison may never host a playoff game again, as Group of Six such teams aren’t well positioned to host a home playoff game in the College Football Playoff. While the Bison are appealing the NCAA’s postseason ban for teams transitioning levels, the CFP would at least need to expand for the Bison to have any remote chance of hosting a playoff game again.
“If they get a waiver, the best the Bison can hope for is to win the Mountain West title game and be selected as a Group of Six (the non-Power Four FBS conferences) representative in the College Football Playoff, currently a 12-team field that might soon expand to 24,” The Forum’s Mike McFeely explained in his column on Monday. “Former FCS rival James Madison made the CFP in 2025, in just its fourth year as an FBS program, generating a tremendous amount of buzz and publicity.”
JMU got blown out at Oregon and Tulane fell hard at Ole Miss in last year’s CFP. That’s a different reality for the Bison, which had a 38-2 record in the dome for playoff games, and some games reached 115 decibels for crowd noise along the way in the FCS.
“Life will be different in FBS,” McFeely wrote.
15-Year Streak in Jeopardy For Bison
Barring a waiver and a big first year in the FBS, the Bison are set to see a 15-year playoff streak end after ruling the FCS.
“Since first being selected for the FCS playoffs in 2010, NDSU didn’t miss a party before announcing its move to FBS,” McFeely wrote. “For most of the Bison’s time in FCS, the playoffs were a 24-team field with a mix of automatic bids and at-large teams. Top teams were seeded, and home games went to the higher-seeded teams.”
“Bison fans knew the annual routine: Usually a bye the first weekend, hosting a second-round game, hosting a quarterfinal, hosting a semifinal and then the championship game in Frisco, Texas,” McFeely continued.
NDSU played in 11 FCS national championship games during that span, and Frisco became known as “Fargo South” for the high volume of Bison fans in attendance at the 20,500-seat Toyota Stadium. The Bison won the last title game in Frisco in the 2024 season, a 35-32 win over Montana State.
Bowl Game Outlook For Bison
NDSU could play at Toyota Stadium again for the Frisco Bowl, as McFeely pointed out when he broke down bowl game possibilities for the Bison.
“The Mountain West has tie-ins and affiliations with a number of bowls that, depending on their location and the opponent, might be interesting,” McFeely wrote. “If needed, a Mountain West team could play in the Rate Bowl vs. a Big Ten or Big 12 team. ”
“There are also several bowls open to Group of Six teams, or any team, depending on openings and availability,” McFeely added.
Bowl games with MWC tie-ins included the Snoop Dog Arizona Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, and New Mexico Bowl.
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