Just when you thought college football in the 2020s had delivered its share of conference-realignment surprises, on Monday North Dakota State delivered one of the biggest of all earlier this week. The Bison—seemingly comfortable dominating FCS play for all eternity—agreed to move up and join the Mountain West for the 2026 season.
The move has been a long time coming. North Dakota State is the owner of 18 national championships at the small-college level—three in the archaic College Division, five in Division II, and 10 in FCS. It’s picked off a bevy of FBS opponents over the years, including Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Minnesota. It has a large, devoted fanbase and will slot easily into the Group of 6.
