North Dakota State

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Iceland12 said:
Surprising coming from a troll like you but you're right. Looking at the attendance for the Cornhusker and Badger games turnout that the NE fans are truly frontrunners and Badger fans are certainly "fair weather" only. :D
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Damn right! Don’t they know we rely on them to fill our bite-sized stadium?
 


Well, if this thread has piqued anyone's interest, and given that there is no other football on TV tonight, you can tune into ESPN2 at 7pm to watch NDSU in the semi-finals of the FCS playoffs, which will be played in the Fargo Dome.

EDIT: I lied -- Mount Union plays in the DIII championship at 6pm on ESPNU.
 

Bison thunder to Frisco with 55-13 rout of Sam Houston State in FCS semifinal

FARGO, N.D. - Running back Bruce Anderson scored five touchdowns and No. 2 seed North Dakota State broke postseason school records for points, total offense and rushing in a 55-13 rout of sixth-seeded Sam Houston State in the FCS semifinals Friday, Dec. 15, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.

North Dakota State (13-1) advanced to the NCAA Division I Football Championship Game for the sixth time in seven years, and will face either defending champion James Madison or fifth-seeded South Dakota State on Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas.

NDSU put up 471 yards rushing, the most for the Bison in an FCS playoff game, and the 642 yards of total offense is an all-time NDSU postseason record topping the mark of 627 against Indiana (Pa.) in the 1990 Division II championship.

Anderson rushed 17 times for 183 yards and three scores, and his only two pass receptions of 23 and 31 yards both went for touchdowns. Seth Wilson, playing in just his seventh game since having his redshirt pulled, rushed 24 times for 194 yards.

Quarterback Easton Stick went 10 of 17 passing for 160 yards and four touchdowns, another NDSU postseason record. Tight ends Jeff Illies and Ben Ellefson caught TD passes of 12 and 17 yards, respectively.

North Dakota State's top-ranked defense forced four turnovers including two Marquise Bridges interceptions and a fumble recovery by Tre Dempsey, whose 60-yard interception return to end the first half elicited the loudest cheer of the day from an electric crowd of 18,279.

Freshman linebacker Jabril Cox, who finished sixth in the voting for the Jerry Rice Award, charted a season- and game-high 13 tackles for NDSU including three stops for lost yardage and two others for no gain. NDSU had six tackles for loss.

Sam Houston State quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe was 29 of 51 passing for 289 yards with three interceptions and one touchdown.

"To try to go and defend what they do in a week is really hard," said Sam Houston State head coach K.C. Keeler. "We see a totally different brand of football and we obviously have to get up to speed in terms of how they play. Defensively they don't miss tackles. They have some great players on defense. They run to the ball and don't make mistakes."

The Bearkats (12-2) opened the game with a 13-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal by Tre Honshtein, but the Bison scored touchdowns on six of seven possessions in the first half to take a 41-3 lead by halftime.

"It was going to start with physical play," said NDSU head coach Chris Klieman. "That was something we really felt we had a big advantage. In the trenches, both sides of the football. They did a nice job with the first drive. They only got three and that was a big win for us figuring out and learning the speed of the game."

NDSU went ahead with a 10-play, 75-yard march capped by Stick's six-yard TD run, then got a 62-yard TD from Anderson on the first play of the next drive following Bridges' first interception. It was 21-3 Bison at the end of the first quarter after NDSU went 95 yards in 81 seconds on the third drive of the game highlighted by a 55-yard Ty Brooks run.

"That was really an impressive showing," said Keeler. "We came in fresh. We came in ready to play, excited to play, and they took it to us pretty good."
 

Hoping SDSU pulls it off today and we get an all Dakota championship. Then SDSU beats NDSU, again.
 


MnplsGopher said:
2010 - Bohl - first year they made the playoffs, hosted only a first round game, went on the road the rest
2011 - Bohl - hosted three playoff games, national champs
2012 - Bohl - hosted three playoff games, national champs
2013 - Bohl - hosted three playoff games, national champs
2014 - Klieman - hosted three playoff games, national champs
2015 - Klieman - hosted three playoff games, national champs
2016 - Klieman - hosted three playoff games, lost to national champion team in the semi-finals
2017 - Klieman - hosted three playoff games, going to national championship game
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Updated


GopherWeatherGuy said:
Hoping SDSU pulls it off today and we get an all Dakota championship. Then SDSU beats NDSU, again.
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Would be really something to have not just a (another) MVFC title game, but a Dakotas title game!

Can still remember back in 2004 when NDSU and SDSU announced a partnership to move up to Division I, from the DII North Central Conference (was the long time home of the four Dakota schools, Mankato, St Cloud, etc.). It was a risk .... but has paid off incredibly for both programs and universities.


However, really would not at all surprise me to see JMU beat SDSU and then win back-to-back titles.
 

Watching today Troy state seemed pretty pumped to be there. Tougher for these teams to get to bowl games so I think it means more to them
 

SDSU getting smoked. 51-16 early in the 4th.

JMU and NDSU very clearly in a league of their own this year.
 







MnplsGopher said:
SDSU getting smoked. 51-16 early in the 4th.

JMU and NDSU very clearly in a league of their own this year.
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And yet, Weber State had JMU on ropes. JMU did NOT look good in first 2 rounds. Very uninspiring. I'd be shocked if they beat the Bison next week.
 



short ornery norwegian said:
I do not begrudge any other program for having success. Having success means you are doing something right.

yes, there are different levels of football - so the best comparison is within levels. Within their level, NDSU is one of the best programs in the country. They are competing against other programs that play by the same rules (scholarships, budgets, facilities, etc.)

Within their level, the Gophers are not one of the best programs in the country. They have not been one of the best programs in the country for over 50 years.

If the Gophers dropped down to FCS, could they win national championships? possibly. If NDSU moved up to the Gophers' level, would they have as much success as the Gophers? Possibly. We can argue that point until eternity.

but, it does not change the fact that - at their level - NDSU has been a much more successful program than the Gophers. Having Gopher fans sniping at NDSU does not change that. In fact, there are very few teams out there that the Gophers can feel superior to. Maybe Fleck will change that. Only time will tell.
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Very well stated. I think you nailed it.

But apparently they shouldn’t be proud of that, according to a few posters in another thread. Brilliant rationale there.
 

Whytetale said:
ahh ..., SDSU beat the Bison this year.
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NDSU has been SDSU's Super Bowl since 2004, when the Dakota Market was created out of nothing, in order to spite each state's University of ____ Dakota team. The real, actual rivalries had been NDSU vs UND and SDSU vs USD, for over a hundred years. SD's recently restarted, and ND's will restart in 2020 I believe.

SDSU has copied every aspect of NDSU's program, right down to the schemes. And they've achieved a lot of success in doing so. NDSU is their big brother, so they relish any opportunity to try to beat them. But even including that game, I think they're something like 3-10 in the last 13 meetings. Might not be exactly right, but it's on that order.

SDSU has really made incredible strides in their football program. When they first moved up with NDSU, they couldn't fully fund their scholarships. And they lose to a DIII Wisconsin school (think it was LaCrosse). But they built it up, and now have sparkling new facilities (relative to the FCS level), and have really won a lot of games. Just have not had much post-season success to hang their hat on. And their fan support isn't in the elite tier for FCS, but they keep building up.


Buck_Buchanan said:
And yet, Weber State had JMU on ropes. JMU did NOT look good in first 2 rounds. Very uninspiring. I'd be shocked if they beat the Bison next week.
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Did not watch the game vs Weber. Will say this though: the Big Sky has usually had at least one very competitive team, nationally, in the FCS. For a few years it was Eastern Washington.

So it doesn't surprise me that the Big Sky's top team gave JMU a tough game.
 

FCS plays its championship in a soccer stadium 30-miles north of Dallas.

Maybe since the CFP refuses to have the FBS championship at US Babk Stadium, and the Big Ten refuses to have its conference championship at US Bank Stadium, The NCAA will agree to move this game to US Bank Stadium for the 2020-2021 season.
 

I'm hoping one day there will be a bowl game at US Bank Stadium.

Would be much better than the bowl game at Ford Field, IMO!
 


It's just a second-tier great lakes city, like they all are compared to Chicago. I'm sure all of Milwaukee, Indy, Grand Rapids, Detroit, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy, Buffalo ... I'm sure they all have their little charms, little pockets of fun urban life .... but just don't compare by a long shot.

Minneapolis is not part of the great lakes. It is the Chicago of the north.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
They'd be nobody's at P5....
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Disagree 1000% NDSU with 22 more scholarships and 45000 on campus stadium would be great in the big 12 , if Ames iowa or Manhatten kansas can do it, Fargo with 230,000 people withint 20 miles can do that. NDSU has 7 nfl players including NFL MVP Carson Wentz (til he got hurt) I wore a ndsu hat and gopher jacket to last home game at tcf and got tons of high fives and talked about NDSU. lets face it, Gophers will never play NDSU again, so might as well stop with the hate, if Fleck and Gophers keep getting 4-5 star kids, the local 3-4 star kids will fall to NDSU like they are. living in northern minnesota, there's far more ndsu swag around. JMU vs NDSU will be a great game in 3 weeks, NDSU will take 15000 fans down there and both of these teams should be FBS.

Mountain West and MAC refuse to even offer NDSU an invite, because NDSU would dominate those leagues on Day 1.

Go Gophs & Go Bison!
 

bisonation said:
Disagree 1000% NDSU with 22 more scholarships and 45000 on campus stadium would be great in the big 12 , if Ames iowa or Manhatten kansas can do it, Fargo with 230,000 people withint 20 miles can do that. NDSU has 7 nfl players including NFL MVP Carson Wentz (til he got hurt) I wore a ndsu hat and gopher jacket to last home game at tcf and got tons of high fives and talked about NDSU. lets face it, Gophers will never play NDSU again, so might as well stop with the hate, if Fleck and Gophers keep getting 4-5 star kids, the local 3-4 star kids will fall to NDSU like they are. living in northern minnesota, there's far more ndsu swag around. JMU vs NDSU will be a great game in 3 weeks, NDSU will take 15000 fans down there and both of these teams should be FBS.

Mountain West and MAC refuse to even offer NDSU an invite, because NDSU would dominate those leagues on Day 1.

Go Gophs & Go Bison!
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The truth is NDSU doesn't want to move up. Most NDSU fans that I know would tell you that is common knowledge. Part of the reason is because they would have to move up in all sports. No longer schools can only move up in one sport. Another reason is the Fargodome is too small for most (if not all??) FBS conferences. Seats about 19,000.

NDSU is good for Fargo-Moorhead area. I've never hated NDSU. I was just raised a Minnesota sports fan so I hate Wisconsin and Iowa. I have had friends who have played for NDSU including one who is currently on the team.
 

HopHead said:
Well, if the goal of your football program is to get exposure for your school, the ratings show that playing in a "nominal bowl" actually works better more often than not. Last year's FCS championship game was viewed by less people than 31 of the 39 bowl games (if I counted correctly).

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/2/
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Might want to look at numbers when NDSU actually plays. 2 million for 1 game:

2014 Season
ESPN: College Gameday, 1.3, 1.827 million
ESPN: NDSU vs CCU, 1.447 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs ISUR, 1.444 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs SHSU, 790k
FS1: NDSU vs Iowa St, .2 407k

2015 Season
ESPN: NDSU vs UNI, 1.644 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs JSU 1.35 million
ESPN: NDSU vs Montana, 981k
ESPN2: NDSU vs Richmond, 751k

2016 Season
ESPN: NDSU vs SDSU, 1.984 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs JMU, 1.065 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs Iowa 968k
ESPN: NDSU vs Charleston Southern 797k

2017 Season
ESPN2: NDSU vs Wofford, 849k
 

bisonation said:
Might want to look at numbers when NDSU actually plays. 2 million for 1 game:

2014 Season
ESPN: College Gameday, 1.3, 1.827 million
ESPN: NDSU vs CCU, 1.447 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs ISUR, 1.444 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs SHSU, 790k
FS1: NDSU vs Iowa St, .2 407k

2015 Season
ESPN: NDSU vs UNI, 1.644 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs JSU 1.35 million
ESPN: NDSU vs Montana, 981k
ESPN2: NDSU vs Richmond, 751k

2016 Season
ESPN: NDSU vs SDSU, 1.984 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs JMU, 1.065 million
ESPN2: NDSU vs Iowa 968k
ESPN: NDSU vs Charleston Southern 797k

2017 Season
ESPN2: NDSU vs Wofford, 849k
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A tape-delayed Gopher women's hockey game had almost as many viewers as some of those games. :) http://www.startribune.com/tape-del...four-out-earns-men-s-live-coverage/374820641/
 

West Fargo Gopher Fan said:
The truth is NDSU doesn't want to move up. Most NDSU fans that I know would tell you that is common knowledge. Part of the reason is because they would have to move up in all sports. No longer schools can only move up in one sport. Another reason is the Fargodome is too small for most (if not all??) FBS conferences. Seats about 19,000.

NDSU is good for Fargo-Moorhead area. I've never hated NDSU. I was just raised a Minnesota sports fan so I hate Wisconsin and Iowa. I have had friends who have played for NDSU including one who is currently on the team.
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That is the truth for NDSU ... they are just fine where they are.

One correction: FBS/FCS is for football only. So they would not have to move other sports up ... they’re already DI in those other sports.


However, there is also an underlying truth that precipitates the real truth mentioned above: NDSU (and the Dakotas generally) are located in exactly the wrong location for having any chance at FBS. Too far west for the MAC, too far east for the MWC. That is the real reason neither will ever invite a Dakota school. And THAT is why NDSU had to accept the fact that they will be “stuck” in FCS for a very long time. Basically: no one wants to travel to the Dakotas in all sports.
 

bisonation said:
Disagree 1000% NDSU with 22 more scholarships and 45000 on campus stadium would be great in the big 12 , if Ames iowa or Manhatten kansas can do it, Fargo with 230,000 people withint 20 miles can do that. NDSU has 7 nfl players including NFL MVP Carson Wentz (til he got hurt) I wore a ndsu hat and gopher jacket to last home game at tcf and got tons of high fives and talked about NDSU. lets face it, Gophers will never play NDSU again, so might as well stop with the hate, if Fleck and Gophers keep getting 4-5 star kids, the local 3-4 star kids will fall to NDSU like they are. living in northern minnesota, there's far more ndsu swag around. JMU vs NDSU will be a great game in 3 weeks, NDSU will take 15000 fans down there and both of these teams should be FBS.

Mountain West and MAC refuse to even offer NDSU an invite, because NDSU would dominate those leagues on Day 1.

Go Gophs & Go Bison!
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You think the MW and MAC are supposed to or should invite NDSU?
 

MnplsGopher said:
One correction: FBS/FCS is for football only. So they would not have to move other sports up ... they’re already DI in those other sports.
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Yes FBS and FCS is only football.

While yes many other sports there are DI I respectfully disagree that no changes would have to be made in other sports. That cost is often mentioned as why they wont move up.

NDSU is not "Stuck" in FCS. They dont want to move up. That is the real reason. Period.

It is not true that the MAC or MWC are "Scared of them" or "Dont want to go travel to the Dakotas. This is a rumor spread by delusional bison fans.

Less successful schools have found conferences to join. Im sure a school that won six straight championships could find a confrence if it really wanted to.

Edit. Here is an article that talks about the requirements I am refering to.

http://cool987fm.com/ndsu-is-not-moving-to-the-fbs-so-stop-suggesting-it/
 

West Fargo Gopher Fan said:
Yes FBS and FCS is only football.

While yes many other sports there are DI I respectfully disagree that no changes would have to be made in other sports. That cost is often mentioned as why they wont move up.

NDSU is not "Stuck" in FCS. They dont want to move up. That is the real reason. Period.

It is not true that the MAC or MWC are "Scared of them" or "Dont want to go travel to the Dakotas. This is a rumor spread by delusional bison fans.

Less successful schools have found conferences to join. Im sure a school that won six straight championships could find a confrence if it really wanted to.

Edit. Here is an article that talks about the requirements I am refering to.

http://cool987fm.com/ndsu-is-not-moving-to-the-fbs-so-stop-suggesting-it/
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They'd be foolish to move up. They are the kings of D-1AA. If they moved up they'd be just another team. Their fans love their team and are having fun. Move up and become a losing or 0.500 team and there goes all the excitement. I don't blame them for staying where they are.
 

bisonation said:
Disagree 1000% NDSU with 22 more scholarships and 45000 on campus stadium would be great in the big 12 , if Ames iowa or Manhatten kansas can do it, Fargo with 230,000 people withint 20 miles can do that. NDSU has 7 nfl players including NFL MVP Carson Wentz (til he got hurt) I wore a ndsu hat and gopher jacket to last home game at tcf and got tons of high fives and talked about NDSU. lets face it, Gophers will never play NDSU again, so might as well stop with the hate, if Fleck and Gophers keep getting 4-5 star kids, the local 3-4 star kids will fall to NDSU like they are. living in northern minnesota, there's far more ndsu swag around. JMU vs NDSU will be a great game in 3 weeks, NDSU will take 15000 fans down there and both of these teams should be FBS.

Mountain West and MAC refuse to even offer NDSU an invite, because NDSU would dominate those leagues on Day 1.

Go Gophs & Go Bison!
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Delusion. I happen to like Fargo and even lived there once but NDSU not being invited to the MW or MAC has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with reality and the reality is that even if we assume NDSU would field competitive teams in either conference, the city of Fargo and the surrounding region bring no benefit to either conference. There just aren't enough people and television sets. The shakeup in the college conference landscape during the last decade or so has everything to do with television sets and revenue. Exhibit "A" is Nebraska to the Big 10, which added a national brand and Exhibit "B" is Rutgers and Maryland to the Big 10 which added NYC, DC and a good chunk of the eastern seaboard to the Big 10 network. Exhibit "C" is the Missouri Valley Conference (all sports, not football). The MVC more than anything highlights the unattractiveness of the Dakota schools as conference members. I know that fans of the South Dakota schools, being traditional basketball schools probably debate the merits of joining the MVC (if they should ever be invited) more so than NDSU (the success of those two schools in the Summit Tourney and playing in front of home crowds for that event), but it would be a no brainer, objectively, if that conference should ever come calling. But will they ever? As the MVC has lost members during the conference realignment, they have brought on athletic juggernauts like Loyola Chicago. Loyola Chicago didn't bring competitive athletics but brought the potential for Chicago TV sets. From a competitive standpoint, the xDSUs would have been a much better fit but they bring no financial advantage.
 

Swede said:
Delusion. I happen to like Fargo and even lived there once but NDSU not being invited to the MW or MAC has nothing to do with fear and everything to do with reality and the reality is that even if we assume NDSU would field competitive teams in either conference, the city of Fargo and the surrounding region bring no benefit to either conference. There just aren't enough people and television sets. The shakeup in the college conference landscape during the last decade or so has everything to do with television sets and revenue. Exhibit "A" is Nebraska to the Big 10, which added a national brand and Exhibit "B" is Rutgers and Maryland to the Big 10 which added NYC, DC and a good chunk of the eastern seaboard to the Big 10 network. Exhibit "C" is the Missouri Valley Conference (all sports, not football). The MVC more than anything highlights the unattractiveness of the Dakota schools as conference members. I know that fans of the South Dakota schools, being traditional basketball schools probably debate the merits of joining the MVC (if they should ever be invited) more so than NDSU (the success of those two schools in the Summit Tourney and playing in front of home crowds for that event), but it would be a no brainer, objectively, if that conference should ever come calling. But will they ever? As the MVC has lost members during the conference realignment, they have brought on athletic juggernauts like Loyola Chicago. Loyola Chicago didn't bring competitive athletics but brought the potential for Chicago TV sets. From a competitive standpoint, the xDSUs would have been a much better fit but they bring no financial advantage.
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Bingo. It's why B1G didn't add Iowa st or Pitt. They don't offer any growth potential or helmet school status.

I'm happy NDSU has made their niche. They have won a lot of games at a lower level. Good for them. They are good at what they do.

But for god sakes, don't tell me they would have the depth to withstand and P5 conference schedule along side 3-4 noncon games. To win more P5 confernece games than you lose, you need a.full 2 deep with interchangeable players that are equal in talent. NDSU doesnt have that. Heck, we dont have that which is why we have not been successful in B1G play consistently. They have solid players and they have a chance every year to play an average Fbs team and they beat them. Great. But to me, this means nothing. It proves they are an average D1 team. So are we. Heck we probably would have lost to then this yr but so what.

It just irks me (although it shouldn't) to go to work and hear from delusional coworkers that they d win the B1G and bring on Bama..yada yada...blah blah

They are good program who take advantage of a regional advantage by signing p5 rejects and transfers to win the Frisco bowl. More power to em.
 

West Fargo Gopher Fan said:
Yes FBS and FCS is only football.

While yes many other sports there are DI I respectfully disagree that no changes would have to be made in other sports. That cost is often mentioned as why they wont move up.

NDSU is not "Stuck" in FCS. They dont want to move up. That is the real reason. Period.

It is not true that the MAC or MWC are "Scared of them" or "Dont want to go travel to the Dakotas. This is a rumor spread by delusional bison fans.

Less successful schools have found conferences to join. Im sure a school that won six straight championships could find a confrence if it really wanted to.

Edit. Here is an article that talks about the requirements I am refering to.

http://cool987fm.com/ndsu-is-not-moving-to-the-fbs-so-stop-suggesting-it/
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I did not claim that no changes would have to be made. I was only correcting the misstatement that non-football sports would have to "move up". No, they wouldn't, because they're already DI.

To be FBS, there are other requirements that go above and beyond the minimum requirements of being DI, which your link talks about.


But the link doesn't talk about the most key aspect, by far, to the equation: NDSU, or any other FCS football school, can't simply decide that it wants to move up. The rules explicitly state that move up to FBS can only be done if the school is invited by an existing FBS conference. Therefore, without an invite by the MWC or MAC -- which aren't coming -- then NDSU is indeed stuck.


I'm not going to bother arguing if NDSU actually would want to move up or not, in the hypothetical where a MWC or MAC invitation materializes. But my opinion is that NDSU's stance on moving up is simply a firewall to whatever their true desires may be, given that no invitation is likely.
 

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