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North Dakota State has operated like an FBS program for nearly two decades.

Now, it’s about to become one … and quickly. The race to prepare for its July 1 move to the Mountain West is as much financial as logistical, but the Bison believe they are positioned to compete immediately in college football’s top subdivision after quietly securing $25 million in donor commitments while administrators worked furiously behind the scenes in recent months to finalize the deal.

Industry chatter intensified over the last two months, particularly during the NCAA Convention in mid-January when rumors surfaced that Mountain West presidents had met with NDSU officials. Still, much of the maneuvering remained cloaked in secrecy, limited to a small circle of executives and boosters charged with ensuring the program would not simply survive the jump, but contend from the outset.

“It was a little bit of a roller coaster,” NDSU athletics director Matt Larsen told CBS Sports. “There’d be days like, ‘Oh, we’re getting this thing done.’ And then there were days like, ‘Boy, this thing’s dead in the water.'”

Momentum accelerated in early February as key donors were briefed on the talks and moved quickly to raise funds to offset roughly $17.5 million in entry fees, along with millions more in anticipated costs tied to scholarships, facility upgrades, expanded operations, NIL investment and staffing increases.

“We spent the last number of years saying, ‘If an opportunity comes, we’re ready from Day 1,'” Larsen stated. “We’ve always kind of felt we’re an FBS program in FCS clothing.”

Administrators and boosters outlined their aggressive plan to CBS Sports. 

  • A doubling of the football operations budget from $8 million
  • A doubling of the NIL budget from $1 million to at least $2 million
  • Twenty-two additional scholarships to meet FBS requirements (roughly $600,000 annually)
  • Additional recruiting staff
  • New offices for coaches and staff at the Fargodome
  • Renovations to the Fargodome
  • New meeting spaces at the Nodak Insurance Football Performance Complex
  • Salary increases
  • Increased travel expenses

“We don’t want to just go in there and be a part of the league,” stated Derrick Lang, North Dakota State’s executive associate athletic director for development and executive director of the school’s fundraising arm. “We want to go in there and win it.”

NDSU has spent four to five years circling this possibility, navigating shifting rules and rising costs. Three years ago, the NCAA raised the FBS entry fee from $5,000 to $5 million, creating another barrier for transitioning programs after a wave of moves by Liberty, James Madison, Jacksonville State, Missouri State and Delaware.

The Mountain West, too, had hesitated. Conference leaders were wary of adding FCS schools amid uncertainty surrounding College Football Playoff revenue distribution and tumultuous conference realignment. That uncertainty has since eased.

“We didn’t know if that would lead to more change and didn’t want to take the chance that if we committed to an FCS school transitioning, the goalposts would move,” Nevarez stated. “The conversation has abated about changing those standards.”

On the field, North Dakota State has long appeared ready. The Bison have won 10 FCS national championships in the last 15 years, one of the most dominant runs in modern college football. But sustained success also bred complacency. Attendance declined, with a playoff game this season drawing just 10,464 fans to the 19,000-seat Fargodome.

“I never thought I would be at a place where winning wasn’t good enough,” Larsen stated. “We have an unbelievable fan base and the expectations are through the roof, but at that point we started saying, ‘OK, is there an opportunity for us to play at the highest level possible?'”

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NDSU has dominated the FCS level, winning 10 of the last 15 national championships. 
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Many realignment moves in the modern era are driven by television markets and desperation rather than geography.

Sacramento State revealed this week it will join the MAC, placing its nearest conference opponent 2,177 miles away at Western Michigan. The ACC stretched to the Pacific with the additions of Cal and Stanford in 2024. The Big Ten, once anchored in the upper Midwest, expanded to the West Coast by adding Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington. Even the Mountain West, scrambling to replace five departing members, crossed the Mississippi River to add Northern Illinois as a football-only member.

North Dakota State seems to fit naturally within the Mountain West’s footprint and competitive profile. 

“They look a lot like Mountain West schools,” Nevarez stated. “They just fit with us.”

Still, looming threats can also serve as a motivator for big moves.

NDSU’s decision was also shaped by larger forces reshaping college athletics. Many industry leaders believe the sport’s largest programs could break away from the NCAA or form new super leagues that further widen the gaps among the bluebloods, the big brands and the have-nots. The threat of being left behind in the new iteration of college athletics is horrifying — even for some of the most successful programs in the FCS and lower levels of the FBS.

“The line of demarcation for college athletics is 2032,” Larsen stated.  “All of these major TV contracts come up. Is there going to be a new subdivision? Are you going to have a break off? Even if that happens someday, we may end up playing some high-level FCS programs, but in our mind we’ve had a six-year head start getting in here and being established. We just felt the timing was right, given everything that’s going on. There is some uncertainty, a little bit of risk, but I really felt like it was a calculated risk in terms of positioning our football program.”

The ambition has been fueled by boosters like Tom Blattner, an NDSU alumnus who built a national construction and renewable energy business before reinvesting heavily in his alma mater. He gifted $15 million toward the Bison’s recently constructed $54 million indoor football facility and stepped up again to help NDSU’s move to the FBS in its “Climb the Mountain” fundraising campaign.

“I always wanted to see them compete at the highest level,” Blattner stated. “If that meant moving up to the FBS, then that’s what we needed to do.”

Blattner declined to disclose his newest contribution but stated donor support has been widespread, helping generate $25 million in early pledges.

“The strength of the herd is the bison, and the strength of the bison is the herd,” he stated. “It’s going to take the entire herd.”

The move to the Mountain West might also reinvigorate the fan base, which has long been known as a frequent flyer, with thousands showing up for road games at schools like Colorado and also overwhelming rival fans at FCS road games. 

“This is not about 2026 and ’27,” Larsen stated. “This is about 30, 40 years from now and positioning ourselves. It just seemed it was our time and a good investment in the future.”