North Dakota State, the most successful FCS program in history by national championships, is leaving to join the FBS beginning with the 2026 season. The Bison will leave the Missouri Valley Football Conference to join the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member.
The school will reportedly pay around $12 million to the Mountain West to join in the 2026 season. NDSU will also need to pay the $5 million reclassification fee to move from the FCS to the FBS. North Dakota State will keep the remainder of its athletic teams in the Summit League.
NDSU started the reclassification process from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2004 and joined the now-defunct Great West Conference. The Bison captured the 2006 GWC title but were ineligible for the FCS playoffs and joined the Missouri Valley Football Conference in 2008. NDSU captured the first of its 10 FCS titles in 2011, becoming the top FCS team over the next decade. NDSU also won titles in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2024. The Bison’s 10 titles are four more than the second-best program, Georgia Southern, which was dominant in the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s.
Through the 2025 season, North Dakota State has made 16 consecutive playoff appearances from 2010 to 2025, boasting a 51-6 all-time record in the FCS playoffs, and has held two separate winning streaks of 33 and 39 games. The Bison received a ranking as high as 27th in the FBS Top 25 poll and won 9 of its 14 games against FBS competition, including 6 in a row between 2010 and 2016. NDSU has won 12 MVFC titles since joining the conference.
The Bison departing for the FBS is a logical move, but it also represents another loss at the top of the FCS food chain since 2010. Former FCS champions Appalachian State (2013), Delaware (2025), Georgia Southern (2013), James Madison (2022), and Sam Houston State (2023) also opted to leave for the FBS. The move will put the MVFC at 9 members in 2026, assuming no additional teams leave. The current lineup consists of Illinois State, Indiana State, Murray State, North Dakota, Northern Iowa, South Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, and Youngstown State.
Photo Credit to North Dakota State University Athletics
