Watch out for North Dakota State

The North Dakota State Bison have won 12 conference championships and 10 Division I FCS titles since 2011. This season, they will begin their first season in the FBS as one of the newest members of the Mountain West. After dominating the FCS for over a decade, they will finally test the waters of the FBS. Fifth-year senior Nathan Hayes is the projected starting quarterback for the Bison taking over for former starter Cole Payton, who was drafted 178th overall in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Bison will be entering next season with 10 returning starters (6 offensive and 4 defensive). They are also adding 29 incoming freshmen and 13 transfers this year. One of those transfers is cornerback Chance Tucker from Notre Dame. 

There are 5 teams leaving the Mountain West for this upcoming season: SDSU, Boise St, Colorado St, Fresno St, and Utah St. This significantly thins out the competition for NDSU for their debut season. Head Coach Tim Polasek had this to say about his team for the upcoming season, “I like the football team. I like our ability to go in and compete and not figure it out as we go. We’re not doing that here. This is about winning — it always has been — but there is going to be a process to figure out exactly where we need to improve and continue to attack that, like always.” Polasek expects to keep the winning culture during this move, and this team has a real chance to go well above .500 and only drop a game or two. The toughest games on their schedule are against UNLV, whose biggest win last season was against a struggling UCLA team, and New Mexico, which went 9–4, including a loss to San Jose State. Since the NCAA voted to eliminate the two-year transition penalty, NDSU can be eligible for the CFP and Bowl games this season. The Bison can definitely make a bowl game, and could have a shot at their conference championship game. I can’t wait to see how quickly they can adjust to this new competition.