“The Flagship”: 2026 NDSU FBS Football PRE SEASON

[JBB2]

KNOW THE OPPONENT:

Vs. University of Hawaii

November 14, 2026 Honolulu, HI

COMPARE:

University of Hawaii - NDSU:

• Established: 1907 - 1899

• Forbes List of 500 Top Universities: #? - #368

• Tuition: $11,520 - $9,868

• COA: $35,060 - $21,915

• Campus: Large City - Urban

• Type: Public Higher Education System - Land Grant Research

• Location: Honolulu, HI (343,229 City) - Fargo, ND (129,990)

• Enrollment: 50,310 (system) - 11,110

• Endowment: 491.36M$ - 528M$

• Nickname: Rainbow Warriors - Bison

• Colors: Green/Black - Yellow/Green

• Stadium: Clarence TC Ching Athletics Complex - Fargo Dome

• Capacity: 15,196 - 18,900

• Academic Spending: 845.29M$ - 413.05M$

• Total Athletic Revenue:  57.738M$ - $29.948M$

• Total Athletic Expenses:  59.858M$ - $20.134M$

• Athletic Debt:  0.18M$ - None Reported

• Football Budget: 13.97M$ - 12M$ est.

The Warriors, 0-0 vs NDSU, do schedule FCS (2025 Portland State: Warriors 23 - 7) but never NDSU. In 2025 Sagarin had Portland State at #236. The Bison, using our GAM system are -22 vs Portland, in my opinion easily covered.

A new 31,000 seat home for the Warriors is being constructed on the old Aloha Stadium site. The Warriors currently play at The Clarence TC Ching Athletics Complex. Here’s the seating chart:

IMG_3938.jpeg (99.98 KiB) Viewed 43 times

Attendance at TC Ching has been good. Looking at a few games from last season:

• Portland 11,936,

• Utah St 13,023,

• Wyoming 15,194

Bison fans have an extra week to make a vacation of it. a cruise ship sounds good.

The smaller stadium might make pre-purchase desirable. All Hawaii’s games at vivid are doing well. Right now the cheapest Bison ticket is $141. Seats are scarce. It’s early though. These might be season ticket holders reselling.

Here’s a ticket connection.

https://www.vividseats.com/hawaii-rainb ... 07ae90dbef

Current Sagarin rank: NDSU #40, Hawaii #84

Similar Schools: South Dakota State #99, Illinois State State #87, UCF #83, Tarleton #82, Army #72, Michigan State #63

The 9-3, 2025 Warriors were a rainbow with no pot of gold in week two losing at AZ 40-6. They managed 2 FGs in the first half. They held up well though only stumbling twice more losing to UNLV 38-10 and SJSU in a wild one 48-35, trailing at half the Warriors couldn’t recover.

Early Prediction NDSU -2. Total 52. Mythical Score Bison 27-25.

The 2025 Warriors came out throwing, 291 yds/game. The pre-season NDSU pass rush is suspect. The team will be young. It promises to be another close game or, if the Bison have trouble with the pass, a long afternoon.

Here’s a look at 2026 Warriors schedule. Games scheduled out to 2032:

https://hawaiiathletics.com/sports/football/schedule

Season tickets are on sale now.

[JBB2]

Poinsettia bowl situation leaves the MWC in a vacuum. But I don’t think the future is bleak.

The pac is scrambling for crumbs.  Let them fritter their assets on the Toledos while we build a future.  Being realistic none of the MWC schools are on a national championship path and the pac isn’t either.  

The MWC conference gets known by improving and growing programs.  Ambitious FCS schools in our footprint could be inexpensive assets with huge upside.  The natural territory of the MWC is now the central USA. We have the pac to the west, the Bigs to the east. Great showcases for our OOC games. 

As a grand finale to our season a G6 playoff is it.  What ever the FCS playoffs were fun was the name of the game. G6 would be too. The Bison might even have a chance.