Bison Forum

KNOW THE OPPONENT

November 21, 2026 Fargo, ND

Vs. NIU. 3 PM KO

COMPARE:

Northern Illinois University - NDSU:

• Established: 1895 - 1899

• Forbes List of 500 Top Universities: #379 - #368

• Tuition: $5,505/term - $9,868

• COA: $33,872 - $21,915

• Campus: University town - Urban

• Type: Public Research University - Land Grant Research

• Location: DeKalb, IL (40,624 City) - Fargo, ND (129,990)

• Enrollment: 11,429 - 11,110

• Endowment: 122.6M$ - 528M$

• Nickname: Huskies - Bison

• Colors: Cardinal/Black - Yellow/Green

• Stadium: Huskies Stadium - Fargo Dome

• Capacity: 28,211 - 18,900

• Academic Spending: 466.15M$ - 413.05M$

• Total Athletic Revenue: 29.239M$ - $29.948M$

• Total Athletic Expenses:  34.489M$ - $20.134M$

• Athletic Debt:  None Reported - None Reported

• Football Budget: 11.58M$ (MAC) - 12M$ est.

The Huskies are 0-2 vs The Herd, losing a 2 game home/home series in 1968-69 to a powerful Bison team going 20-0 over that span. They were in no hurry to see The Bison again.

In 2026 The Huskies get a shot at the Runner-up FCS champions Illinois St Redbirds. The Redbirds are well coached. Don’t know what they have left but they showed the Bison the FCS door beating them at The Fargo Dome in NDSUs final FCS game.

Last season the 3-9 Huskies beat D1AA Holy Cross of the Patriot league in a 19-17 thriller. Sagarin has Holy Cross @ #196. The GAM system had The Bison -17 vs Holy Cross.

Huskies Stadium is on campus. Attendance is mixed. Looking at a few games from last season:

• Holy Cross 10,569,

• San Diego St 13,512,

• Western Michigan 4,734

Tickets in Fargo could be hard to get. By this time it will be clear how well NDSUs #40 Sagarin is standing up to FBS teams. If the Herd is rolling the Huskies will see a raucous sold out Fargodome. They might anyway.

Current Sagarin rank: NDSU #40, NIU #149

Similar Schools: Incarnate Word #162, Middle Ten #158, Akron #151, Co State #148, Illinois State State #87

Early Prediction NDSU -8. Total 46. Mythical Score Bison 27-19.

The 2025 Huskies were a losing team with a margin of victory -7. Right now -8 vs NDSU. It’s a late season game, too early to know. We do know The 2025 Huskies were not a strong football team.

They have a colorful history. The program is capable of great things. In 2024 they upset #5 Norte Dame. Husky coaches can find and coach talent. They are in a new place too. It’s going to be fun to welcome them to Fargo.

Doesn’t Hayes have a chance for an extra year of eligibility?

Earlier in this thread MWC QBs were ranked by Nevada Sports. They say 1 year.

More on the TV schedule

NDSU TV Schedule

Update 6/3/26

CBS Sports Network:

• Aug 29. Jax State 4:30PM

• Oct 17 Nevada 6 PM

• Nov 27 12:30 PM Pacific Time

FOX SPORTS

• Sept 12 Air Force 8PM MT

CW

• Oct 3 Wyoming 2:30 PM

• Oct 10 UNLV 4PM

• Oct 24 New Mexico

• Nov 14 6PM HT Hawaii

• Nov 21 NIU 3PM

The CW will broadcast either Fordham at North Dakota State on Saturday, Sept. 5, or North Dakota State at New Mexico on Saturday, Oct. 24. It is expected to be finalized in the coming days.

MW+

• Sept 5 Fordham ?

• Oct 31 UTEP

https://themw.com/news/2026/05/27/mount ... t-package/

Full MWC football schedule here including start times and network

https://storage.googleapis.com/themw-co ... e-5.27.pdf

THE BAD NEWS:

I hate giving Disney or the fake news media any money. Financing low life violent, spiritually degrading tv shows also rubs me the wrong way.

THE GOOD NEWS:

An espn unlimited with Disney/hulu gives most games. The others are on MWC+. It will only be 3 months and should come in around $150 total. It used to cost about $100 total.

It’s either that or stick to good old Bison radio. Main feature: FREE. Broadcast excellent. Football knowledge & insights impeccable.

JBB2 wrote: ↑Tue Jun 02, 2026 1:36 pm THE BAD NEWS:

I hate giving Disney or the fake news media any money.

They are truly evil.

However a fan chooses to enjoy the game LoboMan, on the MWCboard.com posted Bison @ New Mexico was picked up by CW. I think that means the Furman & UTEP games may be locally produced/broadcast? If so I hope they really do a good job.

Here is the latest schedule from gobison.com

Looks good!

Nevada sports has ranked the MWC strength of schedule. NDSU is 8th

8. North Dakota State (121st)

Schedule: vs. Jacksonville State; vs. Fordham; at Air Force; at Sacramento State; vs. Wyoming; at UNLV; vs. Nevada; at New Mexico; vs. UTEP; at Hawaii; vs. Northern Illinois; at San Jose State

Need to know: NDSU's non-league schedule was pieced together after the school got a late offer to join the MW and is the easiest in the league with games against Jacksonville State (solid foe), Sac State (first-year FBS program), SJSU (a MW opponent, but this is a non-league game) and Fordham (FCS school). There are some tough MW road games at UNLV, New Mexico, Hawaii and Air Force, but NDSU foes went 64-86 last year, the second-worst win percentage among FBS schools.

They think UTEP has the toughest

The article is here

https://nevadasportsnet.com/news/report ... to-easiest