“The Flagship”: 2026 NDSU FBS Football PRE SEASON

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The decision was made yesterday. NDSU is now eligible for Bowls, Conference Championship and CFP!

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... g-fbs-cfp/

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Rebranding of the MWC has begun with “Built Bold”.

https://themw.com/news/2026/06/24/mount ... YwJGwwJGgw

Among other things they say:

The rebrand marks a pivotal step forward as the Conference enters a new era—one defined by growth, innovation, and transformation. 

Sounds like they are planning expansion. Among others, It could be FCS move ups in the footprint:

Cal Davis is good possibility. Sac State, if they are successful, would be a natural too. Tarleton has been working on facilities but football wise are more along the lines of an East coast playoff team..

SDSU has the facilities. They must have been planning on something. They just seem to have lost some momentum.

UND continues to build their program. They had what they call “a good loss” losing to Kansas State by 3 last year. In FCS they have gone from awful to above average. Unfortunately the cheating scandal/probation penalties make them at best a long term prospect.

Same for USD. They are building a brand new field-house around track & field. Apparently the Dakota Dome is going to be football only with the east side rebuilt to improve capacity and configuration.

That leaves the Montanas. Some of these schools must have ambitions. If NDSU is successful they may just follow into the MWC?

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Here’s NDSUs current depth chart. Actually any depth chart. The link will take you to The Bison

https://www.ourlads.com/ncaa-football-d ... tate/93143

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No adjustment made to the 2025 testers.

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Here’s a list of the 2026 MWC out of conference opponents. NDSU fans might use it as a future scheduling guide. These conferences seem to be scheduling the MWC:

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The first round of games. Projections based on final 2025 statistics. Excluding NDSU, No adjustments made for roster changes.

The GAM says:

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Matchup & Time (ET)

San Jose State
at
USC
3:00pm NBC/Peacock Buy Tickets

Jacksonville State
at
North Dakota State
5:30pm CBSSN

Hawaii
at
Stanford
7:00pm ACCN

Memphis
at
UNLV
10:00pm FOX

TICKET CONNECTION FOR ALL GAMES HERE:

https://fbschedules.com/mountain-west-f ... -schedule/

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The Fargo Dome is priced in the mid $200s/ticket for midfield lower down. That’s in line with the MWC. USC is mid $200s. Difference is cheap seats USC ~$45. FFD ~$100.

Lots of extra seats everywhere except Fargo.

Lower bowl only in Las Vegas. Midfield ~$500 but lots of cheaper seats elsewhere.

Lots of cheap seats at Stanford but midfield will cost $150 - $200

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To all that come by have a great Fourth! God bless America!

From the Bison football perspective it’s an exciting time: Flush with 701 cash, fall practice and the inaugural MWC season ahead! Go Bison!!!

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Massey is pretty high on the Bison ranking. Closest MWC team is New Mexico @ 82

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I haven’t used Massey. Lots of historical information available that I only found on gobison.com. I’m not familiar with all their ranking information, click column heading for explanation. Here is a link.

https://masseyratings.com/ranks?s=cf