By: Adrianna Raile

As of February 2026, NDSU football has been announced to be heading to the FBS Mountain West Division.  This advancement has a mix of emotions stirring throughout NDSU fans and their past rivals like UND and SDSU, as well as the teams in the Mountain West division.

For those in favor of this change, they are very excited to play against advanced teams like Hawaii, the Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming, and additional teams added throughout the season. It gives the fans, (and NDSU as a whole), the opportunity to travel to places they haven’t been and watch NDSU endure more of a challenge rather them watching them beat FCS teams out of the water.

In the past, NDSU had win streaks of almost whole seasons and had a grand total of 18 national championships while playing in the FCS. This move to the Mountain West division will have a detrimental effect on the views of NDSU by fans and other teams nationwide.

Regarding NDSU’s past rivals, many are saying they are “butthurt” because NDSU was selected to move up to the FBS and not them. As far as anyone knows, it was NDSU’s decision to move up, for they already had their FCS schedule set out. Regardless, this change will be a great but challenging change for NDSU, but the entertainment will be so much better for the fans.