NDSU Joins Mountain West in 2026, Starts Two-Year FBS Transition

North Dakota State University is joining the Mountain West as a football affiliate and will begin a two-year transition to FBS, playing a full conference schedule in 2026 while remaining ineligible for the Mountain West Football Championship Game and postseason play until 2028; the agreement will take effect on July 1. The membership deal requires NDSU to maintain football spending “reasonably comparable to” the league average and includes a performance-triggered obligation to increase expenditures if the Bison struggle on the field.

Financial obligations are immediate and heavy. NDSU must pay a $5,000,000 NCAA reclassification fee and a $12,500,000 Mountain West entry fee, with the conference fee structured as a $7,000,000 initial payment due upon admission followed by five annual payments of $1,100,000. The membership agreement also references any exit penalties owed to the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Athletic director Matt Larsen confirmed the $5M and $12.5M amounts at a news conference and said, “Those costs will be privately funded by boosters and donors.” A copy of the membership agreement obtained via public records describes the move as requiring tens of millions in up-front costs and a fundamentally new financial approach for the program.

The budgetary contrast is stark: North Dakota State reported $8.4 million in football spending for fiscal 2025, a figure that is well below the Mountain West peer average of roughly $15 million in fiscal 2024 and far under the conference high of $21.2 million posted by UNLV. Northern Illinois spent $11.6 million in FY24. The conference clause tying NDSU’s required spending to the league average effectively forces the program to close a multi-million-dollar gap if it is to remain competitive in the Mountain West’s financial ecosystem.

On the field, NDSU brings a sustained winning pedigree and an NFL pipeline: Tim Polasek led the Bison to the 2024 FCS national championship in his first year, NDSU has produced 13 NFL draft selections in the last 10 drafts including three first-round picks, and the program’s recent head coaches, Tim Polasek, Matt Entz, Chris Klieman and Craig Bohl, all won national titles. Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said, “The Bison bring a championship mindset and a bold vision for growth that aligns with the unwavering commitment to the excellence of the Mountain West.” Interim university president Rick Berg added, “One of the concerns was, ‘Will NDSU be competitive?’ I think we will. Unlike others, we’ve been preparing for this moment for years and years, and I think they’re going to be surprised when NDSU hits the Mountain West.”

The 2026 Mountain West football slate will expand to 10 teams with NDSU joining Northern Illinois, UTEP, Air Force, Hawai‘i, Nevada, New Mexico, San José State, UNLV and Wyoming, even as Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State depart for the reconstituted Pac-12. The conference is rebuilding its opponent matrix and expects to announce 2026 schedules within weeks, a scramble driven by late timing and ongoing litigation over exit fees between conferences.

NDSU framed the move as both a competitive step and a media opportunity. Larsen called it “a historic day for NDSU Athletics” and said joining the Mountain West offers fans FBS opponents in Fargo and “a wider national audience through expanded television coverage.” The next 24 months will test how quickly boosters, donors and program leaders can convert national brand and championship pedigree into the sustained spending levels the Mountain West contract now demands.