FARGO — The FBS Mountain West Conference is reported to be considering North Dakota State as a football-only member.
The Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, a national college reporter, posted on the social media platform X on Wednesday morning that Northern Illinois, a school the Mountain West was pursuing, will likely stay in the Mid-American Conference and so the league is turning its attention to NDSU.
“Northern Illinois’ interest in Mountain West as football-only member ‘waning’ so MW now considering FCS power North Dakota State , sources told @ActionNetworkHQ,” McMurphy wrote. “If NIU stays in MAC, MW (w/8 football members) still seeking 9th football team, source said.”
NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
College conference realignment has gutted the Mountain West, with several of its top members moving to the Pac-12 as traditional norms have been uprooted by schools moving to different leagues in pursuit of television rights money. The league has been looking to add schools to fill its openings.
NDSU is a member of the Football Championship Subdivision Missouri Valley Football Conference, its home since 2008. The school moved from NCAA Division II to Division I in 2004, playing in the Great West Football Conference before joining the MVFC. Most of its non-football sports are members of the Summit League, while wrestling is a member of the Big 12.
If NDSU was invited to join the Mountain West as a football-only member, and accepted, it’s not believed the cost of making the jump to the more expensive Football Bowl Subdivision would be prohibitive.
Current Mountain West football members include Colorado State, Nevada-Las Vegas, San Diego State, San Jose State, Fresno State, Hawaii, New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah State, Nevada and Air Force.
Colorado State, San Diego State, Fresno State and Utah State are leaving for the Pac-12. Texas-El Paso has since agreed to become a Mountain West member, bumping football-playing schools to eight. The league wants to get to at least nine members to play an eight-game conference schedule.
This is a developing story. Check back to InForum.com for updates.
Mike McFeely is a columnist for The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. He began working for The Forum in the 1980s while he was a student studying journalism at Minnesota State University Moorhead. He’s been with The Forum full time since 1990, minus a six-year hiatus when he hosted a local radio talk-show.
