North Dakota State is moving up in the college football world.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Bison have agreed to a deal to join the Mountain West Conference, in football only, for the 2026 season. The school is expected to pay nearly $12 million to join the league, and will pay the NCAA another $5 million to the NCAA to move from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

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Thamel reported the deal is expected to be announced on Monday, Feb. 9. With NDSU moving to the MWC in 2026, that’ll bring the league’s total to 10 teams.

The Bison have won 10 of the last 15 FCS football championships and were the No. 1 seed in the 2025 FCS playoffs before losing to fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference team Illinois State in the first round. The Redbirds advanced all the way to the 2026 FCS Championship game where they fell 35-34 in overtime to Montana State.

Of note: NCAA bylaws prohibit teams making the jump from FCS to FBS from competing in bowl games or conference championships for two years. That’s why James Madison teams that went 8-3 in 2022 and 11-2 in 2023 were ineligible to compete for the Sun Belt Championship or bowl games, as they were in their first two years competing in the FBS.

There are exceptions to the rule: James Madison and another FCS-to-FBS program, Jacksonville State, both became bowl-eligible in 2023 after it was determined there were not enough teams eligible for bowl season that year.

North Dakota State will join the Mountain West Conference and move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2026 football season, sources briefed on the decision confirmed to The Athletic.

NDSU has been a powerhouse in the Football Championship Subdivision, winning 10 national championships since 2011, including the 2024 title. ESPN first reported the deal had been finalized.

As part of the move up, NDSU is expected to pay over $10 million to join the Mountain West, in addition to a $5 million NCAA fee to move from FCS to FBS, which will now grow to 137 members. The Bison are currently in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, with most other sports competing in the Summit League.

NDSU has long considered moving up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, especially as longtime FCS rivals like Appalachian State, James Madison and Sam Houston transitioned to FBS over the years. However, NDSU’s location had always made the move a more difficult fit for FBS conferences. That changed with the Mountain West’s upcoming realignment.

The Mountain West is set to split this summer, with Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State moving to the rebuilt Pac-12. In response, the MW is adding UTEP as a full member and Northern Illinois as a football-only member, along with non-football members in Grand Canyon and UC Davis. The Mountain West and Pac-12 remain involved in a legal dispute over $150 million in exit and poaching fees owed to the MW.

The league’s remaining members include Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV and Wyoming. The addition of NDSU will give the Mountain West 10 football members.

NDSU football is 9-5 against FBS opponents since moving up to FCS in 2004, including wins against Iowa, Iowa State and Minnesota twice. In 2016, the Bison received enough votes in the AP Top 25 to finish two spots out of the top 25, the highest an FCS program ever sat in the poll, which typically only features FBS teams.

The Bison had an FCS-record 39-game winning streak from 2017 to spring 2021, breaking their previous 33-game record from 2012 to ’14. Thirteen Bison players have been selected in the NFL Draft since 2014.

Coached by Tim Polasek for the past two seasons, the Bison won the 2024 FCS championship and started the 2025 season 12-0, before an upset loss to Illinois State in the playoffs.

Leaving FCS will leave behind local rivalries with schools like South Dakota State and North Dakota, likely along with the ability to claim national championships. But NDSU has considered the move in part because some fans are bored with so many FCS blowout wins and seek a deeper challenge. They saw recent FCS member James Madison reach the College Football Playoff this year. The Group of 6 conferences are guaranteed at least one spot in the College Football Playoff for the next six years.

NDSU hasn’t competed in an FBS conference before, but recent history suggests that NDSU is likely to compete for the league title, similar to how App State and JMU did in the Sun Belt after moving up.

The Bison will be ineligible for a bowl game for the next two seasons, per NCAA transition rules unless there aren’t enough bowl-eligible teams to fill the available slots. The Mountain West may choose not to make NDSU eligible for the conference championship game. JMU won the Sun Belt East Division in 2022 but did not play in the league title game or a bowl.

The Mountain West completed its new TV deal on Tuesday, which spans from fall 2026 to summer 2032 with Fox Sports, CBS Sports and The CW.

DULUTH — North Dakota scored on its power play chances Saturday, and Minnesota Duluth did not.

The result was a 4-1 victory for the No. 3-ranked Fighting Hawks over the No. 10 Bulldogs in NCHC play at Amsoil Arena.

Sophomore wing Mac Swanson, freshman wing Will Zellers and senior wing Dylan James scored for the Hawks, all in the third period. James scored two breakaway goals to clinch the win, putting his second into an empty net.

Sophomore center Zam Plante was credited with the Bulldogs’ lone goal after a shot by his younger brother and linemate, wing Max Plante, went in off the elder Plante’s skate with 7:58 to play, pulling UMD within a goal before James answered.

Freshman goaltender Jan Spunar made 25 saves for North Dakota while Bulldogs sophomore Ethan Dahlmeir finished with 24 saves.

“That’s playoff hockey, that’s how tight it is going to be,” said Bulldogs senior defenseman and captain Joey Pierce about how UMD’s series with North Dakota felt. “That’s how small the margin is — one little shift, one little decision. That’s something we need to learn from and think about. Everyone has to realize every decision they’re making matters. I think we do that at times, but we have to be able to do that all the time.”

North Dakota took command on a five-minute power play in the third period to break open a scoreless game. Zellers and Swanson both scored while UMD senior center Kyle Kovich sat for five minutes in the penalty box for boarding.

The Hawks finished the game 2-for-5 on the power play, going 2-for-3 on the Kovich major that came 3:37 into the third period.

“We took a bad penalty in the third period and it cost us the game,” Bulldogs coach Scott Sandelin said. “That’s all that needs to be said.

“We’re in a tight game. It was back and forth, 0-0. Going into the third period we had a chance to win a game. We take a penalty. Good teams, like they usually do, capitalize. I would hope we do the same thing. It’s the difference in the game.”

The Bulldogs went 0-for-3 on the power play in the first period,

just as they did Friday night in the 3-2 overtime win.

North Dakota took three penalties in less than four minutes in the first period, giving UMD a 5-on-3 advantage for 46 seconds at one point.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

UMD had the best power play in the NCAA coming into the weekend at 32.3%, but dropped to second behind Minnesota after Friday’s results — the Gophers entered Saturday 32.5% — as UND held UMD to 1-for-5 on Friday.

North Dakota took a fourth penalty to close the first period, giving UMD a power play to start the second period. UMD didn’t convert on that one, either, and finished the game 0-for-4 after not getting another power play Saturday.

UMD put seven shots on Spunar on four power plays that spanned 7:14, but Max Plante said he didn’t feel good about how the power play performed.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

“We’re having chances, the power play should have chances, but we’ve got to capitalize on them,” Max Plante said. “I don’t know what needs to change. Maybe move the puck faster. Myself, I need to make smarter plays. It just needs to be better.”

North Dakota had a goal overturned by a UMD challenge early in the second period. The Bulldogs successfully challenged for offside, wiping out what would have been the first goal of the season for Hawks sophomore defenseman Jayden Jubenvill.

There were three video reviews Saturday. The first two — the offside challenge by UMD and a North Dakota challenge for a missed major penalty — both went in the Bulldogs’ direction. The referees initiated the third review, which was of Kovich’s hit in the North Dakota zone, ruling it was worthy of a major penalty.

Why did Sandelin not challenge a hit from behind on Luke Bibby in the third period? The Bulldogs freshman wing was hit from behind into the wall with UMD down 2-1. The hit looked similar to what landed Kovich in the penalty box for five minutes.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Sandelin had a conversation with the referees, and then decided not the challenge the hit.

“They came over and told me it was a dive,” Sandelin said. “I said, ‘Well then why don’t you call the penalty on us?’”

Sandelin didn’t blame the referees for the loss. He blamed his team’s lack of discipline, something they discussed after the second period ended with a scrum that had UMD junior defenseman Brady Cleveland and North Dakota sophomore wing Cody Croal starting the third in the penalty box.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The coach felt the momentum of Saturday’s game was swinging in their favor, that North Dakota was getting frustrated. Then Kovich took a major penalty.

“We did it to ourselves. We put ourselves in a bad position and can’t do that,” Sandelin said. “We talked about it in between periods. Stay disciplined. You know what? Every time we talk about it, we do something dumb. It’s unbelievable, so I don’t know if I should stop talking about it?”

Dahlmeir suffered his first loss in the UMD net Saturday. The Bulldogs backup is filling in for starter Adam Gajan, who is with Slovakia at the 2026 Olympics in Italy. Dahlmeir, a transfer from Miami, started his UMD career 3-0, including a win Friday in goal against North Dakota. He’s now 4-11-1 as the goalie of record in his college career.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The Hawks leave Duluth battered and bruised. UND was without one half of its top defensive pairing Saturday — senior Bennet Zmolek — because of an undisclosed injury.

Freshman center Cole Reschny left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury after getting slashed by Cleveland on a breakaway. He and Cleveland got tied up and crashed hard into the end wall together.

Reschny had to be helped off the ice, unable to put weight on his left leg.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

The Bulldogs got their first sellout of 2025-26 on Saturday, with an announced crowd of 6,869. That tops Friday’s season-high of 6,668, which was 88 tickets short of a sellout. The previous high at Amsoil Arena in 2025-26 over the first 13 home games was 5,801 on Saturday, Jan. 4 against Western Michigan. UMD entered the weekend averaging 5,337 fans per game, which ranked 10th in the NCAA and fourth in the NCHC.

The Bulldogs have two regular season home games remaining, Feb. 27-28 against Colorado College, and hold the final spot to host a best-of-three NCHC quarterfinal series March 6-8, sitting fourth in the NCHC.

The Bulldogs are idle next weekend before hitting the road for the final time in the 2025-26 regular season at Miami. The Bulldogs and RedHawks drop the puck at 4:30 p.m. CST on Feb. 20 and at 5:05 p.m. CST on Feb. 21.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

North Dakota 0-0-4—4
Minnesota Duluth 0-0-1—1
First period
No scoring.
Second period
No scoring.
Third period
1. ND, Mac Swanson (Will Zellers, Abram Wiebe), 4:49 (pp)
2. ND, Zellers (Wiebe, Swanson), 7:35 (pp)
3. UMD, Zam Plante (Max Plante, Aaron Pionk), 12:02
4. ND, Dylan James (Wiebe), 14:44
5. ND, James (Ben Striden), 17:06 (en)
Saves — Jan Spunar, ND, 25; Ethan Dahlmeir, UMD, 24.
Power play — ND 2-5; UMD 0-4. Penalties — ND 5-10; UMD 4-11.

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

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Clint Austin / Duluth Media Group

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