North Dakota
North Dakota State football to join Mountain West in 2026, per report
See Indiana fans after first College Football Playoff title
Fans of the Indiana Hoosiers celebrated inside the Hard Rock Stadium following their victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
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).
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.
The addition of North Dakota State to the conference aids a league that lost Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State to the Pac-12 in the latest round of NCAA realignment.
Despite the mass departures, Air Force, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV and Wyoming all opted to stay in the conference. Hawaii is joining the league as a full-time member, while UTEP will join as a full member during the summer. Northern Illinois and NDSU joining as football-only members will bring the total to 10 teams.
MANDAN, N.D. (KVRR-KFGO) – Former North Dakota Game & Fish Director Terry Steinwand has been charged with molesting a child.
The Class “A” misdemeanor was filed after a Morton County District Court judge rejected a proposed plea agreement to a felony charge and prosecutors dismissed the charge while retaining the right to file an amended charge.
Steinwand is from Mandan. The 72-year-old is now charged with one count of sexual assault-offensive contact. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail.
Steinwand was originally charged in September, 2025, when police say he admitted to sexual misconduct.
Steinwand worked for the Game & Fish Dept. for 40 years. He led the agency for about 15 years and retired in 2021.
(KNOX) – The North Dakota Board of Higher Education is being asked to weigh in on the reconstruction of Ray Richard’s Golf Course in Grand Forks. The upgrades and deferred maintenance improvements are the result of the pending DeMers Avenue/42nd Street Underpass project.
UND sold 6.5 acres of the nine hole course to the North Dakota Department of Transportation for the grade separation. During the road construction the golf course will be realigned and reduced to a par 34 course. UND will also address underground utilities and irrigation systems. The total cost is around 4.5 million dollars.
The course will close for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. The goal is to reopen in 2028. SBHE is expected to approve the design at its April 30th meeting.
Crews are expected to begin preliminary work on the $90 million dollar underpass project this week. The initial phase will have minimal impacts to traffic on both 42nd Street and DeMers Avenue. Larger impacts are expected later this summer.
MAPLETON, N.D. (Valley News Live) – Casselton Fire responded to a shop fire in rural Mapleton on Saturday afternoon, according to Casselton Fire Chief John Hejl.
Casselton Fire was dispatched to the scene at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Windy conditions escalated the fire before crews arrived, Hejl said.
Firefighters used defensive and offensive lines to control the fire upon arrival.
Casselton Fire was assisted by Cass County Sheriff’s Office, Casselton Ambulance, West Fargo Police Department, Davenport Fire and Mapleton Fire.
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