By the end of Saturday afternoon’s matchup with FCS No. 1 North Dakota State, Missouri State could call itself a champion of the Missouri Valley Football Conference.

The FCS No. 14 Bears (8-2, 6-0 MVFC) have put themselves in this position by winning eight consecutive games for the first time since becoming a Division I program. They’ll have to win somewhere they haven’t since 2009 when they play in the 2:30 p.m. game at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

A win would give the Bears a share of the league for the first time since the 2021 spring season. They could then win the Valley outright with a victory over South Dakota State on Nov. 23 in Springfield.

A win would also give the Bears their:

• First-ever win against a No. 1-ranked team
• First win over a Top 10 opponent since 2021 and first under Ryan Beard
• First-ever 7-0 start to conference play
• Seven conference wins for the first time in program history

NDSU (9-1, 6-0 MVFC) is as good as it gets in the subdivision with its lone loss coming to FBS Colorado to open the season. The Bison came four yards short of completing a hail mary to win the game which would have handed Deion Sanders a loss to rock the college football world.

The Bison have won nine FCS national championships since 2011. They have a consistent, championship-level program the Bears strive to be, even with Missouri State’s upcoming move to Conference USA in 2025. This game will serve as a good measuring stick for how far the Bears have to go when competing at the Group of 5 level next year.

Missouri State vs North Dakota State time today

• Date: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024
• Time: 2:30 p.m.
• Location: FargoDome; Fargo, North Dakota

Missouri State vs. North Dakota State will kick off from the FargoDome in Fargo, North Dakota, at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2024.

What channel is Missouri State vs North Dakota State game on today?

Dom Izzo and Kyle Emanuel will call the game on ESPN+ live from the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

How to listen to Saturday’s game?

Corey Riggs and Sam Block will call the game on KWTO 101.3 FM live from the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.

Catch up on Missouri State football coverage

You can catch up on what you need to know about Missouri State by previewing the game at the following links:

Missouri State vs North Dakota State history

• Series record: North Dakota State leads 12-2
• Missouri State’s last win: Nov. 20, 2010 (3-0)
• North Dakota State’s last win: Oct. 23, 2023 (27-20)

Missouri State football 2024 schedule

• Aug. 31 – Montana 29, Missouri State 24
• Sept. 7 – Ball State 42, Missouri State 34
• Sept. 14 – Missouri State 28, Lindenwood 14
• Sept. 21 – Missouri State 31, UT Martin 24
• Sept. 28 – Missouri State 38, Youngstown State 31
• Oct. 12 – Missouri State 41, Illinois State 7
• Oct. 19 – Missouri State 46, Indiana State 21
• Oct. 26 – Missouri State 49, Northern Iowa 42
• Nov. 2 – Missouri State 38, Southern Illinois 17
• Nov. 9 – Missouri State 59, Murray State 31
• Nov. 16 – @ North Dakota State
• Nov. 23 – South Dakota State
• Record: 8-2 (6-0 MVFC)

North Dakota State football 2024 schedule

• Aug. 29 – Colorado 31, North Dakota State 26
• Sept. 7 – North Dakota State 52, Tennessee State 3
• Sept. 14 – North Dakota State 38, East Tennessee State 35
• Sept. 21 – North Dakota State 41, Towson 24
• Sept. 28 – North Dakota State 42, Illinois State 10
• Oct. 5 – North Dakota State 41, North Dakota 17
• Oct. 12 – North Dakota State 24, Southern Illinois 3
• Oct. 19 – North Dakota State 13, South Dakota State 9
• Oct. 26 – North Dakota State 59, Murray State 6
• Nov. 2 – North Dakota State 42, Northern Iowa 19
• Nov. 16 – vs. Missouri State
• Nov. 23 – @ South Dakota
• Record: 9-1 (6-0 MVFC)

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has selected North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum to run the Interior Department, as his new Cabinet continues to take shape.

The transition team officially announced the pick Friday, though Trump first announced the selection late Thursday during a dinner at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago.

Additionally, Trump announced Friday that Burgum also will lead a newly created National Energy Council that will be established to help the U.S. achieve “energy dominance” around the globe.

In this role, Burgum will direct a panel that crosses all executive branch agencies involved in energy permitting, production, generation, distribution, regulation and transportation, Trump said in a statement. As chairman of the National Energy Council, Burgum will have a seat on the National Security Council, the president-elect said.

“This Council will oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE by cutting red tape, enhancing private sector investments across all sectors of the Economy, and by focusing on INNOVATION over longstanding, but totally unnecessary, regulation,” Trump wrote.

His new policies will help drive down inflation and win an “arms race” with China over artificial intelligence, Trump said.

Burgum, 68, is the two-term governor of North Dakota. A billionaire former software company executive, he was first elected to the governorship in 2016 and was easily reelected in 2020.

Burgum briefly ran against Trump as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2023 before dropping out and enthusiastically throwing his support behind the eventual president-elect. A staunch conservative, Burgum, in his new position, is expected to be a strong ally of Trump’s efforts to open public lands for oil, gas and mineral exploration.

Communications director

The Trump-Vance transition team announced Steven Cheung will return to the Trump White House as communications director. He held the same position for the Trump-Vance 2024 presidential campaign and served in the White House during Trump’s first term as director of strategic response.

Trump has swiftly named an array of political loyalists to key Cabinet positions. They remained vocal supporters during his four years out of office, and most of them are likely to win quick Senate approval after confirmation hearings.

Having won majorities in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Republicans are set to take full control of the U.S. government by the third week in January.

“Republicans in the House and Senate have a mandate,” newly reelected House Speaker Mike Johnson said earlier this week. “The American people want us to implement and deliver that ‘America First’ agenda” espoused by Trump.

Trump will be sworn in as the country’s 47th president on January 20, two weeks after the new Congress has been seated.

Trump, 78, campaigned on a sweeping agenda that Democrats will be largely powerless to stop unless joined by a handful of Republican defectors in Congress on any specific issue that would undercut the party’s slim majorities in both chambers.

Republicans will have a 53-47 edge in the Senate, and the tie-breaking vote of Vice President-elect JD Vance in the event of a 50-50 stalemate on any legislative proposal. Republicans have secured at least 218 seats in the 435-member House, pending the outcome of seven undecided elections for two-year terms.

During his bid to win a second, nonconsecutive four-year term, Trump called for the massive deportation of millions of undocumented migrants living in the U.S. to their home countries; an extension and expansion of 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of 2025; further deregulation of businesses; a curb on climate controls; and prosecution of his political opponents, people he calls “the enemy within.”

Senator John Thune of South Dakota, newly elected by his fellow Republicans as the Senate majority leader, said, “This Republican team is united. We are on one team. We are excited to reclaim the majority and to get to work with our colleagues in the House to enact President Trump’s agenda.”

Trump also has called on Senate Republican leaders to allow him to make “recess appointments,” which could occur when the chamber is not in session and would erase the need for time-consuming and often contentious confirmation hearings.

Controversial picks

Despite the likelihood that most of his nominees will be approved, Trump this week named four who immediately drew disparaging assessments from several Democrats and some Republicans for their perceived lack of credentials.

They are former Representative Matt Gaetz as attorney general; former Representative Tulsi Gabbard, a Democrat turned Republican, as director of national intelligence; former junior military officer and Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary; and former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

The blowback presages tough confirmation fights for the four in the Senate, which reviews the appointments of top-level officials and then votes to confirm them or, on occasion, reject them, forcing the White House to make another choice.

The appointment of Gaetz, 42, could prove particularly problematic, with some senators openly questioning whether he can win a 51-vote majority to assume the government’s top law enforcement position.

Gaetz announced his resignation from the House late Wednesday, when a House ethics committee probe was in the final stages of investigating whether he’d engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. His resignation ended the probe.

The Justice Department Gaetz hopes to lead already had decided not to pursue criminal charges. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.

Gabbard, 43, has been attacked for her lack of direct experience in intelligence and accused of disseminating pro-Russian disinformation. If confirmed, she would be tasked with overseeing 18 U.S. intelligence agencies. She won over Trump with her switch from being a Democratic House member from Hawaii to changing parties and staunchly advocating for his election.

Critics have assailed Hegseth, 44, a decorated former military officer, as someone who lacks managerial experience in the military or business world. A weekend anchor on Fox News, he has voiced his opinions on military operations, including his opposition to women serving in combat roles. He has lobbied Trump to pardon military service members accused of war crimes.

A descendant of the Kennedy family political dynasty, Kennedy, 70, for years has been one of the country’s most prominent proponents of anti-vaccine views. He has also opposed water fluoridation and suggested the coronavirus could have been deliberately designed to affect some ethnic groups more than others.

On Thursday, Trump also selected former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton to be Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor; and former Representative Doug Collins to be secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He named one of his personal criminal defense attorneys, Todd Blanche, to be deputy attorney general, and another of his attorneys, D. John Sauer, to be solicitor general.

Ken Bredemeier and Liam Scott contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press.