Crazy thought or is it

[guinpen]

Was reading the below article about what the PAC12 needs to do to survive, and it mentions the idea of adding SDSU and NDSU as members.

Seems like a major stretch but certainly impressive that they would even be considered.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/pac-12-6-college-football-schools-conference-must-target-to-survive/ar-AA1eOdHq?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=7863f45e819647408383304f1b7ac6f3&ei=32

"North Dakota State and South Dakota State
If the Pac-12 wants to survive, they have to dig deep. North Dakota State and South Dakota State would be solid options.

These two have an immense rivalry and a ton of pedigree. The North Dakota State Bison have won nine FCS Division I football national championships. South Dakota State finally won their first FCS Division I national championship in 2022, but they’ve come close plenty of times. College GameDay appeared for a North Dakota State – South Dakota State game, showing there is a national interest in this rivalry. Putting it on a bigger stage would be a win for college football."

[Wick250]

The FBS hopes of the Dakotas probably depend upon whether the PAC 12 reorganizes or becomes extinct. If the four PAC survivors raid the Mountain West and invite the stronger programs into their league, it would create openings in the Mountain West that the Dakotas could fill.  But if the PAC 12 dies then the Mountain West would take the survivors and effectively shut the door on the Dakotas. For the good of FCS football, it would be best if the Dakotas moved on.

[guinpen]

The FBS hopes of the Dakotas probably depend upon whether the PAC 12 reorganizes or becomes extinct. If the four PAC survivors raid the Mountain West and invite the stronger programs into their league, it would create openings in the Mountain West that the Dakotas could fill.  But if the PAC 12 dies then the Mountain West would take the survivors and effectively shut the door on the Dakotas. For the good of FCS football, it would be best if the Dakotas moved on.

The PAC12 and Mountain West could merge which would also close the door on the Dakotas. Agree that it would be best if at least NDSU would move on, they are too good (which is a credit to them ) and their success gets old. Would like to think that others schools would aim to overtake them but that just is not happening most years.

[YsuPride]

NDSU Stadium is too small for D1 standards rt?

[Wick250]

NDSU Stadium is too small for D1 standards rt?

After doing a bit of quick research, it is now apparent to me that we are stuck with the Dakotas forever. As you suggest, their stadiums are a joke by the standards of the Mountain West, their only possible FBS landing spot. Here are some examples of Mountain West stadium capacities.

34k at Colorado State
30k at San Jose State
32k at Wyoming
36k at UNLV
41K at Fresno State
46K at Air Force

The NDSU gym seats only 19K. The brand new stadium at SDSU is also listed at 19K. There is no way that Mountain West schools would admit the Dakotas with small stadiums, poor tv market size, and strong teams that might take over their conference.

[YSUGO]

Even though the Dakotas are good teams. For TV purposes not much to gain due to their lack of population.  Who knows the College football that we grew up too has evolved into something I don’t recognize. 

We

[IAA Fan]

Even though the Dakotas are good teams. For TV purposes not much to gain due to their lack of population.  Who knows the College football that we grew up too has evolved into something I don’t recognize. 

We

So true. I mean, the dominance of the DSU's is all based on population (or lack there of), so until a couple more DI schools show up with football, the dakotas will dominate. I mean, Ohio has 32 NCAA schools that play football. 12 of these are DI ...split over 5 conferences. There are a few more dominant DI schools that do not play football & we all know that MBB drives conference affiliation.  I mean with the addition of the two non-state schools, both Dakotas can now boast a whopping 4 (combined) number of schools that play DI football. Making the odds even more in their favor, premium athletes have ZERO IA/FBS schools in either state. So where does a good athlete that wants to stay close to home (very common right out of HS)? NDSU and SDSU. I mean YSU alone has 2 FBS/IA schools within 30-minutes. Recruits would jump at Kent or Akron over YSU, any day of the week.

[guinpen]

I do not know how to factor in the number of FBS schools in Ohio, but simply looking at population and the number of NCAA football schools it looks like Ohio has the advantage. 32 NCAA schools in OH ( I trusted the number 32 ) for a population of 11,750,000 is 367,187 per. ND has 4 NCAA schools with a population of 763,600 or 190,900 per.

Obviously, the number of FBS schools, aka more scholarships, and the "name brand" that goes with some of these schools is the wildcard.

Bottom line is that NDSU is doing what it has to do, with what it has, to get the job done. I am impressed that even after at least three head coaching changes they just keep winning.

[guinpen]

For the record, it is a joke that anyone would mention either school in a conversation about a league like the PAC12.

[YsuPride]

QuinPen i totally agree.  So lets stop talking about it and move on to YSU 2023 foorball

[IAA Fan]

Guinpen, you have to take into Account the fact that all of the teams have relatively the same number of players. That pushes the advantage well over to the Dakota's. Is YSU getting the state of Ohio's top players? NDSU and SDSU are. In a division where a 1/2-dozen recruits make the difference on a given team, that is a big deal. Look at Pelini and YSU ... just a couple of transfers and "poof" we were in the final again.  BTW, I was wrong on the numbers. There are only 10 DI football programs in Ohio, making a total of 41 NCAA football schools in the Buckeye state:

1. University of Akron
2, Bowling Green State University
3. University of Cincinnati
N. Cleveland State University
4. University of Dayton
5. Kent State University
6. Miami University
7. Ohio University
8. Ohio State University
9. University of Toledo
N. Wright State University
N. Xavier University
10. Youngstown State University

Also, think about distance, you need to travel quite a ways to get to other DI schools in the Dakota's Just think how many DI schools will you get to if you drive 200 miles from Youngstown? A lot more than 2.