Illinois State quarterback Tommy Rittenhouse (16) and the Redbirds upset North Dakota State in the final meeting between the teams as Missouri Valley Football Conference members. (Photo by GoBison.com)
By Barry Bottino
Two consistent themes have followed the North Dakota State football program for the past decade.
First, when/how/where will they move to FBS? The discussion arose over and over as multiple seasons ended with the Bison on a podium with a trophy.
Second, the Bison won, and won, and won and won some more. They spent hundreds of weeks consecutively in the Top 25 rankings, beat FBS teams on their turf, ruled the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were the apple of ESPN’s eye.
When the Bison announced Monday that they were departing – at long last – for the Mountain West Conference (get your tickets now, NIU Huskies fans), a wave of questions were felt throughout the subdivision.
For Illinois FCS teams, here are five key questions about the impact of NDSU’s move.
How does this impact the Land of LIncoln?
The bully on the block has moved to a new neighborhood.
The Bison take with them 10 national championships, 12 league titles and seven outright MVFC crowns. This seemingly opens up the Missouri Valley race to more than just teams from the Dakotas.
Illinois State and Southern Illinois can move up a rung on the conference ladder – and closer to a playoff berth and potential top-eight seed — with a dominant Bison team looming no more.
Illinois State fans will remember their last meeting with the Bison for decades — a rousing comeback to beat NDSU, 29-28, at the Fargodome in a second-round playoff game. That win bounced the Bison and helped propel Illinois State to the national title game last month.
But the NDSU-ISU series has been memorable mostly for the Bison. The Redbirds’ playoff win broke a 14-game losing streak to NDSU.
On Feb. 27, 2021, SIU snapped North Dakota State’s 39-game winning streak with a 24-point win in Carbondale. It earned the Salukis massive national attention.
Since 2010, however, that February day has been the Salukis’ only win against NDSU.
Who could be next to jump to FBS?
In a 58-word statement Monday posted online, MVFC commissioner Jeff Jackson gave the Bison their flowers and said the league “will continue to maintain its position as the preeminent FCS conference.”
The first thing the league needs to maintain is its other members.
South Dakota State could be fair game for an FBS conference looking to boost its stature. A segment of Illinois State’s fan base has been beating the drum online for the Redbirds to be next in line for a move up.
And consider that if SDSU departs, will the other Dakota schools be willing to stick around?
Then there’s the Big Sky.
Reigning national champion Montana State and rival Montana have fan bases that any FBS league would desire. UC Davis has a dynamic head coach and offense, and they would be a geographic fit for the Mountain West or perhaps the new-look Pac-12.
Is Gateway Conference, Part II, an option for four of the Illinois schools?
The year was 1985, and Eastern Illinois, Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Western Illinois were part of the Gateway Conference with Northern Iowa and Southwest Missouri (now FBS Missouri State). A year later, the league added Indiana State.
Could the bulk of that group form a new league?
That possibility could be a welcome one for the Illinois schools, especially if the Ohio Valley-Big South and MVFC experience more departures.
The core four Illinois schools could join with Indiana State, Northern Iowa, Southeast Missouri and Lindenwood to start, which would yield a conference with plenty of strong regional rivalries … and a heck of a lot less travel (and costs).
What’s the cost of moving up to FBS?
If you want your school to move in with the big boys, what exactly is the price tag?
NDSU paid the NCAA’s $5 million entry fee to move up and reportedly chipped in another $12 million just for the opportunity to be part of the Mountain West.
How many FCS schools have that kind of money? And if the money is there, does a university want to spend it on one athletic program?
Then there’s jumping into a pool with a higher level of athletes who ask for a different level of NIL guarantees.
On the field, spots in the FCS version of the playoff are dominated by the Big Ten (which still can’t count) and the $outhea$tern Conference. Will fan bases be happy playing in a bowl game on a Tuesday afternoon in December?
There have been plenty of examples of successful moves, but there are no guarantees with moving up.
How does this impact the MVFC’s 2026 schedule?
In the short term, the Illinois State and Southern Illinois schedules – along with the rest of the MVFC – will get a makeover.
Illinois State’s homecoming is scheduled for Oct. 24 (against Murray State). In Carbondale, homecoming is Oct. 17 against the Redbirds.
SIU’s homecoming plans are likely to stay put, but ISU’s opponent could change when the schedule is reworked.
On Monday, an MVFC spokesperson said 2026 dates, times and locations are “in process.” In addition, the league said all nine teams will play a “complete round-robin schedule.” That means North Dakota will be added to the ISU schedule and South Dakota State will now be part of SIU’s slate.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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