Transition

[hotrod2001]

Hello everyone! I'm sure someone has asked before and I may have missed it but I have a question regarding your transition from FCS to FBS. You guys have had a lot of success in the Sunbelt especially as of late and I am wondering what your opinions are on the move. I'm sure its easy for you to answer that its been great with your current success but what about the seasons where maybe your record lacked some luster. I am an NDSU Bison fan and we are currently riding a 32 game win streak and are like 123-8 since 2011 I believe and counting FBS games with no losses to the FBS. This topic is coming up a lot lately and am just curious as to what your overall thoughts are. Especially in the early years of your transition.

Seeing how NDSU makes it an annual tradition to take down FBS opponents, including many P5's, I have no doubt that the Bison could be another FBS success story if they ever decide to move up...however that main issue is on par with what we have: location. Despite being in the Charlotte television market, we still have the stigma of being this school nestled way up in th me mountains in the "tiny town" of Boone. You guys are in Fargo, which is a decent sized city but not exactly a desired market an FBS conference would want to add...but you do have a storied program like us.

I could easily see you in the Mountain West and doing to Boise State what we did to Louisiana and Arkansas State where their status as being at the top of the food chain is no longer set in stone. Outside of that though, I'm not sure where you could fit in.

If you do make the jump, expect a pair of years being rough as your coaching staff red shirting a lot of the talent and saves them for the FBS level. Either way support the team. Seeing how you all pack the Fargodome, I doubt that would be a problem.

Also expect to get treated like an ugly girl at the prom. Kicking ass and taking names doesn't have the same weight as it does in the FCS. You'll probably end up in a G5 conference so you're going to have to put in the work and run the table to get the same notoriety that you got in the FCS. But like us, your program's got quite a reputation and a storied history so nobody would take you lightly. It's just if you want aspirations like national rankings or being discussed for a NY6 spot you're going to have to do a lot to win over the committee.

Either way, I'm pretty confident you guys could make a successful transition if you ever decided to make the leap.

[23Bison]

Thank you for the comment. We do and have for a long time redshirt most/all of our recruiting classes. It takes a few 2-3 years in our program to really get a grasp of your assignments and knowing them like the back of your hand. Small details are emphasized like no other. Maybe some day a transition will happen.