Sources: North Dakota State has agreed to a deal to join the Mountain West in football only for 2026. The school is expected to pay nearly $12 million to join the league, which is in addition to the $5 million it will pay the NCAA to move to FBS. pic.twitter.com/7lTFQmO6F0
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) February 8, 2026
Always felt like this was going to happen eventually, was just a matter of when, and a good get for the MW. Football-only member (at least for now), and they’ll make more $ by far than they ever would in FCS. Wouldn’t be shocked to see SDSU join them at some point either, maybe the two Montanas down the road? Very interesting that they’re going to be moving up this season though rather than 2027 from a recruiting/portal perspective? Will be fun to see how NDSU competes. They should be at least be a consistent mid-upper tier program in that conference imo.
