Bison to return to 24-team playoff goal

Chris Flynn / The Forum By Jeff Kolpack Today at 5:30 PM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? FARGO — North Dakota State isn’t done with the thought of a 24-team college postseason field. The College Football Playoff’s Management Committee on Monday unanimously approved expanding the current format to 24 teams beginning next season. It’s currently at 12, but the wave of momentum to move to 24 was hard to stop over the course of the past year. ADVERTISEMENT Reaching the CFP is an end goal for all Group of Six teams like those in the Mountain West Conference. The Bison, in their first year of FBS, were part of a 24-team FCS playoff field since that subdivision went to that number in 2013. “In general, it’s a good thing, more opportunities,” said NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen. “It keeps more fan bases engaged longer throughout the season. The question now is what does that mean for other postseason opportunities for teams that don’t make the 24? What do bowls look like?” It’s a general theory that a few bowl games will go away. The Mountain West has tie-ins to the Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and the New Mexico Bowl. There are flex options like the Frisco Bowl and Puerto Rico Bowl. Larsen said he thinks there’s still a lot of interest in those games. “We’re fortunate, we’ve had some long-standing bowls that I think are actually financially in a good place,” he said. “I still would like to think for a team that doesn’t make the CFP that there will still be bowl opportunities for Mountain West schools moving forward.” Of the 24 CFP teams, 19 will be at-large bids, four will be the champions from the Power Four conferences of the Big Ten, SEC, ACC and Big 12 and one spot reserved for the highest ranked Group of Six team. If the revised format were in play today, Boise State would be the highest G6 team but the University of New Mexico, ranked No. 23 in the latest Associated Press poll at 8-1, could also be in the discussion. Kirby Lee / IMAGN IMAGES The AP poll doesn’t have a direct bearing on the CFP field, but doesn’t mean the Lobos wouldn’t be in the mix. The CFP had Boise at No. 25 in its Nov. 10 rankings release. ADVERTISEMENT It’s not unrealistic to think NDSU isn't too far off. The Bison received votes in the AP poll after they defeated Air Force to move to 3-0 and kept that standing until losing to UNLV to fall to 5-1. The G6 sent two to the 12-team CFP field last year in James Madison from the Sun Belt Conference and Tulane from the American Athletic. Both were bounced in the opening round; Oregon beat JMU 51-34 and Ole Miss handled Tulane 41-10. “When we made the decision to make the move, we wanted to be competitive,” Larsen said. “That’s our hope and that’s our goal is to try and play in the CFP at some point some day. In Year 1, if you can play for a conference championship and be in that conversation, then that’s what we’re looking for.” NDSU is very much in that conversation. The 7-2 Bison are at Hawaii on Saturday night still in the running for a shot at a Mountain West title game appearance. If NDSU and New Mexico both win out in league games, the conference title game would be played between those two in Albuquerque. Another conversation within the league: Does it keep the MW title game? Power Four school conference title games will be eliminated. “Do we keep the conference championship game or not and what does that mean from a financial perspective,” Larsen said. “Those are conversations we’re probably going to have here over the next couple of months.” Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags BISON FOOTBALL BISON MEDIA ZONE INFORUM BISMARCK MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE By Jeff Kolpack Jeff Kolpack, the son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he's covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995. He has covered all 10 of NDSU's Division I FCS national football titles and has written four books: "Horns Up," "North Dakota Tough," "Covid Kids" and "They Caught Them Sleeping: How Dot Reinvented the Pretzel." He is also the radio host of "The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack" April through August. Twitter Listen to this article Conversation ADVERTISEMENT What To Read Next College College Football Playoff will expand to 24 teams with 2027 season 3h ago · By Field Level Media Women's Sports Bison men fall to CSU Bakersfield 22h ago · By Forum staff Men's Sports Mountain West roundup: Air Force goes to the air for winning touchdown 23h ago · By Forum staff ADVERTISEMENT Get Local Must Reads Fargo Cass County sheriff wants to join F-M police in using AI to help officers write reports from camera footage 12h ago · By April Baumgarten Business The Bowler in Fargo for sale for $4.5M 11h ago · By Angie Wieck Fargo Winter warming operations to open at Fargo Resource and Recovery Center 3h ago · By April Baumgarten Lifestyle 701's Acme Mac and Cheese is a serving of savory food history 10h ago · By John Lamb