BILLINGS — As the North Dakota State Bison go grazing in bigger and wider Division I pastures in the Mountain West, they leave behind an incredible legacy at the FCS level.
University of Montana athletic director Kent Haslam, for one, wasn't too surprised by NDSU's Monday announcement that it is jumping up to the FBS. He is, however, a little somber about it all.
"I don't know if saddened is the right word, but you hate to see North Dakota State go," Haslam said. "I compare it to having a really great neighbor and they put their house up for sale. We've really enjoyed competing against NDSU. They've been the test for everybody in FCS for the last decade plus.
"But I think this is a good litmus test for what schools like us — that are very similar to North Dakota State — could potentially do in FBS. So it'll be interesting to stand back and watch. I'll certainly be cheering for them."
Related: It's official: Powerhouse North Dakota State leaving FCS to join Mountain West Conference
NDSU's jump definitely supercharges the ongoing conversation of FBS viability for both Montana and Montana State. But it's important to note the hurdles that exist for the Grizzlies and the Bobcats, both powerhouse FCS programs, to make such a move.
First, and most obviously, they must receive an invitation from an FBS conference. So let's just get that out of the way right off the hop.
But beyond that, it would take a major appropriation from the state of Montana as well a blessing from its residents, as Haslam laid out. Do folks have the appetite for athletic budgets reaching $50 million?
"Here are a few things. And I can only speak for Montana — I'll let Leon (Costello) speak for Montana State — but it's quite obvious that we are tied together," Haslam said. "We're governed by the same board, but it will take a commitment from the entire state, from the legislature to the Board of Regents, from all those areas.
"It's an $18 million initial investment right off the bat; $5 million to the NCAA and then it looks like $12.5 million North Dakota State paid just for football. Remember, that's just their football program. All the rest of their sports stay in the Summit League. So that's just an initial investment. So getting over that hurdle is the first thing. Second thing is we have to add another sport. We have to get to 16 sports, and so there is the ongoing cost of operating another sport at the University of Montana.
"The other thing that overarches all of this is you have to have an invitation. It's a non-starter if you're never invited."
Costello, Montana State's athletic director, declined to comment for this story.
One circumstance benefiting North Dakota State in its move to the Mountain West is the fact that the football team competed in a football-only conference: the Missouri Valley. The majority of its other sports compete in the Summit League and will continue to do so.
Montana and Montana State, of course, are both full members of the Big Sky Conference.
"That really helps them" to make a football-only transition, Haslam said of NDSU. "We are an all-sports member in a conference that's regionally based. So if we were to leave and go somewhere for football only, can we stay in the Big Sky Conference? How does that impact us? Or do we take all of our sports to a new conference? Does that mean we're sending volleyball and basketball and soccer to Hawaii, to San Jose State, to New Mexico as opposed to taking a bus to Idaho and Eastern Washington? It's a huge difference.
"All of those things come into play where moving up just isn't as simple as saying, 'I want to eat at this table now,' or 'I want to swim in this pond.' There are a lot of things that move behind the scenes that are impacting all of your sports."
When asked if the University of Montana has been approached for a potential invite to any FBS conference for football, Haslam quelled any rumors that have persisted.
"There's been no conversations with the Mountain West or any other FBS conference," he said.
It wasn't too long ago that North Dakota State athletics competed in Division II. In fact, in Bobby Hauck's first home game as football coach at Montana in 2003, the Bison came into Washington-Grizzly Stadium and stole a 25-24 win to score a major D-II upset over an FCS power.
But it didn't take long for NDSU to acquit itself as a contender (to say the least) when it did make its initial jump to Division I in 2004. After a four-year probationary and reclassification period, the Bison went bonkers and won 10 national championships between 2011 and 2024, including a run of five in a row from 2011-2016.
How did the Bison blow past everybody so quickly?
"I think there was a very clear vision within their state and within their institution as to what they wanted to be," Haslam said. "But it takes money. No doubt it takes money. And then it takes perfect alignment with all your major decision makers and policy makers within an organization.
"I wasn't in their meetings and I wasn't in their conference rooms. But they're a flagship of one of the 50 states, and there are only so many of us. And they had tremendous success at the Division II level, so the groundwork was laid for decades."
There's no doubt that North Dakota State run of success became redundant, at least to outside observers. For years, national championships were expected, if not inevitable.
And the dwindling of contenders at the FCS level made that even more true, as programs like UMass, Georgia Southern, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, James Madison, Sam Houston, Kennesaw State and most recently Delaware all bolted for FBS pastures just in the past 15 years.
"I would imagine there became some fan fatigue (at NDSU) after you've won 10 national championships," Haslam said. "You could see their attendance was starting to slip at playoff games where early on they were selling those out. You could see that as an outside observer. 'Let's try something better. Let's try something bigger and see what we can do.'"
For now, it seems both Montana and Montana State are content where they stand — as championship contenders at the FCS level. Montana State's national title win last month and the fervor it created proved that beyond doubt.
But NDSU's move will continue to stoke the conversation of the viability for the Bobcats and Grizzlies to compete at the FBS level.
"Our goal is to compete at the highest level that we reasonably and financially are able to sustain," Haslam said. "Years ago, or in the past, that meant moving to the FBS. What that means today, I really don't know, because in the next five to eight years, things could dramatically shift between the Power 4 conferences and the Group of 6. We could very well all get to the same intersection in the next five to eight years without ever having supposedly 'moved up.'
"What's going to happen with the college football playoff? How many teams are going to get in? What's going to happen with legislation, antitrust exemption, NIL, revenue share? Does that naturally just pull these schools apart from the others? But the Power 4 conferences as they are presently constituted have clearly made their statement that they want to head in a certain direction. And then what happens to those others, to those other six conferences, and do we find a place in that?
"So the long answer to a really short question — our goal is to make sure Grizzly football is relevant, is competing at the highest level possible and competing against institutions that are similar in goal and in makeup and in commitment. With North Dakota State leaving, does it show you a path? Of course it does. And you look at this and say, 'Wow, that's a school that we'd like to be with,' and that's the path they have chosen."
