(08-31-2015 04:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:02 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  Beating an FBS team early in the season when you're at full strength doesn't mean you're going to duplicate that result 11 times. The season grinds down on a team, and one that has fewer scholarship players is going to feel it. North Dakota State and Montana would probably win 3-5 games if you dropped them into the MAC right now, presuming an OOC schedule that includes an FCS bodybag and no P5 teams. And most of those wins are coming in the first half of the season.

Yeah, look how bad two non-playoff teams in Georgia Southern and App State struggled in their first season in the Sun Belt.

Clearly, no top FCS team could win a G5 Conference Championship their first year in FBS...

1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

(08-31-2015 04:27 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:02 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  Beating an FBS team early in the season when you're at full strength doesn't mean you're going to duplicate that result 11 times. The season grinds down on a team, and one that has fewer scholarship players is going to feel it. North Dakota State and Montana would probably win 3-5 games if you dropped them into the MAC right now, presuming an OOC schedule that includes an FCS bodybag and no P5 teams. And most of those wins are coming in the first half of the season.

Yeah, look how bad two non-playoff teams in Georgia Southern and App State struggled in their first season in the Sun Belt.

Clearly, no top FCS team could win a G5 Conference Championship their first year in FBS...

1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

(08-31-2015 04:02 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  Beating an FBS team early in the season when you're at full strength doesn't mean you're going to duplicate that result 11 times. The season grinds down on a team, and one that has fewer scholarship players is going to feel it. North Dakota State and Montana would probably win 3-5 games if you dropped them into the MAC right now, presuming an OOC schedule that includes an FCS bodybag and no P5 teams. And most of those wins are coming in the first half of the season.

When Marshall re-joined D1-A back in the 90's they beat up on everybody for almost a decade. Montana and NDSU have culture surrounding their school and program.

(08-31-2015 05:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:27 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:02 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  Beating an FBS team early in the season when you're at full strength doesn't mean you're going to duplicate that result 11 times. The season grinds down on a team, and one that has fewer scholarship players is going to feel it. North Dakota State and Montana would probably win 3-5 games if you dropped them into the MAC right now, presuming an OOC schedule that includes an FCS bodybag and no P5 teams. And most of those wins are coming in the first half of the season.

Yeah, look how bad two non-playoff teams in Georgia Southern and App State struggled in their first season in the Sun Belt.

Clearly, no top FCS team could win a G5 Conference Championship their first year in FBS...

1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

(08-31-2015 05:42 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:27 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:02 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  Beating an FBS team early in the season when you're at full strength doesn't mean you're going to duplicate that result 11 times. The season grinds down on a team, and one that has fewer scholarship players is going to feel it. North Dakota State and Montana would probably win 3-5 games if you dropped them into the MAC right now, presuming an OOC schedule that includes an FCS bodybag and no P5 teams. And most of those wins are coming in the first half of the season.

Yeah, look how bad two non-playoff teams in Georgia Southern and App State struggled in their first season in the Sun Belt.

Clearly, no top FCS team could win a G5 Conference Championship their first year in FBS...

1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

(08-31-2015 05:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:42 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:27 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Yeah, look how bad two non-playoff teams in Georgia Southern and App State struggled in their first season in the Sun Belt.

Clearly, no top FCS team could win a G5 Conference Championship their first year in FBS...

1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

Against NCSU and a Orange Bowl team of Georgia Tech, one that they beat "the rebirth of missisucki state glory". Georgia Southern is a good example of how top tier schools (Maybe 5 best FCS schools over the past 10 years) like NDSU, EWU, Montana, Northern Iowa, and Illinois State? would fair in FBS combat. Granted their depth will surely burden them with staying healthy and rested but if they could work around that like Georgia Southern has done then they could do just as good their first year.

Montana has not even won the Big sky championship in years.

(08-31-2015 05:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:42 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:27 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:11 PM)dbackjon Wrote:  Yeah, look how bad two non-playoff teams in Georgia Southern and App State struggled in their first season in the Sun Belt.

Clearly, no top FCS team could win a G5 Conference Championship their first year in FBS...

1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

I agree with David here...they wouldn't have a problem versus MAC competition and depth

(08-31-2015 10:05 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:42 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 04:27 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  1. The Sun Belt was pretty poor last season
2. Georgia Southern managed to avoid playing the conference's power programs, Louisiana and Arkansas State. That helped a lot.
3. Appalachian struggled in the first half of the season -- hell, they lost to Liberty. They got their stuff together and to their credit beat Louisiana and Arkansas State on the road, but still, they went 1-3 in the OOC, and that 1 was against a non-scholarship team.
4. Even conceding that they had better-than-average debut FBS seasons, and even not pressing the point that the Sun Belt was nowhere near as good as it was the season prior, the point was that you can't take an FCS program NOW, even one as good as North Dakota State or Montana, drop them in a random G5 conference and say "well, they beat Kansas State, these scrubs should be a snap!"

Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

I agree with David here...they wouldn't have a problem versus MAC competition and depth

Walk in the MAC and beat them regularly. They beat a P-5 team just about every year. No reason to think they couldn't beat MAC schools regularly.

At one point over a 4 year period they had more p-5 wins than KU.

I think being up there makes the kids tougher. Watching how Southerners act in cold weather is terrible.

NDSU recruits most of their players from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and more recently, Illinois. Minn and Wisconsin should be MAC states, as they have no G5 or even FCS schools.

South Dakota and SDSU also recruit Minnesota, but are heavy in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas, again states devoid of G5 schools.

UND has almost the same recruiting ground as NDSU, but we emphasize western Canada more and skill players from California.

(08-31-2015 09:24 PM)billings Wrote:  Montana has not even won the Big sky championship in years.

Looks like Stitt may get that turned around.

(09-01-2015 04:21 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 09:24 PM)billings Wrote:  Montana has not even won the Big sky championship in years.

Looks like Stitt may get that turned around.

Montana just beat the best team in the country with a new coach in his first game. Their win over NDSU is the type of wave that a team can ride over the course of a year, and have it be a special year.

(09-01-2015 01:57 AM)NoDak Wrote:  NDSU recruits most of their players from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and more recently, Illinois. Minn and Wisconsin should be MAC states, as they have no G5 or even FCS schools.

South Dakota and SDSU also recruit Minnesota, but are heavy in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, and Kansas, again states devoid of G5 schools.

UND has almost the same recruiting ground as NDSU, but we emphasize western Canada more and skill players from California.

NDSU will always have most of their starters be from ND, MN and WI, with a few from SD, NE and other places. But the bulk of every class is ND, MN and WI.

That's how it should be. That's NDSU's advantage. A lot of great players up there that get passed over by the respective U's in both states and then ignored by the rest of the country.

The farther NDSU gets away from that bread and butter, the worse they'll be.

(09-01-2015 04:48 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 04:21 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 09:24 PM)billings Wrote:  Montana has not even won the Big sky championship in years.

Looks like Stitt may get that turned around.

Montana just beat the best team in the country with a new coach in his first game. Their win over NDSU is the type of wave that a team can ride over the course of a year, and have it be a special year.

NDSU beat Montana as a DII team in 2003, Bohl's first year as head coach. Montana was considered one of the best in DI-AA, at that time.

It was a fantastic victory, just like Stitt's win over NDSU was this year.


That year, NDSU went on to lose three games, if my memory serves (no longer on gobison.com) One to UC Davis, which had just moved up to DI-AA, then conference losses to UND and St Cloud St. There might have been one more. But anyhow, NDSU missed the playoffs.


So while it was a great win, don't hand the FCS national championship to Montana just yet.

(09-01-2015 04:48 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 04:21 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 09:24 PM)billings Wrote:  Montana has not even won the Big sky championship in years.

Looks like Stitt may get that turned around.

Montana just beat the best team in the country with a new coach in his first game. Their win over NDSU is the type of wave that a team can ride over the course of a year, and have it be a special year.

no. um beat a team with 8 new D starters and too many true freshman in the db positions. the best team in the country mostly graduated last year

(09-01-2015 07:32 PM)billings Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 04:48 AM)jdgaucho Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 04:21 AM)HawaiiMongoose Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 09:24 PM)billings Wrote:  Montana has not even won the Big sky championship in years.

Looks like Stitt may get that turned around.

Montana just beat the best team in the country with a new coach in his first game. Their win over NDSU is the type of wave that a team can ride over the course of a year, and have it be a special year.

no. um beat a team with 8 new D starters and too many true freshman in the db positions. the best team in the country mostly graduated last year

NDSU won't lose very much more...

I think NDSU will lose one more game before the playoffs. I suspect it will be to either SDSU, UNI, or Indiana State.

(08-31-2015 10:27 PM)Okielite Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 10:05 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:42 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:01 PM)Wedge Wrote:  Nobody said it would be "a snap".

If the difference in depth between their current roster and FBS rosters is the only reason why NDSU or Montana couldn't win a G5 conference, then it's no reason at all because if you put them into a G5 conference, they would have 85 full scholarships to give, same as every other FBS team. And really, depth is the only reason. The top FCS teams can definitely play with most of FBS.

What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

I agree with David here...they wouldn't have a problem versus MAC competition and depth

Walk in the MAC and beat them regularly. They beat a P-5 team just about every year. No reason to think they couldn't beat MAC schools regularly.

At one point over a 4 year period they had more p-5 wins than KU.

I think being up there makes the kids tougher. Watching how Southerners act in cold weather is terrible.

they play and practice in a warm dome

(09-01-2015 08:00 PM)billings Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 10:27 PM)Okielite Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 10:05 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:42 PM)Cyniclone Wrote:  What I'm reacting to is this insistence by some people every time that an FCS program wins a national title or beats a P5 school in an early-season game that ZOMG THEY'RE GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN THE SUN BELT AND MAC RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE AND I BET THEY'D DO BETTER THAN HALF THE ACC TOO. This happens on every message board I've been on.

There's a reason most programs struggle when they move up. Georgia Southern and Marshall notwithstanding, you're a lot more likely to go the direction of Western Kentucky and UMass, both of whom were strong FCS programs that went right to the back of the pack in their first FBS years (a process that continues for UMass).

If North Dakota State transitioned to FBS and joined the MAC, they'd be fairly competitive but it'd still take them a couple seasons to catch up to the upper tier. If it's the MWC, then it's probably a couple years on top of that.

If North Dakota State joined right now, as is, they'd be very fortunate to win four games, and they'd be hating life by the end of the season. Not because of lack of coaching or talent, but they'd just be beat to hell and back.

When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

I agree with David here...they wouldn't have a problem versus MAC competition and depth

Walk in the MAC and beat them regularly. They beat a P-5 team just about every year. No reason to think they couldn't beat MAC schools regularly.

At one point over a 4 year period they had more p-5 wins than KU.

I think being up there makes the kids tougher. Watching how Southerners act in cold weather is terrible.

they play and practice in a warm dome

They don't own the Fargodome which has other events, so often they have to practice outside in cold weather. They have a flimsy bubble now, but that's mostly for the track team to get away from wind and snow.

(09-01-2015 09:10 PM)NoDak Wrote:  

(09-01-2015 08:00 PM)billings Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 10:27 PM)Okielite Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 10:05 PM)TexanMark Wrote:  

(08-31-2015 05:49 PM)DavidSt Wrote:  When North Dakota State went unbeaten, and won the National Championship, they played a 12 regular season games and the playoff games for 16. They can handle it.

Now Georgia Southern almost beat a couple of ACC schools which they lost by single digits. Those schools that they almost beat almost beat Florida State.

I agree with David here...they wouldn't have a problem versus MAC competition and depth

Walk in the MAC and beat them regularly. They beat a P-5 team just about every year. No reason to think they couldn't beat MAC schools regularly.

At one point over a 4 year period they had more p-5 wins than KU.

I think being up there makes the kids tougher. Watching how Southerners act in cold weather is terrible.

they play and practice in a warm dome

They don't own the Fargodome which has other events, so often they have to practice outside in cold weather. They have a flimsy bubble now, but that's mostly for the track team to get away from wind and snow.

Indoor track has its own, permanent structure.

The bubble can house indoor football practices, but generally won't be put up until the late fall. It's value to football is mostly provided for the playoffs.

Otherwise, the football team practices on three outdoor fields, one of which is fieldturf.