N. Dakota St., a MoVal football power, jumps to Mountain West

North Dakota State — the Missouri Valley Football Conference's most decorated program — is switching affiliations to join the Mountain West Conference in the 2026 season, the Fargo-Moorhead Forum newspaper reported Sunday.

NDSU Athletic Director Matt Larsen told the Forum the school signed a contract last week with the Mountain West, a Football Bowl Subdivision league. The Missouri Valley is a Football Championship Subdivision conference, a notch below FBS.

The Missouri Valley's other nine schools include Indiana State, as well as South Dakota, Illinois State (the FCS runnerup last season), Youngstown State, North Dakota, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa and Murray State.

North Dakota State won the MVFC regular-season title last season with an 8-0 record, while finishing 12-1 overall. In head-to-head matchups with Indiana State, the Bison lead the series 12-1. ISU won 17-14 inside the Fargodome in 2012. NDSU beat ISU 38-7 in Terre Haute last October.