Nevada Sports Net

Murray: Mountain West adding NDSU was master stroke but UTEP, NIU invites a swing and miss

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The Mountain West Rebuild and the Cost of Missing on FCS Potential

When the Mountain West conference lost four core schools to a Pac-12 poach job, keeping its FBS status intact felt like a minor miracle. But navigating a high-stakes athletic rebuild requires balancing media-market footprints with actual on-field performance. As Nevada SportsNet reported in an analysis by Chris Murray, the conference’s decision to chase established FBS programs like UTEP and Northern Illinois over elite Football Championship Subdivision powerhouses has created a stark competitive divide.

Past the midway point of the college football season, the divergent paths of these strategic choices are playing out on Saturdays. The Mountain West added North Dakota State as a football-only affiliate, and the Bison have answered every question about whether they belong. Reaching bowl eligibility by winning six of their first seven games, North Dakota State’s only two losses came on the road against preseason conference favorites New Mexico and UNLV, with both contests decided by less than a touchdown on late pick-sixes.

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Contrast that with the conference’s other two “established” FBS football additions. UTEP and Northern Illinois sit at a combined 1-13. Their lone win came against Texas Southern, widely considered one of the weakest programs in the FCS. Against fellow FBS competition, the pair went a dismal 0-12, getting outscored by a combined 364 points, or an average of 30.3 points per game. These additions have dragged down the conference profile, leaving the Mountain West ranking behind the American and Pac-12 while sitting alongside the Sun Belt in Group of 6 supremacy.

Market Chasing Versus Football Reality

The reasoning behind the invitations is clear enough. The Mountain West executed a 100-day flurry of expansion that brought in UTEP, Hawaii, Grand Canyon, and UC Davis as non-football members, alongside Northern Illinois as a football-only affiliate. Leadership targeted valuable media markets: Sacramento, El Paso, Honolulu, and proximity to Chicago. This scramble aimed to salvage a $45 million per year media-rights deal, even though the final television contract fell well short of that figure.

Murray: Mountain West adding NDSU was master stroke but UTEP, NIU invites a swing and miss

Yet prioritizing low-ceiling FBS programs with a history of losing records missed an obvious alternative. In the twenty seasons preceding its conference move, UTEP managed just two winning seasons—both 7-6 campaigns. Northern Illinois brought more recent history but little natural geographic connection to the league.

Meanwhile, elite FCS programs kept winning. Montana State, South Dakota State, and Montana have continued dominant campaigns. Montana State secured a road victory against Nevada by 13 points, while South Dakota State played Big Ten opponent Northwestern tightly, trailing by just two points late in the fourth quarter. Pairing those Dakota and Montana powerhouses with North Dakota State would have positioned the Mountain West much closer to the new Pac-12 from a football perspective.

Financial Realities and the Road Ahead

Conference leadership faced legitimate hurdles during the realignment process. MW commissioner Gloria Nevarez acknowledged in 2025 that multiple FCS programs possessed the capability to step up. Initial hesitation stemmed from fears that Power 4 conferences would block further FCS-to-FBS elevation. Those fears dissipated as North Dakota State and Sacramento State made the jump this season with minimal resistance.

Details of the NDSU Membership Agreement with the Mountain West, plus future MW Member Additions

Financial considerations also played a role. North Dakota State’s final price tag for the transition reached $17.5 million, broken down into a $12.5 million entry fee to the Mountain West and a $5 million entry fee to the NCAA. Whether schools like Montana State or South Dakota State would have absorbed those costs remains unverified. Furthermore, conferences operate across multiple sports, and shifting exclusively to football-only affiliates leaves scheduling light elsewhere.

The Mountain West secured several major wins in its survival strategy. Luring Grand Canyon away from the West Coast Conference stands as a master stroke, instantly strengthening the league’s basketball profile. The entrance fee revenue and North Dakota State’s immediate impact on attendance and fan interest proved invaluable. But as the standings demonstrate, inviting UTEP and Northern Illinois instead of tapping deeper into the FCS talent pool introduced a heavy anchor to the conference’s competitive ceiling.

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