NDSU Football Faces Fluid Bowl Projections and New Locales

The Shifting Geography of the Bison Bowl Outlook

As the college football postseason picture begins to crystallize, the North Dakota State University Bison are finding their potential holiday destinations in flux. Following the release of the initial College Football Playoff rankings this past Tuesday, the focus has shifted toward which bowl game will play host to the Bison, with new projections surfacing that reflect the volatility of late-season conference standings.

For the second week, the presence of bowl representatives at NDSU games has signaled serious interest. Jeff Siembieda, the executive director of the New Mexico Bowl, was spotted in the press box at the Fargodome during the Bison’s matchup against UTEP. Siembieda, who has held his position for two decades, oversees a game owned and operated by ESPN Events—a massive entity that manages 15 other bowl games. Because the New Mexico Bowl maintains a formal partnership with the Mountain West, it remains a primary candidate for a conference team, with the game scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 24.

The Mountain West Bowl Eligibility Shuffle

The league now boasts three bowl-eligible teams: New Mexico, NDSU, and Air Force. The Falcons secured their eligibility last week with a win over UConn, marking their first bowl appearance since 2023, when they defeated James Madison in the Armed Forces Bowl. The stakes are equally high for UNLV and Wyoming, both of which sit on the cusp of eligibility with five wins. Their head-to-head meeting this Saturday night will likely determine which program joins the postseason conversation. As reported, league officials have already initiated preliminary discussions with schools and ESPN to map out travel logistics. A core priority for the conference is avoiding redundant travel, particularly for teams like NDSU that might otherwise be sent to a location they visited only weeks prior.

National Analysts Project Varying Bowl Destinations for NDSU

The lack of consensus among national analysts highlights just how fluid the situation remains. While initial projections were more uniform, this week’s forecasts show a wider range of possibilities for NDSU, varying by publication and outlet.

Source	Projected Bowl Game	Date	Opponent
ESPN	Potato Bowl / Hawaii Bowl	Dec. 21 / Dec. 24	Toledo / Texas State
The Athletic	Arizona Bowl	Jan. 2	Ohio
Sports Illustrated	Arizona Bowl	Jan. 2	Toledo
Athlon Sports	Potato Bowl	Dec. 21	Toledo
CBS Sports	Hawaii Bowl	Dec. 24	Texas State
On3	Potato Bowl	Dec. 21	Western Michigan
College Football News	Arizona Bowl	Jan. 2	Toledo

The variety of landing spots—ranging from the Potato Bowl in Idaho to the Arizona Bowl in Tucson—underscores the complexity of the postseason selection process. For the fans, the “so what?” is immediate: travel planning and holiday scheduling remain in limbo while the Mountain West sorts through its bowl tie-ins.

Dom Izzo, who has covered the regional sports scene since starting at WDAY-TV in 2006 and rising to Sports Director in 2010, continues to monitor these projections as the final weeks of the regular season play out. With the bowl selection committee balancing geographic preferences, conference partnerships, and television windows, the final destination for the Bison remains a moving target. As the calendar pushes toward late December, the only certainty is that the conversation will intensify with every kickoff this weekend.