FARGO — Drake University (Iowa) and North Carolina A&T will be making the trip to Fargo, just not when they figured. North Dakota State on Wednesday announced it will play both schools in 2022.
Both were scheduled to play next month, but were canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bison will play Drake on Sept. 3, 2022 and North Carolina A&T a week later, both at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome. NDSU concludes its non-conference portion that year at the University of Arizona. Those two leave only the University of Oregon as games not rescheduled from this season.
That's still possible, said NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen.
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"We are still working with them on dates," he said.
For Drake and N.C. A&T, the new dates are good news. Drake, from the non-scholarship FCS Pioneer League, was slated to get a $230,000 guarantee this year. For the Aggies, playing NDSU represents another notch in the school trying to climb the FCS ranks.
They finished 20th in the FCS coaches poll and 23rd in the Stats.com media poll last year. The Aggies are leaving the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference after this season and joining the Big South Conference in 2021, a better league for football with the likes of Kennesaw State (Ga.), Monmouth University (N.J.) and Charleston Southern (S.C.).
With 2022 full, that leaves 2023 as the next availability for open dates. Next fall, the Bison host Albany (N.Y.) and Valparaiso (Ind.) and play at Towson University (Md.) for non-conference opponents.
