Dom Izzo's Missouri Valley/Summit League Notebook: Why NDSU voted no on Murray State and no FBS games coming

FARGO — North Dakota State's new indoor football practice facility is right on schedule, despite an awful April on the weather front.

Athletic director Matt Larsen told me late last week that the NoDak Insurance Company Football Performance Complex is "ahead of schedule"; with the outdoor turf practice field set to be ready for the start of fall camp. That's almost two weeks ahead of schedule as Larsen and head coach Matt Entz were anticipating opening fall camp on the grass practice fields beyond the NDSU track, Dacotah Field or in the Fargodome. It appears that won't be needed.

As far as the indoor facility, Larsen told me that is on track to open in early October. That would coincide when the weather starts to turn in Fargo, but also with NDSU Homecoming this year. Larsen would no doubt love to show off this $50 million dollar palace when most of the alums return to town. NDSU is slated to host Youngstown State on October 1st for homecoming.

Larsen added that the school is allotted 3,000 tickets for the NDSU - Arizona game on September 17th. Requests for tickets are being taken until Friday, which the school believes will easily be filled. Larsen estimated anywhere between 10 to 15,000 Bison fans will be at the game in Tuscon. It is easily the most highly anticipated regular season game since the Bison played at Iowa in September of 2016. As I reported last month, the game is likely going to be a 10 pm central time kickoff, likely on the PAC-12 Network.

I also visited with Larsen about the addition of Murray State to the Missouri Valley Football League. As our colleague Mike McFeely reported in March, NDSU voted no on adding the Racers to the league.

I asked Larsen on why it was a no vote for the Bison: "It was more about the process of how it came about. It seemed really rushed to us. Membership is really important and you want to be checking all of the boxes. Murray State will be a great addition but it was more about the process of how this all came about."

I followed up with a question about scheduling, which Larsen said the 2023 conference schedule would likely come out in the next month, the schools were receiving a mock schedule last week. Larsen told me there was no support for the league going to divisions, saying "we need to play as many teams as we can."

Two other storylines from Larsen regarding the FBS and scheduling. Larsen said no one has reached out from the FBS in regards to membership and with the upcoming reveal this summer from the NCAA Transformation Committee he added: "We're not sure what we're getting into with schools still moving."

Lastly, I asked about another FBS game being added to the schedule. NDSU has this year's game against Arizona, a 2024 date at Colorado and 2028 at Oregon.

Larsen told me that deputy athletic director Todd Phelps has reached out to every FBS school that has an available date and has been told 'no'.

NDSU is pivoting to more "showcase" games, like next year's date at U.S. Bank Stadium against Eastern Washington. NDSU has been contacted by cities like Dallas about potentially hosting the Bison. NDSU has its non-conference games set for 2023 and 2024, but 2025 and 2027 are open for a potential showcase game.

South Dakota has tapped into a familiar name to add to its quarterback room. Buffalo, Minnesota native Aidan Bouman announced late last month that has transferring from Iowa State to USD.

Bouman is the son of former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Todd Bouman. Aidan had a record setting career at Buffalo, throwing for over 9,000 yards during his high school career. He joined the Cyclones in 2020 and redshirted that season and didn't play this past year.

Bouman joins a Coyote quarterback room that includes incumbent starter Carson Camp, who just completed his second year as a starter.

North Dakota has added some running back depth for the 2022 season from a conference opponent.

Tyler Hoosman announced on Twitter yesterday that he will transfer from Northern Iowa to UND for his final season of eligibility.

Hoosman had just 68 yards rushing this past fall with two touchdowns, but in the spring he was a workhorse, running 89 times for 373 yards and six touchdowns, scoring twice against NDSU in a 23-20 loss to the Bison in April 2021.

Hoosman joins a UND backfield that lost Moorhead native Otis Weah to the transfer portal after last season, but has returners Isaiah Smith and Luke Skokna.