North Dakota State's two goals of winning the Great West Football Conference and finishing the season ranked No. 1 in a Football Championship Subdivision national poll will have to remain the team's top priorities. Any hope of a post-season bowl bid appears slim to none.
The NCAA 2007-08 Postseason Football Handbook gives two criteria for eligibility: a team has to have six wins against Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) teams and have more wins than losses. The only exception is a team may count one win against a program from FCS (formerly Division I-AA).
The handbook makes reference to "competing institutions shall be active members of the Association." NDSU is in its final year of a Division I reclassification and is yet a full-fledged active member.
"It doesn't even refer to the possibility of a Championship Subdivision" team qualifying, said Ken Hoffman, executive director of the Motor City Bowl in Detroit.
The issue was raised Sunday morning on the Craig Bohl Show. The NDSU head coach didn't close the door on the subject when he was asked by host Phil Hansen, but Bohl also said he did not know of any possibilities.
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NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor said the legislative details aside, it would still be a "way long shot" for NDSU to get a bowl bid.
"The good news is the NCAA doesn't oversee the bowls," Taylor said. "The bad news is the conferences do, and they're not going to let somebody like us sneak in there and take a date out of somebody. They would have to completely run out of options."
NDSU improved to 8-0 Saturday with a 52-17 win over Southern Utah. The Bison have two wins against FBS teams in Central Michigan and Minnesota, which leaves them far short of bowl eligibility. Central Michigan is the only undefeated team in the Mid-American Conference.
"The problem is they don't expect people like North Dakota State to be this good," said George Perles, the CEO of the Motor City Bowl and father of NDSU offensive coordinator Pat Perles.
Hoffman said all 32 bowls licensed by the NCAA have to comply with the bowl eligibility rules. The Motor City Bowl features a team from the Mid-American against either a bowl-eligible team from the Big Ten Conference, Big East Conference or an at-large selection.
NDSU will not be eligible for the FCS playoffs until next year because of the reclassification.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546.
Kolpack's NDSU media blog can be found at www.areavoices.com No shot at bowl for Bison Jeff Kolpack 20071029
