Won't snow. NDSU is very very good. Iowa state and even K state should have zero shame for losing to NDSU.
Desmond Howard said NDSU should be in the BIG 12
Keep dreaming. Your fans are drunk on winning, that's for sure. Maybe use all that oil money to build a new stadium and then hope your state magically gains 500k to 1M people who want to watch your team on TV every week. I'd say that your best bet is to go 1A and then dominate the MAC or MWC for 10+ years. Still, the Big 12 won't happen because of lack of TV sets.
There might not be shame in losing to a team as good as NDSU, but perception-wise, it was a stain on KSU for 3/4 of the year last year and it is a stain on ISU now. Why did no one give KSU a chance vs Auburn? Because they barely beat a supposedly terrible ISU team that lost to a 1AA team. Everyone thought that ISU would lose to iowa and that KSU sucked just because ISU lost to NDSU. Perception-wise, there's a TON of shame.