KSU was clearly better, just like they were against EKU in 2011.
From what I saw today, I would not put this NDSU team above many UNI teams that have come in over the past 20 years. ISU was just that bad. You guys are gritty for sure, but in your best year you probably finish 2-7 in the Big 12. Of course, after a few years of that, you would be lucky to see any wins. Look at TCU, a program that was vastly better than NDSU could ever dream of, with more advantages.
You're really trying to bait me into being a homer fan, aren't you?
Drawing comparisons to UNI and TCU is fine and dandy. We were flat out called out by UNI when we moved up to D1AA (FCS) and told we'd never be able to carry our D2 successes to the next level. We'd never be the king of the MVFC much less FCS national champions.... it would take us many decades to even have a winning season at this level.
Well we managed (since going D1AA/FCS) to put up the following record since 2004 (according to my calculations anyway):
96 wins 29 losses
3 Conference Championships
3 National Championships
8 - 3 vs FBS schools
So you'll have to excuse me if I don't buy into the "You can't do it because <INSERT TEAM HERE> couldn't do it" argument. Because I'm not buying that with reference to UNI or TCU or ISU or any other school that couldn't do it. Instead I'll look at the Boise State example of a team that did move up and was successful. Yes, it is Mountain West but they have been successful there and I believe are being/have been courted by P5 conferences.
The better question is does NDSU have the resources to get into a P5 conference? The answer (at this time) is NO. I'll repeat that: We don't have the resources to do it at this time and be competitive. A lower FBS conference is doable though (MAC or MWC) but even that will require more resources on our end. I may have a grand vision of playing in FBS, but I also know the reality needed to do so successfully. I wouldn't want to move up without the tools in place to win regularly. I also know that there is a damn good chance NDSU gets beat at least once or twice this year in FCS. Maybe by UNI even. That is fine, but I highly doubt we get blown out by them.