(STATS) – North Dakota State had just completed an unbeaten regular season on Nov. 17 – a cause for celebration, for sure – when coach Chris Klieman said what everybody’s thinking.
“I know that we’re judged by what we do in the postseason,” he said.
That mind-set makes the Bison of a victim of their own success – each season has become FCS championship or bust. What happens in December and early January trumps everything else they accomplish, even if this season they’ve won a record eighth straight Missouri Valley Football Conference title and posted just their second unbeaten regular season since 1990.
The weight of history has rested squarely on North Dakota State (11-0) all season. The FCS dynasty stands four playoff wins away from repeating as national champion and breaking a tie with Georgia Southern for the most in subdivision history. Each has six titles, and the Bison’s have come since the 2011 season.
Montana State coach Jeff Choate, whose Big Sky team hopes to pull a stunning upset in the second round on Saturday, knows the incredible pressure that has built with one successful Bison team after another: “I’m sure they don’t want to be the guys that don’t win it,” he said.
With North Dakota State holding the top seed, the Road to Frisco (Texas) runs through the Fargodome, where the Bison are 71-6 overall and 21-1 in the playoffs during the 2010s. But their half of the bracket is considered stronger than the other side, beginning with the visit by Montana State (8-4), so the Bison have to be an even better team than in the regular season.
“When you get into the playoffs,” Klieman said, “you have to be able to run the football, you have to be able to stop the run and you can’t turn it over.”
Should the Bison complete their mission, Klieman would join former Youngstown State coach Jim Tressel as the second head coach to win a record four FCS titles.
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