The intriguing aspects of Saturday’s Air Force vs. North Dakota State showdown are magnified by the unusual number of unknowns.

With the Bison so new to the FBS level — the announcement that they’d be joining the Mountain West in football came just seven months ago — after spending the past two decades in FCS as college football’s winningest team, they are the question mark in the conference.

How will they hold up against a full FBS schedule? Can they instantly be a conference front-runner? How will they handle Air Force’s offense? How will their fan base travel?

With Saturday’s 8 p.m. kickoff at Falcon State approaching to open Mountain West play for both teams, here’s what is known about North Dakota State.

The external expectations

The college football world clearly expects North Dakota State to maintain its winning ways as it jumps up a level.

The sports betting site DraftKings has the Bison (9.5) with the highest projected over/under win total. The Jeff Sagarin Ratings currently list NDSU tops among the conference at No. 67 (No. 74 New Mexico and No. 76 UNLV are next, with Air Force at No. 90). Longtime Reno, Nev.-based columnist Chris Murray of Nevada Sports Net has the Bison atop his Mountain West power rankings.

Betting lines as of Thursday morning have North Dakota State as 2.5-point favorites for their road game against the Falcons.

“They’re all in when it comes to the investment part of it,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “So credit to them. You know, we will see a really good team.”

The early results

The Bison (2-0) haven’t been challenged through two games, opening with a 33-7 blowout of Jacksonville State, which has won nine games in each of its three seasons at the FBS level after also jumping up from FCS.

NDSU also topped FCS foe Fordham 38-0 in Week 2.

The Bison are leading their two opponents 373-153 in total yards per game, 6-1 in turnovers, 42-23 in first downs and have given up just 52 rushing yards per game.

“I just almost wish it’s been a little tougher for us going into this game, honestly,” North Dakota State coach Tim Polasek said he told his defensive coordinator Grant Olson.

The Bison history

North Dakota State spent the past 22 seasons dominating the FCS level, winning 10 national titles and going 251-49 (.837) in that span.

And that was after winning eight championships prior to that, including five NCAA Division II playoff titles between 1983 and 1990.

The Bison entered 2025 with a 6-2 record against FBS teams since 2010. In that time they defeated Iowa (2016), Iowa State (2014), Kansas State (2013), Colorado State (2012), Minnesota (2011) and Kansas (2010), all on the road.

The only losses in that span were 31-26 at Colorado in 2024 and 31-28 at Arizona State in 2022.

NDSU has had 13 players taken in the NFL Draft since 2016, including first-round quarterbacks Carson Wentz (2016) and Trey Lance (2021).

The roster makeup

Of the 129 players listed on North Dakota State’s roster, 107 joined the program directly out of high school.

Two others — safety Jaylen Archibald and wide receiver Jacob Kilzer — arrived from the U.S. Air Force Preparatory Academy still carrying full college eligibility.

Air Force coach Troy Calhoun, asked for thoughts on the unusually large number of high school recruits for a program in the transfer portal age, pointed to resources.

“It tells me they probably have a good bit of money,” he said, pointing out that states with the highest oil production — Texas is first, North Dakota is third, with Oklahoma also in the top five — also field quality college football teams.

The recruiting base for the Bison is highly regional, with 80 players coming from Minnesota (40), Wisconsin (21) and North Dakota (19).

Illinois (8) and Nebraska (6) are next on that list.

NDSU entered the season with three returning starters on offense and five on defense.

The offensive style

As a former Denver Broncos assistant, Troy Calhoun has seen a lot of familiarity as he’s prepared for this week.

“Truly, when you study them, they’re the closest that I probably have seen at the college level to a Mike Shanahan offense,” Calhoun said. “Just the balance, the usage of multiple personnel groups, the commitment to being a really, really good zone running team. And the passing concepts.”

The comparison Calhoun drew at the college level was the Pete Carroll-coached USC teams of the mid-2000s.

Running the offense is fifth-year quarterback Nathan Hayes, who has completed 32-of-44 passes for 370 yards, four touchdowns, an interception through two games in his first season as the starter. Running backs Myles Mitchell, DJ Scott and Nyeoti Punni have each carried between 15 and 24 times and have combined for 330 yards.

Jackson Williams leads the receiving corps with nine catches for 96 yards.

The reputation

Ask around about North Dakota State and, next to a culture of winning football and a raucous atmosphere in the Fargodome, the thing people tend to associate with the Bison is a fan base willing to travel.

“Our fans travel to away games better than anybody else in the country,” Hayes said at Mountain West media days in July. “Especially this year, we play at, you know, Hawaii, UNLV, California (Sacramento State and San Jose State), New Mexico, Colorado. A lot of people are really excited about it.”

North Dakota State did not purchase a block of tickets from Air Force for resale, according to the Air Force ticket office. About 1,300 tickets have been sold to North Dakota addresses as of Thursday morning and the Falcons are expecting a total crowd of about 25,000 for the 8 p.m. kickoff.

“I think you’ll see a lot of green and yellow, more than you would expect,” Bison safety Darius Givance said in July. “I feel like the community is such a strong point in the success that we’ve had.”

The challenge

North Dakota State certainly seems poised to storm into the Mountain West.

It’s Air Force’s task to stand in the doorway and attempt to turn that mob away.

“We’re going to give them their respect, but with our game plan we have this week I feel like we can come out and do what we do,” Air Force safety Cade Paterson said. “I feel like we have the guys that come and compete and if everything works together and we all do our job, our 11 on the field is going to be better than their 11 on the field.”

Added Calhoun, “Great challenge. You know what? You come to the Air Force Academy, guess what? Whether it’s in the classroom militarily, whatever it may be — challenges. And the only way our guys know how to do it is you go right at them.”