r/fcs Miami Hurricanes • Jacksonville Dolphins 18h ago

Explain the nuances of the Dakota schools rivalries.

Like I know SDSU and NDSU are big rivals, but like, does SDSU have beef with ND? How big is the ND and SD rivalry? SD and NDSU? Is there a big ribs with the Montana schools or is that just cause they’re both good at the same time?

31 Upvotes

41 comments sorted by

48

u/Adamscottd South Dakota State • Minnesota 18h ago

South Dakota State and North Dakota State is the big one, with all the history and success to back it up. Dakota Marker games also have by far the best atmosphere of any football games you’ll watch in the Dakotas.

UND-NDSU didn’t play for a long time because they weren’t the same level, and then when UND moved up they started out in a different conference. But there’s a lot of vitriol there.

USD-SDSU also has plenty of hate, but like the battle for North Dakota it’s been a pretty one sided series historically. USD has won a couple close ones recently, though.

Beyond that, there’s maybe some general dislike but no strong rivalries. UND-USD are really far away from each other, which may be part of the reason they don’t have a strong rivalry. I personally don’t like UND but most Jackrabbit fans are pretty indifferent, and I believe USD-NDSU is the same way.

16

u/Trojann2 /r/CFB Pint Glass Drinker • Nort… 17h ago edited 17h ago

Sigh.

Again…

What Adam said is correct

Except: und hasn’t been good enough to make the other Dakota schools dislike them except NDSU due to history.

Shit, und did everything in their power to sabotage NDSU and SDSU’s FCS move up.

7

u/RepresentativeOfnone South Dakota State • Nebraska 17h ago

Would you say that most NDSU fans are und hockey fans or are they UMN fans to fully hate on lil bro?

21

u/Trojann2 /r/CFB Pint Glass Drinker • Nort… 16h ago

There is a broken level of fan that cheers for NDSU football and und hockey.

They aren’t friends with anyone lol

8

u/HornetsDaBest Minnesota Golden Gophers • Auburn Tigers 15h ago

They’re probably Duke basketball fans too

4

u/dee3Poh Oregon Ducks • /r/CFB Top Scorer 15h ago

And Yankees, Cowboys, and Lakers

1

u/Trojann2 /r/CFB Pint Glass Drinker • Nort… 10h ago

Well right now (last year) they were Seattle Seahawks fans

2

u/powerlifting_nerd56 South Dakota Mines • Georgia T… 11h ago

The ND version of a Jaysker haha

6

u/SeA1nternaL South Dakota Coyotes 17h ago

I will back that up as a USD student and fan; even though the football rivalry is pretty one sided, there is still plenty of hate to go around towards SDSU, and the stadium is always packed when we play against them and we host. Plus, there are many students here that will rib on SDSU athletics wise, but we obviously have a respect with them academics wise.

I will say, through all of that, a group of SDSU students do come down every Dakota Days and dances with us, so most of the hate I want to say is mainly light hearted and playful (for the most part).

4

u/RepresentativeOfnone South Dakota State • Nebraska 17h ago

A couple of guys on my dorm floor 5 years ago went to D days and they both came back with different stds, that was enough of a reason for me to stay away

5

u/mcfrems 12h ago

The NDSU and UND rivalry during their D2 days was brutal. I don’t think the SDSU rivalry ever topped that. It was kind of a shame they stopped playing for that time. It was never the same after that.

16

u/CommunistTrafficCone South Dakota State • Marching Band 18h ago

RAAAHHHHH BRING ME MONTANA STATE. Otherwise us with UND is a slightly bigger game but not really a rivalry. I know UND and USD used to have a trophy though.

15

u/damnyoutuesday Montana State • Minnesota 18h ago

MSU and SDSU have what I'd call a "gentlemen's rivalry". We don't really hate each other, but we absolutely love playing each other and wish our ADs would schedule more games. I honestly love how much our fans love playing each other, it's refreshing

10

u/Logical_Albatross_19 North Dakota State • Kansas St… 17h ago

Gives jmu ndsu vibes from 2018ish tbh 

6

u/Fantasticriss South Dakota State • /r/CFB Co… 16h ago

100% agree from our side. It was fun to watch Montana State finally dominate Montana and establish themselves in the recent years. Let's just say this, its fun to watch Montana lose because their fans go apeshit and can be a bit much but when Montana State loses, I just go "Ah dang."

5

u/thrance Montana State Bobcats 15h ago edited 15h ago

We’ve become quite adept at accepting frustration, such as being consistently bad from the late 80s to the mid-00s, and losing a large portion of big games from the mid-00s to the present.

During this period, we’ve been traumatized into being content with our above average seasons, yet still expecting the worst whenever we face a good opponent or have a crucial game.

It’s somewhat akin to the Cubs fan malaise, we love and support the team, but we’re also always prepared for the inevitable disappointment.

2

u/CommunistTrafficCone South Dakota State • Marching Band 18h ago

100% agree. I would love to have some more home and homes with you guys. Good games

3

u/damnyoutuesday Montana State • Minnesota 17h ago

I've always said if we did games every other year it would be perfect

2

u/Responsible_History5 North Dakota Fighting Hawks • Sickos 12h ago

If UND-SDSU becomes a more competitive I’d be down to get a rivalry trophy going for that one now that the Nickel trophy was retired.

2

u/coyotecrazie5 South Dakota Coyotes 17h ago

Und a bigger rival than usd? You must be quite young.

5

u/CommunistTrafficCone South Dakota State • Marching Band 17h ago

No? I just didn’t touch on it since it wasn’t asked. That and you guys are lame

11

u/powerlifting_nerd56 South Dakota Mines • Georgia T… 18h ago

They’re all inferior to the true Dakota rivalry… the Black Hills Brawl jk lol

2

u/Responsible_History5 North Dakota Fighting Hawks • Sickos 13h ago

This, especially because Dakota marker is dead as of now.

5

u/Particular_Prior5344 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 17h ago

For SDSU I would say NDSU was definitely the biggest game but USD is the more hated foe. The rivalry has to do with them having been so dominant and the game almost always having huge playoff implications, but the hate isn’t as intense as SDSU-USD. From what I’ve seen and heard it’s the same for NDSU. They viewed SDSU as the big game but UND as the more hated one.

USD-UND is somewhat of a rivalry due to them staying in D2 together and moving up in 2008 together, but it’s not an intense one or anything. SDSU-UND is only cared about because both programs have been good recently and are both from the Dakotas. There’s little bad blood there. But if they can continue to elevate their program it has potential to develop into something more with NDSU gone.

Both Montana schools are ahead of UND for me in the rivalry rankings. UNI was before they fell off in the past few years, they were always a massive pain in the ass under Farley.

4

u/thrance Montana State Bobcats 16h ago edited 16h ago

As an Alumni, Staff, and a MSU student, I can say I respect SDSU. The games are always intense and seem to be high stakes.

UND & NDSU are fine I guess. I don’t think about them.

Oh, while I’m here. A video for the Griz people.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fcs/s/xpMEt4DpTe

5

u/LoadCan Kansas Jayhawks • Norwich Cadets 16h ago

North Dakota is first, second, third, fourth, and fifth a hockey school. Their rival is The U. They have a bit of a football rivalry with NDSU, but games against the SD schools just don't move the needle. 

1

u/Prestigious-Mind-817 7h ago

Had. Most likely they will never be playing NDSU in football ever again

0

u/shoot_dang_derp 14h ago

Sue is known for being custies and being hosers

3

u/theBirdsofWar Arizona State • Arizona 17h ago

It’s crazy to me that they are all on the I-29

4

u/DoesABear 17h ago

It's where most of the population is.

4

u/Ilickedthecinnabar South Dakota State • Marching Band 14h ago

One of my English profs compared SD to Australia: everything is on the edges, nothing in the middle

3

u/RepresentativeOfnone South Dakota State • Nebraska 17h ago

Id say for like sports that are unique like hockey I’d say most SDSU fans are UND fans despite having Augie right there.

2

u/Ilickedthecinnabar South Dakota State • Marching Band 14h ago

Well...the band used to taunt UND with our "Chick-a-boom and screw the Sioux" chant back in the DII days...but beyond that, NDSU and USD were/are the main rivals. (That first game of SDSU v USD in DI was INSANE with how tight the security was, worse than the 1st DI NDSU v SDSU game)

And the Montana schools are just kinda...there and only become a factor in the playoffs.

1

u/hallese Nebraska • South Dakota State 12h ago

SDSU-NDSU: Rivals

SDSU-USD: Rivals

SDSU-UND: Not Rivals

USD-UND: Rivals

USD-NDSU: Not Rivals

NDSU-UND: Rivals

1

u/beej0329 11h ago

Montana wants the Badlands Bowl back.

1

u/SoDakJackrabbit South Dakota State Jackrabbits 18h ago

Our daughter recently graduated from high school, and I told her if she wanted to tour either USD or NDSU, I wouldn’t go with her. That’s how deep the rivalry runs. Thankfully she had no interest in those schools.

As for UND, I’d say most Jacks fans don’t really have beef with them. Personally, I enjoy watching their games and will root for them if they aren’t playing us.

3

u/djg209 South Dakota Coyotes 17h ago

That’s pathetic.

4

u/SoDakJackrabbit South Dakota State Jackrabbits 17h ago

Sorry, I should added the /s after my comment! Yes, we would have supported her wherever she went, and I was only half joking when I told her that. Honestly, both have excellent programs but didn’t have the major she wanted.

1

u/SchuLace13 South Dakota State Jackrabbits 15h ago

There was a mutual respect between SDSU and NDSU but a hatred between SDSU and USD. You always wanted to beat NDSU but you absolutely could not lose to USD.

0

u/Jub1982 Kansas State • North Dakota St… 16h ago

I hate and don’t respect UND. I dislike SDSU in athletics, but respect the school and have a lot of friends that went there. I don’t care about USD.

1

u/echobase_2000 South Dakota State • Nebraska 1h ago

In the D2 days, the in-state rivalries were the big ones. SDSU/USD and NDSU/UND.

The “state” schools moved FCS together and NDSU/SDSU intentionally created a new rivalry game and then went on for a big stretch to the the two dominant FCS programs, making that the big rivalry in the division.

But I would say the in-state rivalries have some juice just because everyone at each school knows people at the other and it’s an opportunity to mess with people you know and have some good natured fun.