Strategic or Scared? Why Minnesota May Never Play NDSU Under Fleck

Now that NDSU is in the FBS as a Mountain West team, the appeal of a border battle between Minnesota and the Bison has never been higher.

Dec 26, 2025; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck against the New Mexico Lobos during the Rate Bowl at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Is P.J. Fleck scared of playing North Dakota State University?

Now that NDSU has made the jump to the FBS in the Mountain West Conference, a border battle between the Bison and the Minnesota Gophers has never been more appealing. Will it happen in the future? Well, apparently not while P.J. Fleck is head coach at the University of Minnesota.

"Sources have told WDAY and The Forum that Gophers head coach PJ Fleck has made it known he will not play NDSU as long as he's head coach," Izzo wrote.

NDSU will play eight games against Mountain West foes, and four games in the nonconference portion of the schedule. Of those four, two will be against G6 schools, and there will be one each against an FCS team and a P4 team.

NDSU is obviously familiar with the FCS landscape, and they have some familiarity with teams from G6 and P4 conferences. The G6, also known as the Group of Six, features schools from the American, CUSA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Pac-12 conferences. P4, also known as the Power Four, includes schools in the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12.

Minnesota as NDSU's P4 opponent now and again would be thrilling, though much more beneficial for NDSU than it would be for the Gophers.

"There's not an opponent Minnesota could schedule out of conference that would generate more buzz locally than NDSU," our Tony Liebert wrote when analyzing how NDSU's move to the FBS impacts the Gophers. "It's almost guaranteed to be a sellout, and it would result in a lot more interest than playing an FCS team like Eastern Illinois or a MAC team like Akron, which are two games currently on Minnesota's 2026 schedule."

Sep 24, 2011; Minneapolis, MN, USA: Minnesota Gophers wide receiver Malcolm Moulton (86) catches a pass in the third quarter at TCF Bank Stadium. The Bison won 37-24. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

One major issue is that Minnesota would have to pay NDSU to play because they're a G6 team. Why pay NDSU millions of dollars (likely between $1M and $2M) when they could play a different buy game for less money, and without funneling cash to a program that will undoubtedly become a greater threat to compete with the Gophers for recruits and transfer portal players?

Additionally, if the College Football Playoff is the goal for the Gophers, and we know that teams with more than two or three losses have low chances to make it into the tournament, then adding a tough opponent like NDSU when they're already playing an extremely difficult Big Ten schedule doesn't make much sense.

As long as the Gophers are in the Big Ten, they've got a shot to reach the playoff as long as they don't lose more than a couple of games. If they do lose two, or in rare cases, three games, they must be losses against highly-ranked opponents to still be considered for the College Football Playoff.

The Gophers have played the Bison three times since they became a Division I program. NDSU has won the last two matchups, in 2011 and 2007, and Minnesota's lone win was 10-9 in 2006.

So, is Fleck scared of the Bison or just playing his cards the way that benefits Minnesota the most? The latter is more likely true, though it sure would be fun to see Minnesota and NDSU battle for regional bragging rights.