Bison decision up in the air on House settlement with deadline extended

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FARGO -- In the ensuing days since the landmark House vs. NCAA settlement being approved, chaos still reigns in college athletics.

The chaos focuses on the Group of Five and FCS schools in Division I, as they have been granted an extra two weeks to decide if they want to opt into the settlement. Schools will need to notify the NCAA by June 30 if they will be opting in for the 2025-26 season.

Originally when the settlement was approved last Friday; non-Power Four schools would have until Sunday, June 15 to decide if they would opt in to the settlement, which would entitle schools to directly pay their athletes and also adhere to new roster limitations.

North Dakota State has yet to make its decision if it will opt in or not, but one may be coming soon. Two fellow Missouri Valley Football Conference schools announced Friday that they were opting in; South Dakota and Murray State. The Grand Forks Herald reported earlier in the week that the University of North Dakota was "leaning towards opting in."

South Dakota athletic director Jon Schemmel made the announcement on social media Friday afternoon. "This morning I informed the NCAA of our intent to opt-in to the House Settlement for the 2025-26 season!," Schemmel tweeted. "Huge thanks to our president and the South Dakota Board of Regents for their help through this process. This is the best path forward for all of our student-athletes now and in the future."

Murray State, which joined the MVFC in 2023 made a surprising announcement by deciding to opt in. "Murray State will participate in the new revenue-sharing structure beginning with the 2025-26 academic year," said athletic director Niko Yankto in a statement. "Our focus remains on building a program that can consistently compete for and win championships."

The MVFC athletic directors and presidents will meet on Monday to discuss this very topic along with potentially setting a scholarship limit for football teams. Several FCS leagues have announced in recent days that they will not cap scholarships.

As part of opting in to the House settlement, teams can scholarship all 105 players on the team. Currently, FCS teams can spread out 63 scholarships among 85 players.

NDSU athletic director Matt Larsen said earlier this week on Hot Mic that the "grandfathering of roster spots" is giving mid-major teams pause on their initial decisions to opt out, which includes NDSU.

"Essentially it gives schools probably a three to four year planning phase to have to get down to those hard roster caps." Larsen said.

Here are some excerpts from the interview with Larsen, which have been edited for clarity.

WHY NDSU INITIALLY WAS THINKING OF OPTING OUT OF SETTLEMENT

"We felt really strongly initially about opting out, because the things we currently are doing financially and resources to support our student athletes are far and above that a lot of our peer institutions are doing, even if they plan on opting in. There's a little bit of a moniker of, if you're not opting in, you're not investing in your student athletes. That couldn't be further from the truth here at NDSU."

MVFC ATHLETIC DIRECTORS ON FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIP CAPS

"I think right now, the Valley institutions are probably split. I mean, it'll be good conversations. We'll get a chance to hopefully have some honesty and transparency from our group, which I would anticipate, in terms of where people are, what are they thinking? And then what does that mean for the league? I think getting some some feedback from peer institutions, conference institutions, in terms of what they're thinking that both of those could influence where we ultimately end up."

IF A MID-MAJOR OPTS IN, WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM TO DIRECTLY PAY ATHLETES?

"I think mid-majors, on every campus, are really challenged with exactly what you're talking about. Are there new revenue streams, whether it's through external revenues. Is it ticket prices? Is it a talent fee on top of your tickets? Is it additional fundraising, going back to donors and saying, 'we need your help'? Or what I think a lot of mid-majors are doing, and I think why you're seeing a lot of mid-majors opt in is because their collectives have not been able to be successful.

They don't have as passionate a fan base, as we're fortunate to have. The only way for them to really drive NIL is they have to bring it in house, and they have to probably take a really hard look at their expenses."

ARE FCS TEAMS THAT OPT IN GOING TO ADD MORE FOOTBALL SCHOLARSHIPS?

"I don't think there's a lot of FCS conferences that I've heard of, or even mid majors, when you're talking about opting in, are doing it so they can add more scholarships, because that really does impact Title IX at our level. I think they're really looking at how do I control NIL more internally and not have to rely on external resources, because in a lot of places, they're not there."

THE IMPORTANCE OF NDSU BEING CONSIDERED A LEADER IF THEY OPT-IN?

"I think we have positioned our program in a really good place. I would say to those schools you got to do what's best for you. And again, opting in may make sense for us. May not make sense for another Valley school or an FCS school. Us, opting out may make perfect sense for us, but may not make sense for somebody else.

I think opting in or opting out is just a moniker. You can still accomplish both things by either or move your program forward, whether you opt in or opt out. That's the only thing I would say, is I think this really is a decision that is very institutional, dependent on what makes the most sense for you."