The 2013 North Dakota State Bison football team represented

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

in the

2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The season began o ...

. They were led by head coach

Craig Bohl Craig Philip Bohl (born July 27, 1958) is an American college football coach and former player, currently the head football coach at the University of Wyoming. He was previously the head coach at North Dakota State University in Fargo from 2003 ...

, in his 11th and ultimately final season, as he left to become the head coach at

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

after the season. The team, which played their 21st season in the

Fargodome Fargodome is an indoor athletic stadium in the north central United States, located on the campus of North Dakota State University (NDSU) in Fargo, North Dakota. Opened in late 1992, the facility is owned by the City of Fargo and built on unive ...

, entered the season as the two-time defending national champions. The Bison have been members of the

Missouri Valley Football Conference The Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC), formerly the Gateway Football Conference, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivis ...

since the 2008 season. The season started with a road win over defending

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

champion

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

24–21, in front of the second-largest crowd in Wildcats history. According to ESPN.com, Kansas State paid the Bison $350,000 for the matchup. This was the Bison's fourth straight win against an FBS opponent and seventh overall. The university hosted ESPN ''College GameDay'' on September 21, 2013, as the Bison faced

Delaware State Delaware State University (DSU or Del State) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Dover, Delaware. DSU also has two satellite campuses: one in Wilmington and one in Georgetown. The university encompasses four colle ...

that afternoon and defeated the Hornets 51–0. This was the first time in the show's history that it was broadcast live from downtown Fargo, and was a rare feature of a non-FBS program. On October 12, in a home game against Missouri State, the Fargodome set a new single-game attendance record (19,108). With a win at Youngstown State, the Bison won their third consecutive MVFC title, and clinched an automatic playoff spot. The Bison finished the regular season with a perfect overall record of 11–0, their first undefeated record since 1990. NDSU received 17 points in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

of the 2013 season, which would have ranked them 29th if that poll ranked teams beyond the top 25. On December 9, 2013, Bohl was introduced as the next head coach at

effective at the end of the season. On December 15, Bison defensive coordinator

Chris Klieman Christopher Paul Klieman ( ; born September 27, 1967) is an American football coach and former player, and is currently the head coach for Kansas State University in the Big 12 Conference. He took over from the retiring Bill Snyder after leading ...

was selected as Bohl's successor as head coach for the 2014 season. Their victory in the 2013 FCS title game, held on January 4, 2014 at Toyota Stadium in the

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

suburb of

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in Collin and Denton counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. Its population was 200,509 at the 2 ...

, made the Bison only the second team to win three consecutive FCS national titles, following the run from 2005 to 2007 by

Appalachian State Appalachian State University (; Appalachian, App State, App, or ASU) is a public university in Boone, North Carolina. It was founded as a teachers college in 1899 by brothers B. B. and D. D. Dougherty and the latter's wife, Lillie Shull Dough ...

. The Bison were also the first unbeaten FCS champions since

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia * Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Islands * Marshall Islands, an i ...

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

Schedule

* Source
Schedule
/small> ‡ Denotes single-game home attendance record.

Coaching staff

Game summaries

at Kansas State

Box Score
2nd-largest crowd in Kansas State history (53,351).

Ferris State

Box Score

Delaware State

Box Score

at South Dakota State

Box Score
Set a new home attendance record for South Dakota State (16,498). ‡Met twice in 2012, once in the regular season and again in the second round of the FCS playoffs. The Biso

Northern Iowa

Box Score

Missouri State

Box Score
New home attendance record.

at Southern Illinois

Box Score

at Indiana State

Box Score
‡NDSU's only loss in 2012.

Illinois State

Box Score

at Youngstown State

Box Score

South Dakota

Furman—NCAA Division I Second Round

Coastal Carolina—NCAA Division I Quarterfinal

New Hampshire—NCAA Division I Quarterfinal

Towson—NCAA Division I Championship Game

Ranking movements

;AP Poll ;FCS polls

References

{{2013 Division I FCS playoff navbox

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as t ...

NCAA Division I Football Champions North Dakota State Bison football seasons Missouri Valley Football Conference champion seasons

College football undefeated seasons

North Dakota State Bison football The North Dakota State Bison football program represents North Dakota State University in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision level and competes in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. The Bison play in t ...