The concern for Air Force is up front on defense, where the top four contributors from a year ago are gone, and this program doesn't lean on the transfer portal to patch holes the way most FBS teams do — it rebuilds through its own pipeline, full stop. Linebacker Blake Fletcher returns as an All-Mountain West honoree to anchor things, but replacing that defensive line production against a Bison offense that just went 12-0 in the regular season is no small task.
NDSU isn't walking into Falcon Stadium unscathed either. The Bison's 2025 campaign ended in stunning fashion — a 28-29 loss to Illinois State as the No. 1 seed, snapping 15 straight years of reaching at least the FCS quarterfinters. Eight starters are gone and 11 players hit the transfer portal, even as head coach Tim Polasek, fresh off a 7-year extension, brought in nearly a dozen replacements.
Still, this is North Dakota State. They're the preseason No. 1 in the final FCS coaches' poll for a reason, and the transition period comes with real restrictions — no CFP, limited bowl eligibility for two years — but no urgency deficit. Polasek has called the move 'all gas and no brakes,' and a program with this much sustained infrastructure doesn't just forget how to win because the jersey patch changed conferences.
Whichever way this breaks, it's a measuring-stick game for both programs — Air Force trying to prove 2025 was the outlier, NDSU trying to prove FCS dominance travels up a level. Neither team has ever lined up against the other, so there's no history to lean on, just two programs at very different points of a rebuild trying to set the tone for their season in Colorado Springs.