My first reaction to the field is my same reaction these hours later. I LOVE IT! For all the talk of anti-NDSU sentiments throughout the FCS (which are probably true), this field could not have been laid out much better for the Bison! With two weeks until they next enter a roaring Doom Dome, the Bison will be able to get as healthy as they've been in months & focus on the academic side of things as the end of semesters are near at hand. It's often understated, overlooked and misrepresented but they are students first and getting the bye is an asset to that end as well!
When the Football at the Fargodome resumes they'll host either Northern Arizona or San Diego. The Aztecs are in the same position they were at this time last year so they may be better suited to get through the first round but I'm going with Northern Arizona for the fact that they'll be the home team...and I'd like to have another new team experience what Fargo has to offer!
Across the rest of the first round I'm calling for Elon, South Dakota, Kennesaw St., Central Connecticut St., Monmouth, Western Illinois & Stony Brook to advance. The one that may be the most dubious is USD because of how poorly they've been performing over the last month but I'm usually going to side with the Valley team. Add to that the fact that they were a bit of a surprise inclusion in the field and that may be enough to spark them to a one round win.
It's as much a guessing game as the much more prominent March bracket challenge but since NDSU has a real chance of taking home trophy number six I'm going all the way with it! To see all my pre tournament picks stroll over here.