(Stats Perform) – The record winning streak that North Dakota State carries into the 2020 season should be a source of pride, and it surely is, but the people who have built it never seem to put attention on it.
The Bison have won 37 straight games, the longest winning streak in FCS history. They’ll try to build on it Saturday against Central Arkansas in their only game this fall.
“We haven’t talked about it once and this is the first time it’s ever come up in conversation,” coach Matt Entz said on Monday. “Haven’t addressed it, all we’ve talked about is being 1-0 (each week) and making sure that we’re ready to go. I think our program and our kids understand that we have a lot of work to still do. We’re not going to rest on our laurels or what’s happened in the past.”
North Dakota State has captured the last three FCS national titles during the win streak, surpassing the previous FCS record high – 33 straight wins, first earned by the 2012-14 Bison teams – during the playoffs last December.
The 37 straight wins are tied for the third-longest streak in Division I history. Oklahoma won 47 straight games in the 1953-57 seasons, Washington 40 straight from 1908-14 and Yale had a pair of 37-game winning streaks from 1887-89 and 1890-93.
“They take everybody’s best shot and they find a way to win,” Central Arkansas coach Nathan Brown said, “whether it’s close or whether it’s a blowout or whether it’s at home or whether it’s away, neutral, wherever it is.”
The Missouri Valley Football Conference, where North Dakota State has captured nine straight titles over strong competition, has announced an eight-game league schedule for the spring semester. If the Bison beat Central Arkansas, have another unbeaten MVFC season and keep winning through the quarterfinals of the 16-team FCS playoffs that also are planned for the spring, they would match Oklahoma’s D-I record. They could surpass the record in the semifinals.
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