Michigan State and North Dakota State meeting on the hardwood for the first time has an unlikely historical twist.
Spartans insider Chirs Solari of the Detroit Free Press dug up the history of how MSU and NDSU nearly played in the same conference back in the 1920s. Both schools joined the North Central Conference in 1922 when MSU was known as the Michigan Agricultural College and NDSU was known as the North Dakota Agricultural College.
The other schools in the conference included North Dakota, South Dakota State, South Dakota, Creighton, and Morningside.
MSU left the NCC in 1923 because the Spartans athletic program had bigger goals and more money than most of the schools in the conference. Because of the timing, the Bison and Spartans never played, and Thursday will mark the first-ever game between the two schools in any sport.
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The Spartans pursued membership in the Big Ten, which eventually worked out in 1949. NDSU remained in the NCC and dominated for decades as a Division II powerhouse in many sports.
The Bison moved up to Division I in 2004, and the men’s basketball program took off to new heights. NDSU won 10 NCC titles and made it to eight Division II national tournaments but never an Elite Eight.
As a Division I program, the Bison have won six Summit League titles both in the regular season and the conference tournament. The Bison have six NCAA tournament appearances, but one was nixed in 2020 due to COVID causing the cancellation of the tournament.
NDSU has one NCAA tournament victory, an upset of No. 5 seed Oklahoma in 2014. The No. 12 seeded-Bison then came up short against No. 4 seed San Diego State. NDSU has also faced Kansas, Gonzaga, Duke, and North Carolina Central in the Big Dance.
Amid NDSU’s transition to Division I, the rest of the Dakota schools gradually followed suit, and NCC folded in 2008 as all the teams left for other leagues. UND, USD, and SDSU all play in the Summit League. Creighton left the NCC in 1928 for the Missouri Valley Conference, which led the program to becoming Division I.
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