North Dakota State University at South Dakota State University Jackrabbits
(Photo by Dave Eggen/Inertia)
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Generally, the relationship between South Dakota and North Dakota is pretty good.  What once was a unified area was split in the late 1800’s and the two states have continued amicably.

There are occasional bouts of jealousy because during the winter when people break out the shorts in Vermillion or Rapid City, toques are more necessary in Williston and Grand Forks.  The Peace Garden State has a bigger oil patch and the to the south a Shrine to Democracy is carved into a mountain.

One area that has grown unequal between the two states is football success at the collegiate level.  Bison Football recently raised a standard that will be difficult to duplicate.  North Dakota State University won their fourth straight national championship in the FCS (1-AA) Division.  The senior class has more titles than losses.

Sure South Dakotans are quick to show their disappointment with the near misses by the Jackrabbits, but are almost as swift to acknowledge the accomplishment.  Not so much as evidenced by our neighbors farther south in Iowa.  Maybe it’s the buffer of South Dakota between them that makes them so bold.  More so the lack of football titles is probably the trigger for harsh feelings.  Northern Iowa has been in the FCS longer than NDSU and has four less titles (meaning zero).

One such sore loser is a correspondent from WHO-TV in Des Moines who does a segment called ‘What’s Bugging Andy.’  Call him a jerk or a truth-teller, but he recently riffed on the Bison’s success and Iowa’s shortcomings at the collegiate level.  Dripping with sarcasm and a hearkening back to the Subliminal Man character played by Kevin Nealon on Saturday Night Live.  Andy Fales finally concedes that North Dakota State is worthy of their title, but they should come back when they can take on the Power Conferences. Going so far as to categorize NDSU's colors in the vein of bodily fluids is about the lowest blow in this ginned up strife between one man and Bison Nation.

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