Tennessee State football 'close' to agreeing on home-and-home series with FCS heavyweight

Mike Organ, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read

Tennessee State and FCS heavyweight North Dakota State are discussing playing each other in 2024 and 2025, according Tigers athletics director MIkki Allen.

The two schools are talking about a home-and-home series in 2024 and 2025, Allen said. The first would be played at North Dakota State's Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome and the second at Nissan Stadium.

North Dakota State is the defending national champion and ranked No. 1 in the Stats Perform FCS preseason top 25. The Bison have won 17 national championships, including nine since 2011.

"North Dakota State in the FCS landscape is a premier program; they've had a rich tradition and a lot of success there," Allen said. "For us, we've always said since coach (Eddie) George has taken over we want to be in a situation where we put our kids in front of the best. They're hungry to play teams like North Dakota State, teams that have high-talented kids. So we're excited about the opportunity."

North Dakota State is 62-5 over the last five seasons.

Allen signed a contract last spring that will have TSU open the 2023 season at Notre Dame.

Allen said TSU and North Dakota State are close to agreeing on the contract.

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If the deal gets done, it would complete North Dakota State's 2024 schedule, deputy AD Todd Phelps told WDAY-TV. North Dakota State will play at East Tennessee State on Sept. 14, 2024.

Other than the Notre Dame game, TSU has not announced any of its games beyond the 2022 season.

"North Dakota State's fan base is highly engaged, they've always traveled well," Allen said. "A lot high school kids around this area follow them and they follow us so it would be good for college football,"

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee State football and North Dakota State discussing series