The Mike McFeely Mess

Author John Millea previews his soon-to-be-released book, "Prepville, MN: Unforgettable Stories of High School Sports" with podcast host and Forum columnist Mike McFeely. John covered high school sports for decades in Minnesota for the Star Tribune newspaper and the Minnesota State High School League. His book is a collection of the best stories he wrote involving athletes, coaches, officials and the great small-town atmosphere of prep sports in the state.

BetMGM released its Group of Six college football win totals, which allow bettors to pick the "over" or the "under" on that number, and North Dakota State's seems a little high. The Bison, in their first year in FBS and the Mountain West Conference, have a win total of 9.5.

In other words, if you bet the over and hope to win money NDSU would have to win 10 games for you to collect. It would seem betting the under is obvious. Even if the Bison have a still-very-successful season and win 9 games ... you'd still win.

NDSU's win total prediction is the highest in all of the Group of Six.

Chase Kiddy is a betting analyst and blogger for BetMGM and an old friend of host Mike McFeely's from the time when NDSU and James Madison were fierce playoff rivals in FCS. So Mike called Chase and asked him to explain how the bookmakers at BetMGM could set NDSU's win total so high.

Mike wrote about the high number in a column earlier this week, but thought it would be fun to get Chase's thoughts on the 9.5 win total.

Here is the full list of BetMGM's win totals in a blog post written by Chase.

WyoSports.com sports writer Alex Taylor joins host Mike McFeely to chat about a column Alex wrote for his newspaper: "Will Wyoming and North Dakota State be Mountain West rivals?"

All signs point to "yes" since both programs need a conference rivalry since college football realignment has shaken up the landscape. Wyoming lost Colorado State to the Pac-12 (even though they'll play non-conference games for at least a decade) and NDSU lost South Dakota State, which remains in FCS.

Many seem to believe this will be a good matchup, and Alex and Mike are no different. They explain why.

The news broke on Friday, Feb. 6, that North Dakota State was in serious discussions to the join the Mountain West Conference as a football-only member. It became official three days later when the school and league announced the invitation had been extended and accepted.

It's been about 12 weeks, nearly three months, since the news broke and a whirlwind of activity was set in motion from the league, the school and the local media.

Podcast host and Forum columnist Mike McFeely, WDAY-TV sports reporter and voice of the Bison Dom Izzo and The Forum's NDSU beat writer Jeff Kolpack sat down to discuss the hectic three months and give their impressions now that spring football is finished and (some) things will slow down for a while.

Longtime Minnesota outdoors writer and television host Ron Schara joins Mike McFeely to preview the upcoming MN-FISH Angler's Summit on Friday, April 17, in Alexandria, Minnesota. With numerous challenges facing Minnesota's fish species and lakes, the summit hopes to tackle some of the issues head-on. Ron tells Mike what MN-FISH does as an organization, some of the obstacles standing in the way of good outdoors policy and what to expect at the summit.

Forum columnist Mike McFeely discusses and debates his ranking of North Dakota State's top 75 games since the program joined the Football Championship Subdivision.

He's joined by Forum sports writers Jeff Kolpack and Eric Peterson, and WDAY-TV sports personality Dom Izzo to hash over Mike's selections, particulary his No. 1 choice of the Bison's 2007 victory at Minnesota.

Kolpack, Peterson and Izzo all have ideas about what games should be at the top and why they agree or differ from Mike.

Which game would you pick? Do you agree with Mike's selection, or do you lean toward another game?

Reporter Ryan Collingwood, who covers the Missouri State football team for the Springfield Daily Citizen, joins host Mike McFeely to talk about the big game this week between the Bears and North Dakota State at the Fargodome.

Ryan and Mike go back a long way in covering the FCS, so Ryan offers a pragmatic and reasoned perspective on the ballgame. The Bears, like the Bison, are 6-0 in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, which is somewhat surprising considering Missouri State's long and not-very-successful history in FCS.

But Ryan says quarterback Jacob Clark, a transfer from Minnesota, is the real deal and he and the Bears' offense is potent. It should be a good test for the No. 1-ranked Bison.

Former Forum editorial page editor Jack Zaleski joins host Mike McFeely to give a quick recap of Tuesday's seismic election, which saw former Republican President Donald Trump return to the White House with a resounding victory over Democrat Kamala Harris.

Jack and Mike hash over Trump's victory, its implications for North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and comment on some local races that will affect Fargo.

Forum reporter Melissa Van Der Stad and photo editor Anna Paige join host Mike McFeely to discuss in-depth their recent story chronicling a night of homelessness in downtown Fargo. They followed 72-year-old Lowrie Hogenson for 16 hours to give readers an idea of what it's like to be homeless in our city.

The story humanized those living on the streets and along the banks of the Red River. It was a great bit of journalism that was educational, eye-opening and heartbreaking. You should read it. Here is the link: What's it like to be homeless in Fargo? Woman who sleeps downtown shares a day in her life.

Melissa and Anna walk us through how they did the story and what they learned.

InForum writer Jeff Kolpack and WDAY-TV Sports director Stacey Anderson join host Mike McFeely on the flight back to Fargo from Murray, Kentucky, following the Bison's 59-6 romp in the modern team's first trip to the Bluegrass State.

The guys talk horses, the city of Murray, the Racers' football program and the Bison. They look ahead to NDSU's upcoming game against Northern Iowa.