FARGO — North Dakota State received votes in the Associated Press top 25 football poll this week, something the Bison won’t pop champagne over. And the sports columnist who put NDSU No. 23 on his ballot on Sunday doesn’t expect anything to change with the poll, either, being one of 63 voters.

But Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids Gazette in Iowa has seen enough of NDSU over the years that the time was right.

“I know they’ve had two close games but overall they look like another killing machine to me,” Hlas said. “And so I thought, you know, I’ve seen what everybody else has seen when North Dakota State goes head-to-head with the big boys and I know the difference is pretty thin.”

The last time the Bison got votes in the big-boy poll was in 2016 when NDSU upset No. 13 Iowa 19-17. Cedar Rapid

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