Fargo Valley City, ND, October 21, 2026 —

The move of North Dakota State and New Mexico into the same conference has renewed a question about how Bison fans view Jason Eck, New Mexico’s head coach. The issue is whether hostility associated with Eck’s earlier connection to a rival program still shapes fan sentiment now that the teams compete in the Mountain West Conference.

Eck previously coached at South Dakota State, a rival of NDSU. Some Bison fans viewed his social media activity as antagonistic and dubbed him “Public Enemy No. 1,” according to the trend summary. The description does not specify which posts prompted that reaction or when the activity occurred.

The account frames the current question as one of persistence: whether the negative sentiment has carried over into the new conference relationship. It does not provide a conclusion about how fans feel today, nor does it include survey results, interviews, attendance figures or other measures of fan opinion.

Key details about the scope of the investigation are also unavailable. The summary does not identify the people interviewed, describe a research method, give a date for the reporting or offer statements from Eck, NDSU or New Mexico. As a result, the extent of the animosity—and whether it has changed—cannot be established from the information provided.

What is clear from the summary is the contrast at the heart of the story: Eck’s past association with South Dakota State and the reaction some NDSU fans had to his social media activity now sit alongside a new conference matchup between NDSU and New Mexico. Whether that history continues to matter to Bison fans remains unanswered.


Story summarized from the original created by Mike McFeely on www.inforum.com, see more information here.

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