They might be better than the '05 App team, and probably better than the defensively-challenged '07 App team, but these NDSU teams can't really claim to be better than the '06 App State team that went undefeated against FCS.
I suspect the best of those Appalachian teams would beat the best of these North Dakota State teams.
Though if the Bison had more of an offense then it would easily be the other way around.
For what it's worth if you go by Sagarin Ratings it's clearly 11, 12, 13 NDSU. So far anyway as 13 isn't over. But this is how it went with the ranking among DI teams followed by the rating in parethesis:
Well, I believe that I must tell the truth
And say things as they really are
But if I told the truth and nothing but the truth
Could I ever be a star? Deep Purple: No One Came
I begrudgingly think NDSU is quite a bit better than the Appalachian State teams. I wish it wasn't so, but Eastern almost took out Appalachian State in Boone in 2007, and that Eastern team was significantly worse than the Eastern teams of the last two years.