The Sicatoka

Can't be the Bull Moose --> sexist.

Couldn't it be said that a Rough Rider is anyone who chooses to follow the leadership of Teddy Roosevelt.

So, Sod for short? Uh ... really?

If you pay more than the pool that you're drawing from you'll draw who you want.

Here's the bigger issue: Why are we still having to deal with this? Arkansas State dealt with their issue head-on and it's long since a memory (per Wikipedia): So let's see, new announced, old retired, NCAA on board, all in six weeks. And here we are still festering with this issue six years or more. And I guarantee you that there were Arkansas State fans that despised the "Red Wolves" moniker and logo when it came out ... but that's nearly a decade ago already.

Paying someone a large salary will make them a great coach is one of the great myths of athletics. The great coaches are found (in the lower tiers) by the top tier schools and paid accordingly. The problem becomes that the lower tier schools buy into the myth hoping to buy success.

I see this "additional $5 million" (annual) to go FBS tossed around. That number has to be case by case, situational. If you're FCS and at 14 sports, yeah, it'll take some money to get to the FBS required 16 sports. (For example, Montana is adding softball. That makes 15 for them: 6 mens, 9 womens.) Adding sports will clearly increase the annual budget needs. But say you're already at 21 sports. You don't need to add sports; you're over the magic 16. There's no budget impact in an FCS to FBS transition in that scenario. Alternatively, going from 63 to 85 scholarships (FCS max to FBS max in FB) means adding 44 scholarships. Before you question my math, 22 for FB, 22 for Title IX. Going simple and saying roughly $10k per, that's about $500k. If your current women's sports aren't fully funded you just add the scholarships there (and make happy women's soccer and volleyball and tennis and golf coaches). Will a move to FBS cost $5 million more annually for some? Undoubtedly, especially if they have to add sports. And it will cost more than $5 million for others. But then again, it may cost less for some others because they already have many FBS required pieces (16 sports) in place.

kingranch: Thank you for your insights, like "NDSU is already d1 in everything else" ... just like every current Big Sky member is a full Division I member. However, I suspect the BSC commissioner is thinking about Big Sky schools first (like Montana, Montana State, and Idaho, and North Dakota) before say NDSU or SDSU. PS - Those disparaging remarks about Montana State from NDSU fans last year when MSU executed an out clause to take a money game, surely they and the Big Sky have forgotten about them.

If we're stuck with a moniker that "most people stopped on the street" recognize, we'll be the next Kardashian. And if you're worried about the 18-22 demographic and such innuendo, dare I say "University of Southern California" ... the Trojans.

No, the University of Idaho that is the highest ranked academic school in the Big Sky (not counting FB affiliate UC-Davis). That Idaho. Counting affiliates it's UC-Davis, Idaho, North Dakota, then the Montanas, then "other".

The plural of crisis. What the author is saying is that when the next problem comes it won't be just one problem. It will be made up of P5 autonomy, full-cost scholarships, ambitious schools versus trying to survive programs, and who knows what else.

Maryland and Rutgers aren't football fiscal powers; but they do bring television sets and political influence for grant funding in Washington DC. That matters because of this: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_on_Institutional_Cooperation

No, it's about aligning the University of North Dakota with like-minded peers, like U of Idaho, U of Montana, and Montana State for collaboration in not just athletics but across many endeavors. It's a model used by the Big Ten and it would serve this group well also.

Now that you say it I'm pretty sure you're right.

So he outbid darrel.

Question: They had to replace the first field turf installed (in 2012) in Alerus Center because of some issue with it. So 2013 season had new turf just like 2012. Last I heard they were going to store the 2012 turf for installation somewhere else on campus. What became of that surface? http://www.bakkentoday.com/event/article/id/397631/publisher_ID/1/

Don't forget the agreement Idaho had in joining the BSC. They demanded Montana, Montana State, and North Dakota be in the BSC when they arrived on July 1, 2014 or else they could walk away from the deal at no cost.

State motto. Highest honor given by the state to a citizen.

Not at all. It's a simple, black-white situation: Orange barrels or pot holes. Folks have to deal with one or the other.

"Nothing" is what UND has for a moniker right now, and the only logo we have is easily mistaken for that of "Our Lady of South Bend".

The leader of the 1st US Volunteer Cavalry, the "Rough Riders", ranched in western North Dakota. The last living member of Roosevelt's "Rough Riders" was a man born in North Dakota named Jesse Langdon. Jesse's father was a veterinarian and treated Roosevelt's cattle on the ranch. So the first and the last Rough Riders were North Dakotans. Tell me again about "nothing".

The logo is just a Native American related as the moniker was. The logo went in the settlement too. People, it's gone. Mr. Gentry and Mr. Montgomery can explain: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t4S7jafRlJ0 It's time to saddle up and Ride on. (And I think I just gave away my vote.)

I'm giving the benefit of the doubt.

You're smart enough to understand what a "net loss" is.

Won game; lost Saul. Net loss.