Over the past few years Jones has refused to play big games (NDSU) in the Ralph. The Betty has more "atmosphere", says Coach Jones, makes for a great home court advantage.. Some good that atmosphere did us last year, NDSU laid a 19 point beat down on us. It's time for the coach to put his big boy pants on, we're a DI program, why are we playing games, especially rivalry games, in a glorified high school gym? The hockey team is out of town this weekend, the Ralph is wide open. Both NDSU's men and women bb teams are in-town this Saturday They should have put the games in the Ralph and marketed the heck out of it. Work darn hard to fill the joint, to include getting a big number to come up from Fargo. With the hockey team out of town, and the games on Saturday, they should have no problem pulling 10,000 fans in, if marketed correctly. I think the last time they played NDSU in the Ralph the drew 9,000. Look, 10,000+ fans in the big arena can create an atmosphere that can make the Betty's pale by comparison, just ask the hockey crowd. Coach Fitch, who had those great Phil Jackson era teams, would never have played those big games in the Betty.
Now why they built the Betty to hold no more tan 3,000+ is a subject for another day, but was a huge mistake.