ArchyAlum11

Iowa is not really hockey country, wrestling is the big sport at Iowa after football. Illnois came out after the bigten hockey conferance was announced and said they have no interest what so ever in adding hockey, period. Nebraksa will not add hockey, part of the agreement between Omaha and Lincon is that Omaha would fold its D1 FCS program in exchange Lincon would not add D1 hockey. The only way UND would join the big ten is if it was offered full membership in the bigten, and the Bigten would never do that as they consider and of the dakota schools benieth them.

I went to Football games, but they weren't playing NDSU.

Not really, I went to UND, its my undergraduate University, I lived there for four years. Really it would be weirder if I was gopher fan while I went there.

I'm going to disagree with that a little, I went to UND during the period when they didn't play each other in any sports, I got none the rivalry feeling toward NDSU when I went there, I think the only way you could get is to grow up in North Dakota in an area or family where it was a big deal. To me NDSU was the school to the south that had the three campus system, a big ag program, and no hockey. Now by the same token I am from the Twin Cities, I grew up going to gopher games every year up until the ninth grade, two minutes on campus as a UND student and I was converted into a gopher hating, bleed green, Sioux fan.

So next year we play the gophers in the regular season again. I have to ask this question, does anyone else think the BigTen might have killed the rivalry? I mean of course the history and tradition always plays a huge part in the rivalry but part of the reason this was always a heated match up is that the Sioux and the Gophers were among the top ten programs in the country and they were in the same conference. Now the gophers are questionable for being even in the Top 20. They also are probably the worst team in the state of hockey itself, considering they have only had marginal success against other Minnesota teams in non conference match ups and they haven't won a game at the North Star Cup since the first year of the tournament. So when we play the Gophers next year is it going to look like the intense games we remember, or is it going to look like a top 5 program play a program that can't break into the top 20?

My guess is that NCHC will goto the X eventually, but I wouldn't rule out the NCHC following suit with the bigten and WCHA and return to campus sites. Especially considering that Most of the NCHC campus venus are among the best in college hockey. I think that the WCHA really made the right move, its a smaller leauge now but its moving in the right direction. As for the the BIGTen half of me wants to say "screw'em I hope they stay the worst leauge in college hockey" and part of me hopes they can become decent.

i think the WCHA has some advantages for ASU, ASU would be able to win some games against the Alaska schools or Huntsville, keep in mind that that beaver blanked them 6-0 two nights in a row so they're are not going to get into the WCHA and be able to roll all over anyone. ASU has a lot of work to do to build there program. If their is anything that BIG Ten hockey has shown us is that being a Power 5 school doesn't give you a free ticket to the top.

The Fighting Sioux was in place for a long time, It will likewise take a long time for it to go away. The new nickname and logo may be official but they have an uphill climb to win over the fan base. However people shouldn't confuse tension over the new nickname with a lack of loyalty to UND sports.

And I think that everyone except the Bigten is fine with it. The NCHC has become the Heir apparent to the old WCHA and the teams in the reformed WCHA are getting more national attention and starting to develop competitive programs, Michigan Tech has returned to National Prominence, Minnesota State in getting some traction, Ferris State made it to the National tourney and upset saint cloud state, and Bowling Green has been doing very well.The main losers are the big ten teams.

I actually feel sorry for the firm that took on this job, I think the best they can hope for is indifference, but I think it will be years before people embrace the new logo and nickname en mass. Right now you have a group of people who seem to be embracing it, though I get the impression that is more about wanting to seem like they are more mature than the 2nd slightly larger group of people who want to try and kill the new nickname if at all possible. I think though that the largest group of people would be the fans who are wore out and indifferent the the whole new nickname thing. Most would probably rather be Fighting Sioux or No nickname but at this point were just tired of this crap. So there is my 2 cents, If I were the new logo people I would say be bold and try to think outside the bird but prepare to feel a lot of hate and indifference to the new logo.

No but how long it will take for them to recover is anybody's guess.I think it will take at least four years and that is assuming the schools actually put effort into making the changes needed. I think we can safely say that hockey is not high on the priorities list for Mich State or Ohio State. Wisconson is a train wreck it may take longer for that program to rebuild. The Goofers probably have the will, they need to get Lucia out and a new coach in there but one thing that that the City pages article never metioned is the role that the alumni old boys network and nepotism plays at the U. If you want to get a good coach in at the U of M then they will want to know that they are going to have the freedom needed to run their team. Depending on how long it takes for these schools to swallow their pride and make the needed changes could mean the differance between the BG10 recovery taking 4 years or taking 10 years. Personally I I don't see them making a quick recovery, I think if ASU goes to the NCHC it will get harder for the BG10 to poach UND or Miami from NCHC. Bigten might have a better chance with the WCHA except for the fact that Lucia's little age limit propsoal would hurt the smaller schools more than any other group so Minnesota State, Michigan Tech, Bowling Green and Ferris State aren't going to go out of their way to help out the U of M.

Yeah but now we aren't in the same conferance as the golphers, and gopher hockey is now pretty much irrelevent.

The bigger problem is what it would do to UND's hockey program over time. The big ten hockey conference has been nothing but mediocre teams that believe they have a right to be considered top teir. Also as an afilliate member I question how big a check UND would actually get from the BG10. The reality is the Big ten dosen't care that much about hockey, all the hockey coferance was supposed to be was a quick cash in on what they thought were 5 elite programs and one up and coming program with good potential. Additionally coverage on the BGten network is a dubious prosepct at best, the Network has only shown 2 games a night at best, and if baskeball is on hockey won't be aired. Addtionally they care about name recoknition more than skill, theoretically UND could be playing a noncofrence match up against denver or MN Duluth and they will air Michigan State vs Ohio. Lets no fall for the same BS sales pitch that the bigten sold the 5 hockey schools. The bigten hockey programs have been so damaged that they might not recover fully for another 4 - 6 years assuming they make changes to coaching staff and recruiting practices, do we really want that for UND hockey? The obvious anwser should be "no". Right now the Big10 is not a risk worth taking for any program, outside of maybe an Alabama Huntsville or an Alaska Anchorage. The only exceptionwould be if the BigTen offered to Make UND a Full member of the Big10, then of course UND should accept. However this will never happen for at least two reasons. 1 - many of UND's Facilities such as basketball and football are too small to meet bigten requirements. 2 - The Big10 will never accept and of the Dakota schools, the Big10 and its member instutions as well as the fans few any of the Dakota Schools as lesser instutuions that do not desevre to exist in the same universe as the the Big10 I doubt the day would ever come where they would swallow there pride and let them join, otherwise NDSU probably would have recived an offer a few years ago.

And yet Minnesota is also terrible at football and basketball.

Its either going to be the NCHC or WCHA, my money is on the NCHC, NCHC would love to have the Pac12 and western states connection, especially with UNLV looking to add D1 hockey in the next few years. The thing that may bode well for the WCHA is that AZ state has a fighting chance to win against Fairbanks, Anchorage, Lake State, and Huntsville. That said when AZ took on the Beavers then lost 6-0 so their would be some difficulty when they start to play the middle and Top of the pack WCHA teams.But other than maybe CC I think ASU would have a very difficult time in the NCHC,

Espeically seeing as how the U of M has spent the last 20 years trying to force the State Universities to become glorified community colleges. The U lobbies against any increase in funding to expansion of programs at the State Universiities.

UHA is definately not going to be a team that the conferances would fight over, but give them some credit, three years ago they were going to be cut, in the three years they have been in the new wcha they have made some progress. The sport isn't served when schools cut their programs.

North Dakota or UND work too, but if you want to be an energetic little Fawks quisling then be my guest.

I think I heard Either the 6th or the 13th. I wonder if they will put out a really stupid logo at first to let people get their bile out and then put out the actual logo so people will think that there uproar made a difference.

I said if, I didn't say that it was likely.

Even the new WCHA is better than the Big10.

If its just an offer for hockey the the answer should be a resounding... NAY NAY A THOUSAND TIMES NAY! BIgten hockey is absolutely pitiful, and the UND could only lose by joining such a pathetic hockey leauge. If however the offer was for full membership into the Big10 then UND should at least entertain the offer but it still probably wouldn't be in best interests of UND athletics.

It seemed fuller last year, I think the time and day change played a part in that, it was really weird having the game start at 1 and then at 4. I think that threw a lot of people off, I guess I can see them doing that on Sunday, especially for the people in bemidji that have a long ass drive, but I think if they had the game on saturday at a later times like 4 and 7, that would have helped for the people from Saint Cloud and Mankato, however for the goofer fans there is no excuse. U of M fans are bailing on the program.

And now the JV can kick the "Varsity's" arrogant ass, It was pretty pathetic to see the change in the number of goofer fans present at the Bemidji Game vs the Minnesota State game. Even the goofer faithful are starting to bail. By the time the they finally play the Sioux again its going to be pretty pathetic to watch. Good news for us is that we have two good Minnesota teams in Conference and two other good Minnesota teams in non conference that we can play.